Stand up to yer neeps

click to enlarge

"Stand up to yer neeps" is a brilliant auld Perthshire rural saying.
It is used to describe someone who is often unremarkable and overlooked but yet reliable in adversity. "aye he's a quiet lad but he'll stand up to his neeps"
It means folk that just get on wi' it instead of moanin' aboot awthing or blaming the government, cooncil, guy next door, ect ect.

If mair of us stood up to our neeps this would be a barry wee country.

Lecture over. Check oot ma lantern. Took us aboot an hour. Disnae look much in the first photo but pit the lights oot and stick a tealight in the felly and Boris is yer uncle.

Now I take on board what had been said aboot the tumshie and I do admit that I prefer the smell o a neep lantern. The soup is also a big bonus, but there is no way that you could have rattled of a quick Karloff wi an auld neep. It would have been a trip tae the sick kids.

Remember the auld classic guisin' joke -

"Did ye hear aboot the greengrocer whae died? "
"There was a big turnip at his funeral."

Still gits a laugh.

Happy halloween my High Wall droogs.

Let it glow, let it glow, let it glow!

Aye there seems to be a wee bit o' a theme developing here over the last few posts, all about glow in the dark stuff and Halloween. A good combination if you ask me.

I remember the time that a gang of us were mucking aboot one time, back in the day, around Halloween. It was dark and yon orange street lights were illuminating Clerk Street. We had managed to get free glow in the dark cardboard masks free with The Topper or it might have been The Beezer. The mask was the face of one of the comic character a dude called Splurge Last of The Goblins.

The glow in the dark paint on the masks was pretty cheap stuff and when you touched it, it almost felt like running yer finger along a piece of fine sandpaper. Anyway, we were standing outside the Southern Bar with oor masks on scaring the auld drunks as they left the pub. Trouble is that the glow- in- the- dark effect did not last very long, so we had to keep running into folks' stairs to re-charge them under the stairlights. Aye it was great fun. And all for the price of a comic!

Mind you God knows what scary properties yon cheap glow-in-the-dark paint had. No doubt nowadays it would never make it past health and safety inspectors. And I sometimes wonder if the reason I am losing my hair is really male pattern baldness, or something much more sinister!!!

All the best!

Arkos

Halloween

The Borders turnip (Tumshieus Lanternus minor)
I its that time of year again at the High Wall. Tumshie lantern time! We nivir had any o them Pumpkins at the high wall, just yer good auld Borders tumshie. They started off life like the one in the above picture and after a couple of oors fartin around wi an auld tattie knife later they wir takin shape.
This could huv been the end result o five cut fingers and the need to hide a broken tattie knife!
All tha wiz required was a piece o string and a candle. If all else wiz in short supply candles wir always in abundance at the High Wall.
It wiz now a case o waitin until the street light went on and it wiz dark enough to set off through the street surrounding the High Wall, as the Boss would have said, had he had a tumshie lantern, Its time tae go boys I can see a Darkness on the edge of town!
So off we went dressed up as christ knows what as our fancy dress possibilities were a tadge limited, but we really did our best tae look real scary. We were always acompanied by the smell o burnt tumshie which got worse as the night went on.
Arkos reminded me of a slight accident Alien Orders had wi a tumshie that wiz meant tae look chinese and had a black wig on. The black wig and the candle were not a good match which led to a small conflagration and a wee bit o trouble wi a teacher. But that wid be tellin tales oot o school!
I think what am tryin tae say is this, we wir happy wi a smelly auld tumshie and a bed sheet wi eyes cut oot o it, wi wirrnae frightened o nae paedos or razor boys thit wir gaunae dae us harm, wi just lit up the tumshie and buggird aff doon the road wi not a care in the world and nae parents oot wi us neither! If they wir no the good auld days then ah will be buggird. If ah could go back tae the High Wall wi the boys and be that cheeky ersed bairn again, thir widbe nae stoppin me!
So ah um meant tae be workin the morns night boys but stuff the work, ah will meet yous at the High Wall when its dark and don't forget the tumshies!