What the hell is John Crosbie doing on the Mudcat, real or impostor, guest or not? (I mean, yer welcome and all...)

For the couple of you who may not be familiar with Mr Crosbie, he is a now-retired Canadian federal politician from Newfoundland, who was a Conservative member of the Mulroney cabinet. As Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, he presided over the demise of the cod fishery, but he is best known for his habit of making politically incorrect comments, especially aboot Liberal politician Sheila Copps . After he told her "Settle down, baby" in the legislature one day, she offered to kick his ass, so to speak. (Her autobiography is called "Nobody's Baby".) Later on Crosbie made a joke in a speech at a Tory convention, reference to the pop song "Pass me the tequila Sheila, then lie down and love me again."

Their little spat was eventually settled, sort of, on national radio when they sang a Valentines Day duet of one of those mushy songs--probably "Love Me Tender". I'm not making any of this up--I'm sure I couldn't.

By the way, to answer the original question, LJC pretty much is writing in Braid Scots, the lowland Scottish tongue which has the same roots as English but is quite distinct to put it mildly--and thanks for recognizing it as a language not a dialect. Newfoundland is largely Irish, so this is not a customary Newfoundland dialect, bye.

Willie-O