Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 2005 (SND, online supplement).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DORIC, n., adj. Add variant Dorick
I. n. 1. The Scots language, esp. when regarded as a country or working-class dialect.Sc. 1870 E. B. Ramsay Reminiscences 127:
"My Lord," commenced John in his purest Doric, "I wad hae thocht naething o't."Abd. 1884 William Alexander Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk Preface:
The native character and pure Doric of Aberdeenshire still possess a fresh interest for a very considerable number of readers.Sc. 1925 Hugh MacDiarmid Contemporary Scottish Studies (1976) 8:
The truth of the matter is, of course, that by far the largest proportion of work of the slightest literary merit in the Doric has been done not by the "common people" ... but by aristocrats ...Sc. 1974 David D. Murison in G. W. S. Barrow The Scottish Tradition 79:
Gaelic was recognisable as such and probably still partially understood, and we can assume that tag-ends of it remained on the tongues of the people, pretty much in the same way that even the most anglicised Scot today can produce a word or two of 'the Doric' when he wants to be jocular.Sc. 1986 Colin Milton in Donald MacAulay and J. Derrick McClure Scottish Language 5 41:
He [Hugh MacDiarmid] goes on to describe the existing dialects as the 'disjecta membra' of the Doric: surviving varieties of Scots are fragmentary and debased, mere remnants of language.Sc. 1987 Scotsman 2 Mar :
Readers of this column have sometimes complained to me that they find my occasional use of the Doric patronising. Vindication came when I appeared on television and at least two of my critics realised that the Doric is first nature to me. I am not one of the lasses who left Leven for a weekend in London and came back speaking posh. It will take a brain-surgeon to rid me of my Fife-isms.ne.Sc. 1993 Press and Journal 14 Apr :
Dr Norman Allan (Letter, April 10) raises the interesting question: When was the term Doric first used to describe Scots dialects? 'Doric' was probably first used simply to mean the Scots language as a whole in comparison to the prestige dialect of South-east England.Gsw. 1994 Alasdair Gray A History Maker xi:
Like Scott he tells a Scottish story in an English easily understood by other parts of the world but leaves the gab of the locals in its native doric. m.Sc. 1994 Mary McCabe Everwinding Times 71:
Hushed silence as the minister sat at the piano. The first key he offered was too high, but the second was just right. Her timing, her enunciation of the Doric, her pitch — all was perfect. No one would guess her condition.Edb. 1994:
I always thought Doric meant Scots, but to some people, it has come to mean the language of the North-East only.

