The East Neuk o' Fife........

I live in the united villages of Elie and the Royal Burgh of Earlsferry with Maggie, my long suffering (she would say) wife.     Living here in the East Neuk  is a pleasure and you can believe the brochures, especially the bit about the 'fringe of gold'.      The coastal villages  are a dream and 'I love the place tae bits'.    Landward I do my biking all year round and in the summer I go sailing on the Firth of Forth with Jems, Maggie's uncle, on the Rum Rig (yacht) -  who could ask for more!   

You will find many things in the East Neuk of Fife but do not expect to hear the local dialect as you might have heard it in the shops  30 years ago.   One of my favourite places is Cellardyke and the way the old 'dykers' spoke, which was distinctive and local to Cellardyke.    Yet today you can hardly hear anyone 'clashin' because they have new neighbours from Glasgow, Edinburgh or even London who wouldn't even be interested.    The bonniest 'dyker' voice I have heard recently belongs to an exile 'dyker' who  lives in New Zealand,  which says it all really!    As the old people move, and the houses they occupied come onto the market we have  Estate Agents advertising  East Neuk properties as 'holiday homes', (we are supposed tae call/pretend they are 'second homes')  which   means that local young people  cannot buy a house in the East Neuk anymore - they  cannot compete with the prices offered by 'outsiders'.   So what does this mean for the East Neuk long term?   Disaster probably as far as communities are concerned as the properties will all look very 'P-O-S-H' but with no heart in them most of the time!    Everytime a  house sells in the East Neuk it  means another light goes out for nine months of the year  -    exit 'clashin' - welcome 'loud pub talk' during the  summer months and holiday weekends.!    Oh aye, and fireworks at any time!    I feel better having written that!