AN ACCOMPLISHED storyteller has completed an impressive hat-trick after returning to his roots to scoop a top prize.

Bob Mitchell had won in each of the last two years in the open prose section of the Buchan Heritage Society’s annual Doric competition.

However, it was his poetry that took top prize at the celebration of all things Doric – a dialect used by people in the north-east of Scotland – last month.

‘Charlie n Wullie n Hugh’ tells the story of three men making their way through life – from birth to death and everything in between.

Mr Mitchell said: “I don’t really rate myself as a poet. I was really pleased to get that award. Now, I have got the set!”

Victory in the poetry section gave Mr Mitchell the Robbie Shepherd Quaich.

He described Mr Shepherd as “quite a cult figure in Doric speaking”. Mr Mitchell, who has lived in Haddington for nearly 50 years, regularly attended the competition, which would also feature an oral section.

Coronavirus has meant the event has been restricted to written entries in the past two years, with Mr Mitchell, who was highly commended in the open prose category this year, hopeful it would be back to its traditional form next year.

The former Justice of the Peace grew up on a croft in the Parish of Belhelvie, north of Aberdeen.

And although he has made Haddington his home – hosting a popular quiz during the town’s festival week for more than quarter of a century – he stressed he felt there was an importance in keeping the Doric dialect alive.

He said: “The dialect, I guess, is one aspect of a lifestyle and things fast disappearing forever. It was very much both the dialect and lifestyle I was familiar with from nearly 70 years ago.

“I’m now 74 and I think there is a lot to be celebrated and kept going.

“I think in a way there has been a raising of awareness over the years; in my time at school it was a complete no-no and basically a sign of ignorance. I’ve seen a real awareness in not all but many quarters. It is something to hang onto, cherish and pass down.”