“Very good. And after you had repeated the order, and again he refused, you charged him, and he became abusive?”
“Yessir.”
“What did he say?”
Baxter hesitated. “He called me a shilpit wee nyaff, sir.”
The president stirred. “He called you what?”
Baxter coloured slightly. “A shilpit wee nyaff, sir.”
The president looked at Prosecution. “Perhaps you can translate?”

—from “McAuslan’s Court-Martial”, by George MacDonald Fraser

#Scottish #literature #Scots #Scotslanguage #Scotstober #nyaff

In the late dawn's licht
A rattlin tin kicked alang
Amuses some nyaff.

#Scotstober #Nyaff #Haiku #ScotsLanguage