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A DICTIONARY
LOWLAND SCOTCH.
^be Blbovv Series,
A New Series of Books of Reference for Library or
Private Use.
Edited by G. May and Charles G. Leland.
SOBRIQUETS AND NICKNAMES.
A Dictionary. By Alfred R. Frey. With an Index arranged
by true names. Large post 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. ; half
bound, QS.
" The first work that has been devoted to the explanation and deri-
vation of the numberless witty and sometimes abusive appellations . . .
it deserves the heartiest praise." — Glasgow Herald.
" Invaluable as a storehouse of out-of-the-way memorabilia in history,
politics, poetry, music, war, dress, satire, fashion — in fact, as a most
carefully indexed de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis, this dictionary
is unique." — Morning Advertiser.
LOWLAND SCOTCH.
A Dictionary. By Charles Mackay, LL.D. With a Chapter
on the Poetry, Humour, and Literary History of the Scot-
tish Language, and an Appendix of Scottish Proverbs.
ARGOT AND SLANG.
A New French and English Dictionary of the Cant Words,
Quaint Expressions, Slang Terms, and Flash Phrases
used in the High and Low Life of Old and New Paris.
By A. Barr^re, Officier de I'Instruction Publique, Pro-
fessor R.M. Academy, Woolwich.
The work treats of the cant of thieves ; the jargon of Parisian roughs ;
the military, naval, parliamentary, academical, legal, and freemasons'
slang ; of that of the workshop, the studio, the stage, the boulevards,
the demi-monde.
[.Preparing.
AMERICANISMS.
A Dictionary of Modern Words and Phrases colloquially used
in the United States. By Charles G. Leland.
[Preparing.
Others to follow.
With the Pubhshers*
^ . Cottipliments.
A DICTIONARY
OF
LOWLAND SCOTCH
WITH AN
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON THE POETRY, HUMOUR, AND
LITERARY HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH LANGUAGE
AND AN
APPENDIX OF SCOTTISH PROVERBS
BY
CHARLES MACKAY, LL.D.
AUTHOR OF "lost BEAUTIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,"
"the GAELIC ETYMOLOGY OF THE LANGUAGES OF WESTERN EUROPE,"
A GLOSSARY OF THE OBSCURE WORDS AND PHRASES IN SHAKSPEARE AND
HIS CONTEMPORARIES," ETC. ETC.
^ OF THF
UNIVERSITY
OF
LONDON: WHITTAKER AND CO.
PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.G.
BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND Ca
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
PREFACE
The original intention of the Editor of this work was to make
it a guide to the better comprehension by English readers
of the immortal works of Robert Burns and Walter Scott,
and of the beautiful Scottish poetry to be found in the ancient
and modern ballads and songs of the "North Countrie," — and
not only to the English but to all other admirers of Scottish
literature, where it differs from that of England, and to present
to them in accessible and convenient form such words as are
more poetical and humorous in the Scottish language than in
the English, or are altogether wanting in the latter. The
design gradually extended itself as the compiler proceeded
with his task, until it came to include large numbers of words
derived from the Gaelic or Keltic, with which Dr. Jamieson,
the author of the best and most copious Scottish Dictionary
hitherto published, was very imperfectly or scarcely at all
acquainted.
"Broad Scotch," says Dr. Adolphus Wagner, the erudite
and sympathetic editor of the Poems of Robert Burns, pub-
lished in Leipzig, in 1835, "is literally broadened, — i.e., a
language or dialect very worn off, and blotted, whose original
stamp often is unknowable, because the idea is not always
to be guessed at." This strange mistake is not confined to
the Grermans, but prevails to a large extent among English-
men, who are of opinion that Scotch is a provincial dialect of
1 -010°
vi Preface,
the English, — like that of Lancashire or Yorkshire, — and not
entitled to be called a language. The truth is, that English
and Lowland Scotch were originally the same, but that the
literary and social influences of London as the real metropolis
of both countries, especially after the transfer of the royal
family of Stuart from Edinburgh to London, at the commence-
ment of the seventeenth century, favoured the infusion of a
Latin element into current English, which the Scotch were
slow to adopt.
In the year 1870, the author contributed two papers to
Blackwood^ s Magazine on " The Poetry and Humour of the
Scottish Language." Those papers are here reprinted with
such copious additions as have extended the work to more
than treble its original dimensions. The whole has under-
gone careful revision and emendation, and will, it is hoped,
be found to contain not only characteristic specimens of the
peculiar humour, but of the abounding poetical genius of the
ancient and modem authors who have adorned the literature
of Scotland from the days of Barbour, Douglas, and Mont-
gomery to those of Allan Ramsay, Robert Bums, and Walter
Scott, and down to our own times.
November 1887.
INTEODUCTION
THE SCOTTISH LANGUAGE AND ITS
LITERARY HISTORY.
The Lowland Scottish language is not a mere dialect, as many-
English people believe ; but a true language, differing some-
times from modern English in pronunciation, and more fre-
quently in the possession of many beautiful words, which have
ceased to be English, and in the use of inflexions unknown to
literary and spoken English since the days of the author of
Piers Ploughman and Chaucer. In fact, Scotch is for the
most part old English. The English and Scotch languages
are both mainly derived from various branches of the Teu-
tonic; and five hundred years ago, may be correctly described
as having been Anglo-Teutonic and Scoto -Teutonic. Time has
replaced the Anglo-Teutonic by the modern English, but has
spared the Scoto-Teutonic, which still remains a living speech.
Though the children of one mother, the two have lived apart,
received different educations, developed themselves under dis-
similar circumstances, and received accretions from indepen-
dent and unrelated sources. The English, as far as it remains
an Anglo-Teutonic tongue, is derived from the Dutch or
Flemish, with a large intermixture of Latin and French. The
Scotch is indebted more immediately to the Dutch and Flemish
spoken in Holland and Belgium, both for its fundamental and
most characteristic words, and for its inflexion and grammar.
viii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
The English bristles with consonants. The Scotch is as
spangled with vowels as a meadow with daisies in the month
of May. English, though perhaps the most muscular and
copious language in the world, is harsh and sibilant; while
the Scotch, with its beautiful terminational diminutives, is
almost as soft as the Italian. English songs, like those of
Moore and Campbell,^ however excellent they may be as
poetical compositions, are, for these reasons, not so available
for musical purposes as the songs of Scotland. An English-
man, if he sings of a "pretty little girl," uses words deficient
in euphony, and suggests comedy rather than sentiment ; but
when a Scotsman sings of a "bonnie wee lassie," he employs
words that are much softer than their English equivalents,
express a tenderer and more romantic idea, and are infinitely
better adapted to the art of the composer and the larynx of
the singer. And the phrase is but a sample of many thou-
sands of words that make the Scottish language more musical
than its English sister.
The word Teutonic is in these pages used advisedly instead
of " Saxon " or Anglo-Saxon. The word " Saxon " is never
applied in Germany to the German or High Dutch, or to any
of the languages that sprang out of it, known as Low Dutch.
Even in the little kingdom of Saxony itself, the language
spoken by the people is always called Deutsch (or German),
and never Saxon. The compound word Anglo-Saxon is purely
an invention of English writers at a comparatively late period,
and is neither justified by Philology nor History.
^ Neither of these was an Englishman. And it is curious to note
that no Englishman since the time of Charles II. has ever rendered
himself very famous as a song-writer, with the sole exceptions of
Charles Dibdin and Barry Cornwall, whose songs are by no means
of the highest merit ; while Scotsmen and Irishmen who have written
excellent songs, both in their own language and in English, are to be
counted by the score — or the hundred.
Introduction. ix
Philology, even in the advanced period in which we now
live, is, at the best, but a blind and groping science. It has
made but little real progress since the invention of printing,
having been anticipated mainly by shallow scioKsts, who based
etymology upon fanciful guesses and vague resemblances.
