Amang tha Rucks o Bellyhie

AMANG THA RUCKS O BELLYHIE: An Ulster-Scots Chronicle of Farm and Family Life. This fabulous collection of Ulster-Scots tales by John M'Gimpsey Johnston records his childhood years in a small thatched house on a 20-acre farm at The Knowe in the townland of Ballyhay near Donaghadee in County Down. It is written in full Ulster-Scots, but with ‘pronunciation’ spellings that, when read aloud, bring the sounds of the local accent of the language to life. The book is not only a treasure-chest of words and idioms of linguistic interest, but it is also a living account of a past way of life: of family around the open-fire cooking hearth, and of neighbours in the horse-drawn farming world of ‘Tumbling Paddys’ and ‘Rucklifters’. Between the covers of this book the reader can visit a virtual folk museum and experience a genuine connection with the cultural soul of a rural Ulster-Scots community.