An A to Z of the Doric: F revisited

Doric, the dialect spoken in the North-East of Scotland is rich in words and phrases associated with the land and the sea. In this occasional series I try to illustrate some of them using examples of their use taken mainly from Buchan Claik, The Saut an the Glaur o't written in 1989 by Peter Buchan and David Toulmin.

FORFOCHEN: Thoroughly exhausted.

"The first Buchan wis a mate on Noah's Ark, but Noah haived him ower the side, cos he wis just a proper girn. Buchan swam for a fortnicht afore he made the shore, sair forfochen, at Peterheid." (The first gentleman called Buchan was a mate on Noah's Ark, but Noah threw him over the side, because he was such a complainer. Buchan swam for a fornight before he reached the shore, completely exhausted, at Peterhead.)

Today, I ended up quite forfochen myself, after bringing in from the street, by wheel-barrow, 2 tonnes of soil for our new raised bed. I reckon that, with the current price of vegetables, the whole enterprise will pay for itself in about 250 years. It will take slightly longer if I charge for my labour.