A by no means unfair specimen of the class accounted for the
vulgar word '* sparrow-grass," a corruption of asparagus; by
" sparrow " and '^ grass," on the assumption that the herb was
a species of grass to which sparrows were particularly partial.
Many of the etymologies which English literature owes to
Dr. Samuel Johnson, his predecessors and successors, in the lexi-
cographic industry, are frequently as ludicrously ill-founded.
The name of the Southern portion of Great Britain has been
derived from a supposed German tribe, who with the Jutes
and Saxons invaded the island after the departure of the
Romans. It happens, however, that there is no real founda-
tion for the confident statement that the name of " Angles "
was ever borne by or known to any German tribes. The
invaders of the east coast of Britain, both North and South,
came from the opposite coast of the continent, principally from
Denmark, Holland, and Belgium, and brought their laws and
language along with them. The true origin of the word
" Angles " is the Keltic or Gaelic an, the definite article, and
gaidheil (in which the dh are not pronounced), which signifies
the "Gael" or the Celts; whence An-gael, and not Angle.
The erroneous interpretation, still too firmly fixed in the
minds of both the learned and the unlearned to be easily
eradicated, was strengthened by a punning compliment paid
by Pope Gregory the Great to a party of British youth of
both sexes who were carried into slavery in Rome, and which
is recorded in Hume's " History of England." " Struck with
the beauty of their fair complexion and blooming counte-
nances," says the historian, " Gregory asked to what country
they belonged, and being told they were Angles^ he replied
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
that they ought more properly to be denominated Angels, as
it would be a pity that the Prince of Darkness should enjoy
so fair a prey, and that so beautiful a frontispiece should cover
a mind so destitute of internal graces and righteousness."
The epithet " Anglo-Saxon," now so frequently applied to
the natives of South Britain, is of recent origin, and was
not known in the golden age of English literature, when
Shakspeare and Spenser flourished, nor until the second half
of the eighteenth century. Great Britain was known to the
Romans as Anglia centuries before the Saxons, or that section
of them erroneously supposed to have been called Angles,
established themselves in any part of the country. It was
not until the Hanoverian family of the Georges had given
three sovereigns to the country that courtly writers began to
talk of the Anglo-Saxon origin of the people, and that the
epithet finally became synonymous with "Enghsh." It is
true that in the time of the Romans a small portion of the
eastern coast of Anglia, immediately opposite Belgium and
Holland, was called *' the Saxon shore." The name was given
to it from the fact that successive swarms of Flemish, Dutch,
and Danish pirates had succeeded in forming settlements on the
littoral, though they had never been able to penetrate into the
interior of the country. The Gael, or Celts, called these pirates
Sassenach, as the Southern English are called to this day by
the Gaelic and Keltic-speaking people of Wales, Ireland, and
Scotland. The word did not originally signify a German or
native of Saxony, but a robber.
The Scottish people, though they do not hate the English as
too many of the Irish unfortunately do, remark with pride that
Scotland is a nation of itself, that it can boast of an antiquity
as venerable and of a history as illustrious as that of its larger
realm — the throne of which one of its native kings ascended
by hereditary right in the seventeenth century, and in suc-
cession to Queen Elizabeth — and they object to being called
Introduction. xi
Englishmen. By the Act of Union between the two nations,
the names of England and Scotland were legislatively abolished,
Scotland being called North Britain, and England South Britain,
while the army, navy, and government were severally denomi-
nated those of Great Britain, and not the army, navy, and
government of either England or Scotland.
But popular usage in South Britain and at the seat of
government has proved itself stronger than the Act of Par-
liament, and many of the Scotch themselves, yielding to the
literary and colloquial fashion set by the South, find them-
selves speaking, sometimes in praise, sometimes in blame, of
the English Government. It cannot, however, be affirmed
that the objection taken by the northern nation to the southern
usurpation of the epithet English is in any way unreasonable,
founded as it is upon the commonly received if not universal
opinion that the English receive their name from the German
" Angles." The Southern English believe this fable, and not
aware of the fact that they are not half so much German as
they think themselves, make light of the Scottish objection,
and call it sentimental, and unworthy of practical considera-
tion. But if Angles are in reality " Angael " or the Gael, the
Scottish and Northern British people are quite as much Angael
or English as those of the south, and the English Government
is rightfully the designation of government of the whole
kingdom. This fact should remove the natural jealousy of the
Scotch, and cut away from the conceit of the South British
the very slender and rotten foundation on which it is based.
But until the Southern English admit the fact that a colony
of Germans did not give name to England, but that the whole
country of Britain, otherwise Angha, as the Romans called
it, derives its name from the Keltic Angael^ the North British
are quite right in objecting and in refusing to recognise in
their Southern fellow-countrymen the sole and exclusive title
to the honourable designation.
xii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
The principal components of the Scottish tongue, as dis-
tinguished from modern and literary English, are derived
not from German or High Dutch, but from the Low Dutch,
comprising many words once possessed by the English, but
which have become obsolete in the latter ; secondly, words and
inflexions derived from the Dutch or Flemish, and Danish ;
thirdly, words derived from the French, or from the Latin
through a French medium ; and fourthly, words derived from
the Gaelic or Keltic language of the Highlands, and of Ireland.
As regards the first source, it is interesting to note that in
the Glossary appended to Mr. Thomas Wright's edition of
those ancient and excellent alliterative poems, the '* Vision "
and " Creed " of Piers Ploughman, there occur about two
thousand obsolete English or Anglo-Teutonic words, many of
which are still retained in the Scottish Lowlands ; and that in
the Glossary to Tyrrwhitt's edition of Chaucer there occur
upwards of six thousand words which need explanation to
modern English readers, but fully one half of which need no
explanation whatever to a Scotsman. Even Shakspeare is
becoming obsolete, and uses upwards of two thousand four
hundred words which Mr. Howard Staunton, in many respects
his most judicious editor, thinks it necessary to collect in a
glossary for the better elucidation of the text. Many of these
words are perfectly familiar to a Scottish ear, and require no
interpreter. It appears from these facts that the Scotch is
a far more conservative language than modern English, and
that although it does not object to receive new words, it clings
reverently and affectionately to the old. The consequence of
this mingled tenacity and elasticity is, that it possesses a
vocabulary which includes for a Scotsman's use every word
of the English language, and several thousand words which
the English have suffered to drop into desuetude.
In addition to this conservancy of the very bone and sinew
of the language, the Scoto-Teutonic has an advantage over the
Introduction. xiii
modem English, in having reserved to itself the power, while
retaining all the old words of the language, to eliminate from
every word all harsh or unnecessary consonants. Thus it has
?oe, for love ; fa\ for fall : wa\ for wall ; awfu\ for awful ;
S7)ia\ for small ; and many hundreds of similar abbreviations
which detract nothing from the force of the idea or the clear-
ness of the meaning, while they soften the roughness of the
expression. No such power resides in the English or the
French, though it once resided in both, and very little of it in
the German language, though it remains in all those European
tongues which trace their origin to the Low Dutch. The
Scottish poet or versifier may write /a' or "fall " as it pleases
him, but his English compeer must write "fall" without
abbreviation. Another source of the superior euphony of the
Scoto-Teutonic is the single diminutive in ie, and the double
diminutive in hie, formed from och or ock, or possibly from
the Teutonic chen, as in mddchen, a little maid, which may be
applied to any noun in the language, as loifef wifie, wifoch,
wifikie, wife, little wife, very little wife ; hairn, hairnie,
hairniMe, child, little child, very little child; Urd, hirdie,
hirdikie ; and lass, lassie, lassock, lassikie, &c.^ A very few
English nouns remain susceptible of one of these two diminu-
tives, though in a less musical form, as lamb, lambkin ; goose,
gosling, &c. The superior beauty of the Scottish forms of the
diminutive is obvious. Take the following lines from Hector
MacNeil's song, " My Boy Tammie : " —
** I held her to my beating heart,
My young, my smiling lammie."