I. 2. Specif. the Scots of the North-East, esp. that of Aberdeenshire.ne.Sc. 1966 Aberdeen Evening Express 7 Sep :
As one, who has for years fought for the proper recognition of our North-east dialect, the Doric, I welcomed the gesture of the latest report on the problem. I call it a gesture for, to me, the diktat of the Education Authority has merely signified that they are aware the difficulty of fluency in the spoken word exists, and that alone. For a long time now, and particularly since the war, successive authorities, ably aided by "pictorial literature" and the snob appeal of the English language, have done their best to destroy all that is great in the Doric.Abd. 1980 David Toulmin Travels Without a Donkey 116:
The doctor, John Gaddie, was sympathetic and tried to explain the cause of Granny's death; of how the lungs were damaged and were not oxygenising the blood, which laboured the heart and starved the brain, causing Granny to haver a lot of nonsense in her conscious moments, some of it (he said) characteristic of her Scottish parentage and environment, and not without it's humour in the Doric, even on her death bed.Abd. 1988 Jack Webster Another Grain of Truth (1989) 93:
It was David Murison who convinced me that we are misusing the word 'Doric' when we adopt it as a label for our North-East speech. Being the Greek scholar that he is, he reminded me that Doric was the dialect of the Spartans and had to do with roughness and coarseness. ... This hint of coarseness perhaps explains why so many well-intentioned people talk about 'lapsing into the dialect'. Is it really a lapse?Sc. 1991 Tom Hubbard ed. The New Makars 1:
It could be said that, in Scots, we have not one culture but many, and that with the fragmentation of the language we have registers ranging from the Doric of Aberdeen and its rural hinterland to the 'patois' of the urban west.Sc. 1993 Scotsman 13 Jan 13:
...listening skills, and to stimulate classroom talking and writing. The children's accents and dialects vary enormously, from broad Doric to Glaswegian the children are all obviously enjoying themselves, and surprise, surprise, are keen to talk and highly articulate.Sc. 1993 Scotsman 6 Apr 5:
The North East Scotland Heritage Trust, formed last year to promote the Doric language and culture, is facing an uncertain financial future after the withdrawal of cash support by the Scottish Arts Council. "If we are going to preserve the Doric, the music and the culture of the north-east it needs a united strategy. ..."Sc. 1993 Scotsman 4 Jun 6:
A Festival of Doric culture is to be held next year by Gordon District to promote the North-east dialect. The festival in October 1994, by Gordon District Council, could become an annual celebration of Doric entertainment and culture, Jim McDonald, the council's director of leisure and recreation, said. The district is planning a range of other activities to promote the Doric.Sc. 1993 Scotsman 31 Aug 10:
Well, not Scots exactly, but more Doric, the Lallans spoken in the Banff and Buchan district; which, funnily enough, happens to form Salmond's consitituency.ne.Sc. 1994 Herald 27 Oct 12:
I have actually met in-aboot-comers who seem to take it as a personal insult that Doric is actively spoken here.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web iv:
Twis a stammygaster fin a wee Scots pedant screived tae me (fair set on garrin me agree wi him) that the grammar an spellin o Lallans wis fit Scots poetry sud be aa aboot! ... Bit then, I'm a Scots illiterate. I didna learn Doric frae a buikie. I learned it frae ma bluid kin, at kistins, at waddins, at wark an at play, ... Sc. 2001 Sunday Mail 25 Mar 13:
One phrase that will make locals think you're one of them?
Fit like? — it's the Doric for how are you?Sc. 2002 Edinburgh Evening News 24 Aug 2:
Today's business was including a motion opposing the bar on homosexuals from giving blood and one backing the promotion of Gaelic, Scots, Doric and Norn.Sc. 2003 Daily Record 22 Apr 17:
But the 60-year-old soon realised the operator was having problems understanding his thick Aberdeenshire accent.
In the end, the confused man asked Mike if he wanted application forms in Urdu.
Mike, of Inverurie, said: "I just laughed at him. I asked if there was any chance of getting them in Doric.Abd. 2003 Press and Journal 21 May 16:
From there, the national story runs through rural deprivation, the frustrations of schoolmasters when confronted with dull pupils, the derision and even punishment meted out to accidental users of Doric or Scots, ...Sc. 2004 Herald 15 Jan 19:
Fortunately, that has been avoided by the way Scotland's traditional music scene has developed, whether the linguistic context in singing is English, Gaelic, Doric, or Lowland Scots. It is no longer the preserve of middle-aged men with beards and Aran sweaters.

II. adj. 1. Of the Scots language.Per. 1809 John Ramsay of Ochtertyre Letters (1966) 263:
Were she to stay much in the country, she would acquire some knowledge of our Doric dialect which (I mean in books) is too much neglected by a fastidious generation.Sc. 1900-11 T. E. Dwelly The Illustrated Gaelic-English Dictionary (1994) :
Many of those who condemn the use of what they call "Irish" words, have no scruple in introducing English and Doric words, which they try to pronounce and write according to Gaelic rules, ...

II. 2. Of North-East Scots.Sc. 1993 Scotsman 6 Apr 5:
The North East Scotland Heritage Trust, formed last year to promote the Doric language and culture, is facing an uncertain financial future after the withdrawal of cash support by the Scottish Arts Council. "If we are going to preserve the Doric, the music and the culture of the north-east it needs a united strategy. ..."Sc. 1993 Scotsman 4 Jun 6:
A Festival of Doric culture is to be held next year by Gordon District to promote the North-east dialect The festival in October 1994, by Gordon District Council, could become an annual celebration of Doric entertainment and culture, Jim McDonald, the council's director of leisure and recreation, said. The district is planning a range of other activities to promote the Doric.Abd. 2000 Aberdeen Evening Express 20 Oct 10:
An Elgin woman has just published the first in a series of children's books written in the Doric.
Kate Henderson, 50, hopes Fa's The Feel? will introduce youngsters to Doric words and expressions, and encourage them to use the language in everyday speech.Abd. 2003 Press and Journal 2 Aug 4:
Take the stand OYNE'S Archaeolink Prehistory Park will be hosting its first Open Mike Day on August 31, offering local talent the chance to join in an 11am-5pm programme of traditional and alternative music. Doric and Gaelic speakers along with storytellers, poets, bands and individual music acts for a family audience will be welcome to join in.Abd. 2003 Aberdeen Evening Express 2 Oct 24:
Mr Taylor had his own concert party during the 1950s, 60s and 70s and was a familiar face across the Garioch for his storytelling, recitals of Burns and his own Doric poetry.Sc. 2004 Daily Record 19 Mar 33:
Bosses at Skene House, in Aberdeen, said the lessons in the Doric dialect are a hit with tourists.
The phrases come with their English translation and a definition.