A Doric A-Z: Y revisited

Doric, the dialect spoken in the North-East of Scotland is rich in words and phrases associated with the land and the sea. I so much enjoyed my recent journey through the Doric dictionary that I plan to revisit it on an irregular and random basis.

YOWE or YOW: A Ewe, a female sheep

A cowpit yow - is a female sheep which has fallen over onto its back and is finding it difficult to get back on her feet. Often used in the figurative sense to mean someone who is extremely drunk.

A yowe-tremmle is a cold spell of weather in early summer, at about the time of sheep-shearing, and likely to chill the sheep.