1 The following specimen of the similar diminutives common in
the Dutch and Flemish language are extracted from the Grammaire
Flamande of Philippe La Grue, Amsterdam, 1745 : — Manneken, little
man ; wyfTcen, little wife ; vrouwtje, little woman ; Meysgie, little girl
(Scottice, Missie) ; Mantje, little man ; huysje, little house ; paerdje, little
horse ; 8cheq>je, little boat (Scottice, boatie) ; vogdtje, little bird, or
birdie.
xiv Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Were the English word lambkin substituted for lammie in
this passage the affectionate and tender would be superseded
by the prosaic.
While these abbreviations and diminutives increase not
only the melody but the naivete and archness of the spoken
language, the retention of the old and strong inflexions of
verbs, that are wrongfully called irregular, contributes very
much to its force and harmony, giving it at the same time
a superiority over the modern English, which has consented
to allow many useful preterites and past- participles to perish
altogether. In literary and conversational English there is
no distinctive preterite for the verbs to heat, to het^ to hid, to
forhid, to cast, to hit, to hurt, to put, and to set ; while only
three of them, to heat, to hid, and to forhid, retain the past-
participles beaten, hidden, and forbidden. The Scottish lan-
guage, on the contrary, has retained all the ancient forms of
these verbs ; and can say, " I cast, I coost, and I have casten
a stone," or *' I put, I pat, or I have putten on my coat," " I
hurt, I hurted, or I have hurten myself," and *' I let, I loot, or
I have letten, or looten, fa' my tears," &c.
Chaucer made an effort to introduce many French words
into the courtly and literary English of his time, but with
very slight success. No such systematic effort was made by
any Scottish writer, yet, nevertheless, in consequence of the
friendly intercourse long subsisting between France and Scot-
land — an intercourse that was alike political, commercial, and
social — a considerable number of words of French origin crept
into the Scottish vernacular, and there established themselves
with a tenacity that is not likely to be relaxed as long as the
language continues to be spoken.- Some of these are among
the most racy and characteristic of the differences between
the English and the Scotch. It will be sufficient if we cite
the following : — To fash one's self, to be troubled with or about
anything — from se fdcher, to be angered ; douce, gentle, good-
Introduction. xv
tempered, courteous — from doux, soft; dour, grim, obdurate,
slow to forgive or relent — from dur, hard ; hien, comfortable,
well to do in worldly affairs — from hien, well j ashet, a dish —
from assiette, a plate; a creel, a fish-basket — from creille, a
basket ; a gigot of mutton — from gigot, a leg ; awmrie, a linen
press, or plate-cupboard — from armoire, a movable cupboard
or press ; honnie, beautiful and good — from ban, good ; airles
and a*VZe-penny, money paid in advance to seal a bargain —
from arrhes, a deposit on account; hrulzie, a fight or dispute
— from s'emhrouiller, to quarrel; callant, a lad — from galant,
a lover ; braw, fine — from brave, honest and courageous ; dool,
sorrow — from deuil ; grozet, a gooseberry (which, be it said in
parenthesis, is a popular corruption from ^orse- berry) — from
groseille ; taujpie, a thoughtless, foolish girl, who does not look
before her to see what she is doing — from taupe, a mole ; and
haggis, the Scottish national dish (*' Fair fa' its honest, sonsie
face ! ") — from hachis, a hash ; pawn, peacock — from paon ;
caddie, a young man acting as a porter or messenger — from
cadet, the younger born, &c.
The Teutonic words derived immediately from the Dutch
and Flemish, and following the rules of pronunciation of
those languages, are exceedingly numerous. Among these are
wanlwpe — from icanhoop, despair; wancliancie, ivanlust, loan-
restful, and many others, where the English adopt the German
un instead of wan. Ben, the inner, as distinguished from but,
the outer, room of a cottage, is from binne, within, as but is
from beuten, without. Stane, a stone, comes from steen ;
smack, to taste^from smack ; goud, gold — from gaud; loupen,
to leap — from loopen ; fell, cruel, violent, fierce — from fel ;
kist, a chest — from kist ; mutch, a woman's cap — from muts ;
ghaist, a ghost — from geest ; kame, a comb — from kam ; rock-
lay (rocklaigh), a short coat — from rok, a petticoat or jupon ;
het, hot — from heet; geek, to mock or make a fool of — from
gek, a fool ; tear, knowledge — from leer, doctrine or learning ;
xvi Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
bane or hain^ a bone — from been ; paddocJc, a toad — from pad ;
caff^ chaff — from kaf, straw ; yooky, itchy — from yuh^ an itch ;
clyte^ to fall heavily or suddenly to the ground — from Uuyt^
the sward, and Tduyter^ to fall on the sward ; Uythe, lively,
good-humoured, from hlyde, contented.
The Scottish words derived from the Gaelic are apparent
in the names of places and in the colloquial phraseology of
everyday life. Among these, hen^ glen, hum, loch, strath, corrie,
and cairn will recur to the memory of any one who has lived
or travelled in Scotland, or is conversant with Scottish lite-
rature. Gillie, a boy or servant; grieve, a land-steward or
agent, are not only ancient Scottish words, but have lately
become English. Loof, the open palm, is derived from the
Gaelic lamh (pronounced laff or lav), the hand; cuddle, to
embrace — from cadail, sleep; whisky — from uisge, water;
cla/^han, a village — from clach, a stone, and clachan, the stones ;
croon, to hum a tune — from cruin, to lament or moan ; bailie,
a city or borough magistrate — from haile, a town ; may serve
as specimens of the many words which, in the natural inter-
course between the Highlanders and the Lowlanders, have
been derived from the ancient Gaelic by the more modem
Scoto -Teutonic.
Four centuries ago, the English or Anglo-Teutonic, when
Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate were still intelligible, had a
much greater resemblance to the Scoto-Teutonic than it has
at the present day. William Dunbar, one of the earliest,
as he was one of the best of the Scottish poets, and supposed
to have been born in 1465, in the reign of James III. in
Scotland, and of Edward IV. in England, wrote, among other
poems, the "Thrissel and the Rose." This composition was
alike good Scotch and good English, and equally intelligible to
the people of both countries. It was designed to commemorate
the marriage of James IV. with Margaret Tudor, daughter
of King Henry VII. of England — that small cause of many
Introduction. xvii
great events, of which the issues have extended to our time,
and which gave the Stuarts their title to the British throne.
Dunbar wrote in the Scotch of the literati rather than in
that of the common people, as did King James I. at an earlier
period, when, a captive in Windsor Castle, he indited his
beautiful poem, "The King's Quair," to celebrate the grace
and loveliness of the Lady Beaufort, whom he afterwards
married. The " Thrissel and the Rose " is only archaic in its
orthography, and contains no words that a commonly well-
educated Scottish ploughman cannot at this day understand,
though it might puzzle some of the clever University men who
write for the London press to interpret it without the aid
of a glossary. Were the spelling of the following passages
modernised, it would be found that there is nothing in any
subsequent poetry, from Dunbar's day to our own, with
which it need fear a comparison : —
** Quhen Merche wes with variand windis, past,
And Apryll hadd^, with her silver shouris
Tane leif at nature, with ane orient blast.
And lusty May, that mudder is of flouris,
Had maid the birdis to begyn their houris
Among the tender odouris reid and quhyt,
Quhois harmony to heir it was delyt.
In bed at morrowe, sleiping as I lay,
Methocht Aurora, with her crystal een.
In at the window lukit by the day.
And halsit me with visage paile and grene,
On quhois hand a lark sang fro the splene :
' Awauk luvaris ! out of your slummering !
See how the lusty morrow dois upspring 1 ' "
King James V. did not, like Dunbar, confine his poetic
ejfforts to the speech of the learned, but is supposed to have
written in the vernacular of the peasantry and townspeople
his well-known poem of " Peblis to the Play." This composi-
tion scarcely contains a word that Burns, three hundred years
h
xviii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
later, would have hesitated to employ. In like manner King
James V., in his more recent poem of " Christ's Kirk on the
Green," written nearly three hundred and twenty years ago,^
made use of the language of the peasantry to describe the
assembly of the lasses and their wooers that came to the
"dancing and the deray," with their gloves of the ^^ raffele
richt" (right doeskin), their "shoon of the straitis" (coarse
cloth), and their
*' Eirtles of the lineum [Lincoln] licht,
Weel pressed wi' mony plaitis."
His description of " Gillie " is equal to anything in Allan
Kamsay or Burns, and quite as intelligible to the Scottisli
peasantry of the present day : —
*' Of all thir maidens mild as mcid
Was nane say gymp as Gillie ;
As ony rose her rude was reid,
Hir lire was like the lily.
Bot zallow, zallow was hir heid,
And Kche of luif sae sillie,
Though a' hir kin suld hae bein deid,
Sche wuld hae bot sweit Willie."
Captain Alexander Montgomery, who was attached to the
service of the Regent Murray in 1577, and who enjoyed a
pension from King James VI., wrote many poems in which
the beauty, the strength, and the archness of the Scottish
language were very abundantly displayed. " Tlie Cherry and
the Slae " is particularly rich in words, that Ramsay, Scott,
and Burns have since rendered classical, and is besides a poem
as excellent in thought and fancy as it is copious and musical
1 * • This is doubtful," says the late Lord Neaves, in a letter to the editor
of this volume. ** These obscure questions are fully discussed by Dr.
Irving in his History of Scottish Poetry. I should say the probability
was that 'Peblis to the Play' and 'Christ's Kirk' are by the same
authors or of the same age, and neither of them by James V."
Introduction. xix
in diction. Take the description of the music of the birds on
a May morning as a specimen : —
" The cushat croods, the corbie cries,
The coukoo couks, the prattling pies
To keck hir they begin.
The jargon o' the jangling jays,
The craiking craws and keckling kayes,
They deaved me with their din.
The painted pawn with Argus e'en
Can on his mayock call ;
The turtle wails on withered trees.
And Echo answers all.
Repeting, with greting,
How fair Narcissus fell,
By lying and spying
His schadow in the well."
The contemporaneous, perhaps the more recent, poetry of
what may be called the ballad period, when the beautiful
legendary and romantic lyrics of Scotland were sung in hall
and bower, and spread from mouth to mouth among the
peasantry, in the days when printing was rather for the
hundred than for the million, as well as the comparatively
modem effusions of Ramsay and Burns, and the later pro-
ductions of the multitudinous poets and prose writers who
have adorned the literature of Scotland within the present cen-
tury, afford very convincing proofs, not only of the poetic riches,
but of the abundant wit and humour of the Scottish people, to
which the Scottish language lends itself far more effectually
than the English. Long anterior to the age when the noble
art of printing was invented for the delight and instruction of
mankind, the poetry of the bards of the ^'JSTorth Countrie"
was familiar not only to the people of the North Countrie
itself, but to those of the Teutonic south — a far less poetic
race than their Keltic brethren ; and northern ballads were re-
cited or sung in hall and bower among the upper classes, and
XX Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
in the popular gatherings of the multitude at fairs and festi-
vals. These ballads, which often received an English colouring
in travelling southwards, were highly esteemed for at least
three centuries before the days of Shakspeare. The great
poet was himself familiar with them, as is shown by more
than one quotation from them in his immortal works.
Since the time when James YI. attracted so many of his poor
countrymen to England, to push their fortunes at the expense
of Englishmen, who would have been glad of their places, to
the day when Lord Bute's administration under George III.
made all Scotsmen unpopular for his sake, and when Dr.
Samuel Johnson, who was of Scottish extraction himself [the
son of a Scot, established as a bookseller in Leicester], and
pretended to dislike Scotsmen — the better perhaps to disguise
the fact of his lineage, and turn away suspicion — up to the
time of Charles Lamb and the late Rev. Sydney Smith, it has
been more or less the fashion in England to indulge in jokes
at the expense of the Scottish people, and to portray them not
only as overhard, shrewd, and " canny " in money matters, but
as utterly insensible to " wit." Sydney Smith, who was a wit
himself, and very probably imbibed his jocosity from the con-
versation of Edinburgh society, in the days when in that city
he cultivated literature, as he himself records, upon a little
oatmeal, is guilty of the well-known assertion that " it takes
a surgical operation to drive a joke into a Scotsman's head."
It would be useless to enter into any discussion on the differ-
ences between " wit " and " humour," which are many, or even
to attempt to define the divergency between **wit" and what
the Scotch call " wut ; " but, in contradiction to the reverend
joker, it is necessary to assert that the " wut " of the Scotch
is quite equal to the *' wit " of the English, and that Scottish
humour is superior to any humour that was ever evolved out
of the inner consciousness or intellect of the English peasantry
inhabiting the counties south of Yorkshire. There is one
Introduction. xxi
thing, however, which perhaps Sydney Smith intended when
he wrote, without thinking very deeply, if at all, about
what he said ; the Scotch as a rule do not like, and do not
imderstand banter, or what in the current slang of the day
is called "chaff." In "chaff" and "banter" there is but
little wit, and that little is of the poorest, and contains no
humour whatever. " Chaff " is simply vulgar impertinence ;
and the Scotch being a plain and serious people, though
poetical, are slow to understand and unable to appreciate it.
But with wit, or "wut," and humour, that are deserving
of the name, they are abundantly familiar; and their very
seriousness enables them to enjoy them the more. The
wittiest of men are often the most serious, if not the saddest
and most melancholy (witness Thomas Hood, Douglas Jerrold,
and Artemus Ward), and if the shortest possible refutation of
Sydney Smith's assertion were required, it might be found
in the works of Burns, Scott, and Christopher North.
Were there no wit and humour to be found in Scotand ex-
cept in the writings of these three illustrious Scotsmen,
there would be enough and to spare to make an end of this
stale "chaff;" and to show by comparison that, wit and
humorist as Sydney Smith may have been, he was not equal
as a wit to Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, or Professor
Wilson. In what English poem of equal length is there to
be found so much genuine wit and humour mingled with
such sublimity and such true pathos and knowledge of life
and character as in "Tam o' Shanter"? What English novel,
by the very best of English writers, exceeds for wit and
humour any one of the great Scottish romances and tales of
Sir Walter Scott, the least of which would be sufficient to
build up and sustain a high literary reputation ? And what
collection of English jests is equal to the " Laird of Logan,"
or Dean Ramsay's " Reminiscences of Scottish Life and
Character " ? Joe Miller's " Jest Book," and all the countless
xxii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
stories that have been fathered upon Joe Miller — one of the
most melancholy of men — are but dreary reading, depending
as they mostly do for their point upon mere puns and plays
upon words, and to a great extent being utterly deficient in
humour. It seems to require some infusion of Keltic blood in
a nation to make the people either witty or appreciative of
wit ; for the dullest of all European peoples are without ex-
ception those in whom the Keltic least prevails. There is
little or no wit or sense of wit in the peasantry of the South
of England, though there may be some degree of coarse
humour. Whereas the Scottish and the Irish peasantry are
brimful both of wit and humour. If any one would wish to
have a compendium of wisdom, wit, humour, and abundant
knowledge, kindly as well as unkindly, of human nature, let him
look to Allan Ramsay's "Collection of Scots Proverbs," where
he will find a more perfect treasury of "pawkie," "cannie,"
" cantie," shrewd, homely, and familiar philosophy than English
literature affords. And the humour and wit are not only in
the ideas, but in the phraseology, which is untranslateable.
Scottish poetry and pathos find their equivalents in English
and Teutonic, but the quaint Scottish words refuse to go into
any other idiom. " A man's a man for a' that " — strong,
characteristic, and nervous in the Scottish Doric, fades away
into attenuation and hanaliU when the attempt is made to
render the noble phrase into French or German, Italian or
Spanish. Even in English the words lose their flavour, and
become weak by the substitution of "all that," for the more
emphatic "a' that." Translate into literary English the
couplet in " Duncan Gray," in which the rejected lover of
Maggie
Grat his e'en baith bleer't and blin — '
Spak o' lowpin ower a lin —
and the superior power of expressing the humorous which
belongs to the Scottish language will at once become ap-
Introduction. xxiii
parent. In the same way, when Luath, the poor man's dog,
explains to his aristocratic friend what a hard time the
poor have of it, a literal translation of the passage into col-
loquial English would utterly deprive it of its tenderness and
humour : —
A cotter howkin in a sheugh,
Wi' dirty stanes higgin a dyke,
Baring a quarry and sic like ;
Himsel' an' wife he thus sustains
A smytrie o' icee duddie loeans,
And nocht but his hand darg to keep
Them right and tight in thack and rape.
The *' smytrie o' wee duddie weans " is simply inimitable,
and sets a fair English translation and even a paraphrase
at defiance.
Time was within living memory when the Scotch of the
upper classes prided themselves on their native "Doric;"
when judges on the bench delivered their judgments in the
broadest Scotch, and would have thought themselves guilty of
puerile and unworthy affectation if they had preferred English
words or English accents to the language of their boyhood ;
when advocates pleaded in the same forcible tongue ; when
ministers of religion found their best way to the hearts and
to the understanding of their congregations in the use of the
language most familiar to themselves, as well as to those
whom they addressed ; and when ladies of the highest rank —
celebrated alike for their wit and their beauty — sang their
tenderest, archest, and most affecting songs, and made their
bravest thrusts and parries in the sparkling ^ encounters of
conversation, in the familiar speech of their own country. All
this, however, is fast disappearing, and not only the wealthy
and titled, who live much in London, begin to grow ashamed of
speaking the language of their ancestors, though the sound of
the well-beloved accents from the mouths of others is not
unwelcome or unmusical to their ears, but even the middle-
xxiv Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
class Scotch are learning to follow their example. The mem-
bers of the legal and medical profession are afraid of the
accusation of vulgarity that might be launched against them
if they spoke publicly in the picturesque language of their
fathers and grandfathers; and the clergy are unlearning in
the pulpit the brave old speech that was good enough for
John Knox [who was the greatest Angliciser of his day, and
was accused by Winyet of that fault], and many thousands of
pious preachers who, since his time, have worthily kept alive
the faith of the Scottish people by appeals to their consciences
in the language of their hearts. In ceasing to employ the
*' unadorned eloquence " of the sturdy vernacular, and using
instead of it the language of books and of the Southern English,
it is to be feared that too ' many of these literary preachers
have lost their former hold upon the mind of the people, and
that they have sensibly weakened the powers of persuasion and
conviction which they possessed when their words were in
sympathetic unison with the current of thought and feeling that
flowed through the broad Scottish intellect of the peasantry.
And where fashion leads, snobbism will certainly follow, so
that it happens even in Scotland that young Scotsmen of the
Dundreary class will sometimes boast of their inability to
understand the poetry of Burns and the romances of Scott on
account of the difficulties presented by the language ! — as if
their crass ignorance were a thing to be proud of !
But the old language, though of later years it has become
unfashionable in its native land, survives not alone on the
tongue but in the heart of the " common " people (and where
is there such a common [or uncommon] people as the peasantry
of Scotland ?), and has established for itself a place in the
affections of those ardent Scotsmen who travel to the New
World and to the remotest part of the Old, with the auri sacra
fames, to lead them on to fortune, but who never permit that
particular species of hunger — which is by no means peculiar to
Introduction. xxv
Scotsmen — to deaden their hearts to their native land, or to
render them indifferent to their native speech, the merest
word of which, when uttered unexpectedly under a foreign
sky, stirs up all the latent patriotism in their minds, and opens
their hearts, and if need be their purses, to the utterer. It
has also by a kind of poetical justice established for itself a
hold and a footing even in the modern English which affects
to ignore it ; and, thanks more especially to Bums and Scott,
and, in a minor degree, to Professor Wilson, and to the ad-
miration which their genius has excited in England, America,
and Australia, has engrafted many of its loveliest shoots upon
the modern tree of actually spoken English. Every year the
number of words that are taken like seeds or grafts from the
Scottish conservatory, and transplanted into the fruitful Eng-
lish garden, is on the increase, as will be seen from the following
anthology of specimens, which might have been made ten times
as abundant if it had been possible to squeeze into one goblet
a whole tun of hippocrene. Many of these words are recognised
English, permissible both in literature and conversation ; many
others are in progress and process of adoption and assimilation ;
and many more that are not English, and may never become
so, are fully worthy of a place in the Dictionary of a language
that has room for every word, let it come whence it will, that
expresses a new meaning or a more delicate shade of an old
meaning, than any existing forms of expression admit. Eerie^
and gloaming^ and cannie, and cantie, and cozie, and lift, and
liltf and caller, and gruesome, and thud, and weird, are all of
an ancient and noble pedigree, and were the most of them as
English in the fifteenth century as they are fast becoming in
the nineteenth.
If any Scotsman at home or abroad should, in going
over the list in this epitome, fail to discover some favourite
word that was dear to him in childhood, and that stirs up
the recollections of his native land, and of the days when
xxvi Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
he "paidled in the burn," or stood by the trysting-tree
" to meet his bonnie lassie when the kye cam' hame," —
one word that recalls old times, old friends, and bygone
joys and sorrows, — let him reflect that in culling a posie
from the garden, the posie must of necessity be smaller
than the garden itself, and that the most copious of
selectors must omit much that he would have been glad to
add to his garland if the space at his disposal had permitted.
He must also remember that all the growths of the garden
are not rare flowers, but that weeds, though worthy of respect
in their way, are not always of appropriate introduction into
wreaths and garlands ; and that the design of this Dictionary
was not to include all Scotticisms, but only those venerable
by their antiquity, quaint in their humour, touching in their
simplicity, or admirable in their poetic meaning.
The principal writers who have adorned the literature of
Scotland during the last three centuries, in addition to the
nameless and unknown minstrels to whom we owe so many of
the rugged but beautiful ballads of the North Countrie, may
be fairly said to have commenced with Dunbar, Barbour,
Henryson, and Montgomery, and to have ended with Professor
John Wilson, author of the inimitable "Noctes Ambrosianse"
in Blackioood's Magazine. The list is long, and includes in
the seventeenth and early years of the eighteenth centuries
the names of William Crawford, author of many songs in
the purest vernacular of the peasantry; of Hector MacNeil,
whose exquisite ballad of the " Braes of Yarrow " would
be alone sufficient to place him high in the muster roll
of Scottish poets ; and of Allan Ramsay, author of the
" Grentle Shepherd," a pastoral poem of which the simple
beauty was universally acknowledged at a time when pastoral
poems were more to the taste of the age than they have been
for the last century, and who collected into four volumes, under
the title of the " Tea-Table Miscellany," all the favourite songs
Introduction. xxvii
of the artificial period in which he flourished. Robert Burns
had the highest reverence for the songs of Allan Ramsay, and
considered it almost as bad as sacrilege to lay a reforming hand
upon the compositions of his venerated predecessor, though
Ramsay the wig-maker and barber was a star of very inferior
magnitude and brilliancy compared with the solar effulgence
that radiated from the genius of Burns the ploughman.
Between the period of Ramsay and that of Burns, which
included about sixty years of very indifferent poetical mani-
festations, at least in Scotland, the lyric genius of the country
continued as irrepressible, and songs of secondary merit flowed
from the lips or pens of literate and illiterate people in a
profuse stream. Even the unhappy events of 17 15 and 1745,
when the adherents of the dethroned and exiled Stuarts made
their gallant and heroic attempts to re-establish themselves in
the land of their birth and of their love — the land which they
believed the Stuarts had a divine right to govern — the voice
of song continued to be heard. True and tender-hearted
people make love even in times of national peril and calamity,
and the Scottish people sang or made love songs as usual
in the homely and earnest dialect of the nation ; while more
earnest spirits gave vent to their political animosities and
aspirations in the satirical rhymes and trenchant ballads that
are still, under the name of " The Jacobite Minstrelsy of
Scotland," known to all the literary students of history, as
affording a greater insight into the social spirit of the people
than the more staid and solid records of the mere annalist
or philosophical historiographer are able to convey. Of the
popular Scottish songs of the still more prolific age that com
menced with the publication of the poems of Robert Burns,
I have spoken in " The Book of Scottish Song," in words that
I cannot do better than repeat in this place.
" Scotland is rich in the literature of song. The genius of
the people is eminently lyrical. Although rigid in religion,
xxviii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
and often gloomy in fanaticism, they have a finer and more
copious music, are fonder of old romance and tradition, dance
and song, and have altogether a more poetical aptitude and
appreciation than their English brethren. For one poet
sprung from the ranks of the English peasantry, Scotland can
boast of ten, if not of a hundred. Ploughmen, shepherds, gar-
deners, weavers, tinklers, tailors, and even strolling beggars,
have enriched the anthology of Scotland with thousands of
songs and ballads of no mean merit. The whole land is as
musical with the voice of song as it is with torrents and water-
falls. Every mountain glen, every strath and loch, every
river and stream, every grove and grassy knowe, every castle,
and almost every cottage, has its own particular song, ballad,
or legend ; for which the country is not so much indebted to
scholars and men of learned leisure and intellectual refinement,
as to the shrewd but hearty and passionate common people."
Of the Jacobite ballads, from which many quotations appear
in the following pages, 1 said at the same time : —
" In the Jacobite songs more especially, the humour was far
more conspicuous than the pathos. In the heat of the conflict,
and when the struggle was as yet unended, and its results uncer-
tain, ridicule and depreciation of the enemy were weapons more
effective to stir the passions of the combatants than appeals
to mere sentiment, even if the sentiment were as elevated as
patriotism, or as tender as love and friendship. It was only
when the Jacobite cause had become utterly hopeless, and when
its illustrious adherents had laid down their lives for it on the
bloody moor of Culloden, or on the cruel block of Tower Hill,
or were pining in foreign lands in penury and exile, that the
popular bards were so far inspired as to be able to strike the
keynote of true poetry.
" As the age was, so were they. In their verse, as in a
mirror, were reflected the events and feelings of the time.
When the time was hopeful, they were hopeful. When the
Introduction. xxix
time was ribald, insolent, jaunty, and reckless, they responded
to its touch like the harp-string to the harper. From 1688
to 1 746 was the day of the common rhymers of the street or
the ale-house, or the lone farmhouse among the hills — the
day when the men of strong feelings, rude humour, and coarse
wit could " say their say " in language intelligible alike to
the clansman and the chief, the ploughman and the gentle-
man. And they were disputants who could hit as hard in the
battles of the tongue as they could, if need were, in the battle
of swords ; and who could wield the musket and claymore in
physical as effectually as the sledge-hammer of invective in
moral warfare. Satire with them was not " a polished razor
keen," but a cudgel or a battering-ram ; not a thing that
merely drew blood, but that broke the skull and smashed the
bones. But after the fatal fight of Culloden the voice of the
coarse humorist, if not altogether silenced, was softened or
subdued. There had been a time to sing and to dance, but it
had passed, and the day of lamentation had succeeded it. The
rhymers had flourished in the one epoch, — it was now the turn
of the poets.
" Sorrow for the vanquished and indignation against the
victors superseded all the lighter emotions which had hitherto
found their expression in songs, ballads, and epigrams ; and
the echoes of national music that came from Scotland came
from saddened hearts, and from desolate and all but depopu-
lated glens. The voice of the mourner of these days was as
pathetic and often as vehement as the inspired strains of
Isaiah and Jeremiah, and partook of the phraseology as well
as sentiment of the sacred writings. In the hour of their
prosperity the Stewarts had been but common men ; but
when adversity befell them, they were elevated to the rank
of heroes and demi-gods. Popular sympathy crowned them
with graces and virtues which, as throned kings, they had
never known ; and loyalty, wavering in the sunshine of
XXX Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
fortune, became firm as the rocks in the tempests of
calamity."
Among the accomplished ladies who between the '45 and
the advent of Burns adorned the poetical literature, the names
of Lady Anne Lindsay, Mrs. Grant of Carron, Lady Grizzel
Baillie, Mrs. Cockbum, Mrs. Crawford, and Miss Blamire
stand conspicuous for the tender, joyous, arch, and melan-
choly ballads which they wrote to the beautiful old melodies
of their country, and which still retain their place amid all
the changes of the musical taste and fashion in our time.
Of the contemporaries of Robert Bums, whose reputations
seem pale in the light of his genius, but who are still worthy
of honourable mention for their contributions to the literature
of their country, may be cited the names of the Rev. John
Skinner, author of the renowned ballad of " Tullochgorum,"
"The Ewie wi' the Crooked Horn," and other songs still
popular ; William Julius Mickle, the author of " There's nae
Luck aboot the Hoose," one of the most simply beautiful
songs that were ever inspired by the domestic affections ;
Robert Ferguson, to whom Burns in a burst of poetic enthu-
siasm generously erected a mortuary memorial in a grave-
yard at Edinburgh ; Lapraik, Semple, and Logan, and in a
succeeding generation Dr. John Leyden ; James Hogg, better
known as the Ettrick Shepherd ; the Baroness Nairn, authoress
of " The Land o' the Leal " and ** Caller Herrin' ; " and Robert
Tannahill, the luckless Paisley weaver, who wrote " Jessie
the Flower o' Dunblane ; " William Ross, the author of
" Eleonore ; " and John Beattie, the luckless author of the
admirable poem of "John o' Amha','' that contains passages
of wit, humour, and descriptive power only exceeded by the
inimitable " Tam o' Shanter " of Burns ; William Motherwell,
Donald Carrick, Alexander Rogers, James Ballantine, and a
very numerous multitude of bards — all more or less esteemed
in Scotland — of which it would serve no good purpose to
Introduction. xxxi
recapitulate the names, even if it were possible to do so.
Favourable specimens of their writings may be seen by all who
care to look for them in such collections as *' Whistle-Binkie,"
" Scottish Minstrelsy " (six volumes), and the very numerous
collections issued from the Edinburgh press from the beginning
till the middle of the present century.
But the greatest of all literary preservers of the Scottish lan-
guage was undoubtedly the illustrious author of the " Waverley
Novels." He was aided in the congenial task of perpetuating
that language by such lesser lights of literature as Allan
Cunningham, John Gait, and Christopher North; but Sir
Walter Scott towered far above them all, and carried the
name and fame of Scotland, as well as the quaint graces and
tender archaisms of the language, to the remotest parts of
the civilised world.
The generations that have arisen since the old Abbey of
Dryburgh received the mortal remains of that greatest of the
Scottish writers, second to none of British birth, except Shak-
speare, have lost sight in some degree of the works of the great
Sir Walter. But though partially eclipsed in popularity, they
are firmly established among the classics of the nineteenth
century, not only in his own country, but in France and Ger-
many. In their original garb — untranslateable to foreign
nations in all their native vigour and delicate shades of mean-
ing — they will consecrate to many a future generation that shall
have ceased to speak Scottish, the remembrance of a noble old
language. Yet it may be said with truth " that even in its
ashes will live the wonted fires ;" for modern English in the
latter half of the nineteenth century has not disdained to
borrow from the ancient Scotch many of the strong simple
words that the fashionable English writers of the eighteenth
century suffered to fall into desuetude. As there has been
pre-Baphaelitism in painting, there have been and will continue
to be pre-Addisonianism and even pre-Shakspearianism in
xxxii Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
the richly composite language spoken and written in these
islands, and in the vast American and Australian continents
that are rapidly producing a literature of their own. The
English language of the future will in all probability comprise
many words not now used or understood on the south of the
Tweed, but that are quite familiar to the north of it, as
well as in the United States and Australia. Such useful and
poetical words as thud, gloamin\ eerie^ dree, weird, and the others
already cited, and which have been adopted from the ancient
Scotch by the best English writers, are a clear gain to the
language, and are not likely to be abandoned.
Whatever oblivion may attend the works of the great bulk
of Scottish writers, Robert Burns and Walter Scott will cer-
tainly live in the affection of posterity ; and if some of their
words have already become obsolete, their wit and humour,
their earnestness and their eloquence, and the whole spirit of
their teachings, will survive. To aid English readers in the
comprehension of these immortal books, and to remind Scottish
readers of what they owe to the literary lights of their country,
is one of the main objects of the present compilation. The
author, if he can be called the author, or merely the artificer of
this book, hopes that it will not only answer this particular pur-
pose, but serve more generally to impress upon the minds of the
people of this age how rich is the language of their ancestors,
and what stores of literary wealth lie comparatively unknown
and unregarded in the vernacular of what are irreverently
called the ** common people." It is the " common people " who
create and shape the language, and the ''uncommon people,"
known as authors, whose duty it is to help to perpetuate it in
books for the pleasure and instruction of posterity.
November 1887.
DICTIONARY OF LOWLAND SCOTCH.
Ae, the indefinite article a, or
one, and far more emphatic in
poetical composition than ane
or one, as in Burns' s beautiful
song "^e fond kiss and then
we sever." Some of the many
half -English editors of the
Scottish poet have altered ae
into " one," which to a Scottish
ear is the reverse of an improve-
ment. Ae does not merely
signify ""one, but only one, and
is definite and particular, not
indefinite and general, in its
meaning.
Aboon, above.
Aiblins, perhaps, possibly ; from
able, conjoined with lin or lins,
inclining to, as in the " westlin
wind" — wind inclining to the
west ; hence aiblins means inclin-
ing to be possible.
There's mony waur been o' the race,
And aiblins ane been better.
—Burns: The Dream.
To George III.
Aidle, ditchwater ; derivation un-
known, but possibly from the
Gaelic adhall, dull, heavy, stag-
nant.
Then lug out your ladle,
Deal brimstone like aidle,
And roar every note of the damned.
—Burns : Orthodox, Orthodox.
Ail at. What ails ye at? is a
peculiarly Scottish synonym for
What is your objection to her,
him, or it ?
An old servant who took a charge of
everything that went on in the family, hav-
ing observed that his master had taken
wine with every lady at the table except one
who wore a green dress, jogged his memory
with the question, " What ails ye at her
in the green gown?" — Dean Ramsay.
Air, early, from the Gaelic ear, the
east, where the sun rises. ** An
air winter makes a sair winter ; "
which maybe Englished, "An
early winter makes a surly
winter."
Airt, a point of the compass ; also
to direct or show the way. This
excellent word ought to be
adopted into English. It comes
from the Gaelic ard, aird, a
height. "Of a' the airts from
which the wind can blaw," is
better than "of all the quar-
A
Aizle — Athol Brose.
ters from which the wind can
blow."
O' a' the airts the wind can blaw,
I dearly lo'e the west,
For there the bonnie lassie lives,
The lassie I lo'e best. — Burns.
But yon green graff (grave), now huskie
green,
Wad airi me to my treasure. — Burns.
Aizle, a live coal that flies out of
the fire. It is a superstition in
England to call the live coals
violently ejected from the fire
by the gas generated in them
by the names of "purses" or
" coflBns," according to the fan-
ciful resemblance which they
bear to these articles, and which
are supposed to be prophetic
of money, or of a death in the
family. Some such superstition
seems to lie at the root of the
Scottish word aide.
She noticed that an aizle brunt
Her braw new worset apron.
— Burns : Halloween.
Jamieson says the word was
used metaphorically by the poet
Douglas to describe the appear-
ance of a country that has been
desolated by fire and sword. In
the Gaelic, aisleine signifies a
death-shroud. The derivation,
which has been suggested from
hazel or hazel-nut, from the
shape of the coal when ejected,
seems untenable. The Gaelic
aiscal, meaning joy, merri-
ment, has also been suggested,
as having been given by children
to the flying embers shot out
from the fire ; but the derivation
from aisleine seems preferable.
Anent, concerning, relating to.
This word has only recently been
admitted into the English dic-
tionaries published in England.
In Worcester's and Webster's
Dictionaries, published in the
United States, it is inserted as
a Scotticism. Mr. Stormonth,
in his Etymological Dictionary
( 1 87 1 ), derives it from the Anglo-
Saxon ongean and the Swedish
on gent, opposite ; but the ety-
mology seems doubtful.
The anxiety anent them was too intense
to admit of the poor people remaining
quietly at home. — The Dream Numbers,
by T. A, Trollope.
Arl- penny, a deposit paid to
seal a bargain ; earnest-money ;
French arrkes. From the Gaehc
cartas or iarlas, earnest-money,
a pledge to complete a bar-
gain.
Here, tak' this gowd, and never want
Enough to gar ye drink and rant,
And this is but an arl-penny
To what I afterwards design ye.
—Allan Ramsay.
Asse, the fireplace; the hearth;
the place where the ashes or
cinders fall. Asse-hole or ash-
pit is supposed by some philo-
logists to be derivable from the
Gaelic aisir, a receptacle ; ais,
the back part of anything, or
backwards.
Do ye no see Rob, Jock, and Hab,
As they are girded gallantlie,
While I am hurklin i' the asse ?
I'll hae a new cloak about me.
— A ncient Ballad : Tak yourA-uld
Cloak about ye.
Athol brose, whisky with honey,
taken as a morning drop; a
Auld Lang Syne — Bab.
powerful and indigestive mix-
ture, that no one but a Highlander
out in the open air and in active
exercise during the whole day
can safely indulge in. Why it
is named from the district of
Athol in preference to any other
part of the Highlands is neither
known nor perhaps discover-
able.
An' aye since he wore tartan trews
He dearly lo'ed the Athole brose,
And wae was he, you may suppose,
To play farewell to whisky.
—Neil Gow.
Auld lang syne. This phrase,
so peculiarly tender and beauti-
ful, and so wholly Scotch, has
no exact synonym in any lan-
guage, and is untranslatable ex-
cept by a weak periphrasis. The
most recent English dictionaries
have adopted it, and the expres-
sion is now almost as common
in England as in Scotland. Allan
Kamsay included in "The Tea-
Table Miscellany" a song en-
titled " Old Long Syne," a very
poor production. It remained
for Robert Bums to make " Auld
lang syne " immortal, and fix it
for ever in the language of Great
Britain, America, and the Anti-
podes. Lang sin syne is a kin-
dred, and almost as beautiful a
phrase, which has not yet been
adopted into English.
A wee, a short time ; contraction
of a ^^ wee while," or a little
while. Bide-a-wee, wait a little.
Upon a summer afternoon,
A wee before the sun gaed doun.
— The Lass d Gowrie.
Awmrie, a chest, a cabinet, a
secretaire ; from the French
armoire.
Close the awmrie, steek the kist,
Or else some gear will soon be missed.
— Sir Walter Scott : Donald Caird.
Ayont, beyond or on the other
side. A Northumbrian as well
as a Scottish word. In the Eng-
lish Border " ayont the Tweed "
is Scotland, and on the Scottish
side of the Border it is Eng-
land.
B
Bab. Any personal adornment
worn by young lovers, either a
bunch of flowers on the bosom,
or a tassel or bow of ribbons.
Lug-hah, an ear-ring ; wooer-babs,
a knot of ribbons tied at the
knee by the young peasant lads
when they went courting. The
word also signifies a cockade or
other badge in the.hat or bonnet.
Bauble is possibly of similar or
the same origin. The word is
derived from the Gaelic babag
or baban, a tassel, a fringe, a
knot, a cluster ; and babach, in-
nocent pleasure, applied to the
bob as a symbol.
A cockit hat with a bob o blue ribbons
at it.
—Sir Walter Scott : Old Mortality
Bairn-time — Bane-dry.
Baim-time, a whole family of chil-
dren, or all the children that a
woman bears. This peculiarly
Scottish word is a corruption
of a bairn-teem ; from the Gaelic
taom, the English teem, to bear,
to produce, to pour out.
Your Majesty, most excellent !
While nobles strive to please ye,
Will ye accept a compliment
A simple Bardie gi'es ye ?
Thae bonny baim-tiftte Heaven has lent.
Still higher may they heeze ye !
— Burns : A Dream, Addressed to
George J II.
The following lines, from ' * The
Auld Farmer's New Year's Salu-
tation to his Auld Mare, Maggie, "
show that Bums understood the
word in its correct sense, though
he adopted the erroneous spell-
ing of time instead of teem : —
My pleugh is now thy bairn-time a',
Four gallant brutes as e'er did draw,
Forbye sax mae I sellt awa',
That thou has nurst ;
They drew me thretteen pounds an' twa,
The very warst.
Balow I An old lullaby in the
Highlands, sung by nurses to
young children, as in the pathe-
tic ballad entitled " Lady Anne
Bothwell's Lament : " —
Balow ! my babe, lie still and sleep.
It grieves me sair to see thee weep !
Bums has ^^ Hee, haloo!" to
the tune of " The Highland
Balow : " —
Hee, ba/oo, my sweet wee Donald,
Picture of the great Clanronald.
The phrase is derived from the
Gaelic bd, the equivalent of bye
in the common English phrase
" Bye ! bye ! " an adjuration to
sleep — *' Go to bye-bye ; " and
laogh, darling, whence, by the
abbreviation of laogh into loo,
bd-lao or balow — " Sleep, dar-
ling." Jamieson has adopted a
ludicrous derivation from the
French — " bas Id le loup," which
he mis-translates " Be still ; the
wolf is coming."
Bandster, one who makes a band
or binds sheaves after the reap-
ers in the harvest-field.
In hairst at the shearing, nae youths now
are jeering.
The bandsters are lyart and wrinkled
and grey ;
At fair or at preaching, nae wooing or
fleeching.
The flowers o' the forest are a' weed
away.
— Elliot : The Flowers of the Forest.
In this pathetic lament for
"the flowers" of Ettrick Forest
— the young men slain at the
doleful battle of Flodden — the
maidens mourn in artless lan-
guage for the loss of their lovers,
and grieve, as in this touching
stanza, that their fellow-labour-
ers in the harvest -field are old
men, wrinkled and grey, with
their sparse locks, instead of
the lusty youths who have died
fighting for their country. The
air of this melancholy but very
beautiful song is pure Gaelic.
Bane-dry, dry as a bone ; bane-
idle, thoroughly idle ; not only
idle in the flesh, but in the bone
and marrow.
Bang — Baudrons.
Ban^, to beat, to subdue ; hangie
or hangsome, quarrelsome, irri-
table, apt to take offence ; hang-
beggar, a constable or a con-
stable's staff, and bangree, a
scolding, irritable, and conten-
tious woman. The etymology
of these words is uncertain.
The last seems to be derivable
from the Gaelic ban, a woman ;
banag, a busy little woman ; ban
cheaird, a female tramp or gipsy.
Bannock, an oatmeal cake, ori-
ginally compounded with milk
instead of water.
Hale breaks, saxpence, and a bannock.
— Burns : To James Tait, Glenconner.
Bannocks o' bear-nieal, bannocks o' barley.
—Jacobite Song.
From the Gaelic bainne, milk.
Bap, a small wheaten cake or roll,
sold in Scotland for breakfast
when porridge is not used. The
grandfather of a late Prime
Minister of Great Britain kept
a small shop in Leith Walk,
Edinburgh, where he sold
"baps," flour, oatmeal, peas,
&c., and where he was popu-
larly known to the boys of
the neighbourhood as " Sma'
Baps," because his baps were
reputed to be smaller than those
of his brother tradesmen.
Barken, to clot, to harden on the
surface, as some viscous and
semi-liquid mixtures do on ex-
posure to the air. The word is
derived from the bark or out-
ward covering of trees.
Barm, yeast ; old English ; not yet
obsolete in the rural districts.
Barmkin, a corruption of barbican,
a watch-tower on a castle or for-
tress. The derivation of barbi-
can (the name of a street in old
London, still retained) is from
the Gaelic bar, a pinnacle
or high place ; and beachan, a
place of watching or observa-
tion. From beachan is derived
beacon, a watch-fire, a signal
light.
And broad and bloody rose the sun.
And on the bamnkin shone.
And he called a page who was witty
and sage
To go to the bartnkin high.
— Border Minstrelsy : Lord Soulis.
Bauch, insipid, tasteless, without
flavour, as in the alliterative pro-
verb : —
Beauty but bounty's but bauch.
— Allan Ramsay.
(Beauty without goodness is without
flavour.)
The etymology of this pecu-
liarly Scottish word is uncertain,
unless it be allied to the English
baulk, to hinder, to impede, to
frustrate ; or from the Gaelic
bac, which has the same mean-
ing.
Baudrons, a pet name for a cat,
for which no etymology has yet
been found. The word remains
as unaccountable as *' Tybert,"
used by Shakspeare for the same
animal.
Auld baudrons by the ingle sits,
Wi' her loof her face a washin'.
— Burns : Sic a Wife as Willie had.
Bauk — Beastte.
Bauk, the cross-beam in the roof
of a cottage ; hauMe-bird, a name
given to the bat, that haunts the
roof. Bauk is from the English
baulk, of which the primary
meaning was from the Gaelic
bac, to hinder, to frustrate, and
was applied to the cross-beam of
the roof because it prevented
the roof from giving way, and
to other wooden partitions ne-
cessary for division. It also
came to signify to disappoint,
because disappointment was the
prevention or hindering of the
fulfilment and realisation of
hope.
When lyart leaves bestrew the yird,
Or, waverin' like the baukie-bird,
Bedim cauld Boreas' blast,
An' hailstanes drive wi' bitter skyte.
— Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
Bawbie, a halfpenny — metaphori-
cally used for a fortune by Sir
Alexander Boswell, the son of
the more famous James Boswell,
the biographer of Dr. Johnson.
It occurs in the song of "Jen-
nie's Bawbie:" —
Quoth he, " My goddess, nymph,
and queen.
Your beauty dazzles baith my e'en,"
But deil a beauty had he seen
But Jennie's bawbee.
Sir Alexander took the hint
of his song from a much older
one: —
A' that e'er my Jeanie had,
My Jeanie had, my Jeanie had,
A' that e'er my Jeanie had
Was ae bawbie.
There's your plack, and my plack,
And your plack, and my plack,
And Jeanie's bawbie.
Bawsont or bawsins, marked
with white on the face, as
in cattle ; of uncertain ety-
mology, but possibly connected
with banh, the forehead.
The stirk stands i' the tether,
And our braw bawsint yade
Will carry ye hame your com ;
What wrad ye be at, ye jade ?
— Wood and Married and a\
Bawtie, a watch-dog ; apparently
from the Gaelic beachd, watch,
observe, and tigh (pronounced
tee), a house. A favourite name
in Scotland for a faithful dog.
The English word Towser, which
is equally common, is also from
the Celtic tuisle, to struggle or
contend with.
Bourd na' in Bawiie, lest he bite (i.e.,
do not play tricks or jest with the watch-
dog, lest he bite you).
Bazil, a sot, a fool ; of unknown
etymology, but possibly con-
nected with the Gaelic peasa-
nach, an impertinent person.
He scorned to sock mang weirdless fellows,
Wi' menseless bazils in an alehouse.
—George Beattie : John o' Amha.
Beak or beek — common in Ayr-
shire and Mearns — to sit by a
fire and exposed to the full heat
of it.
A lion.
To recreate his limbs and take his rest,
Beakand his breast and bellie at the sun.
Under a tree lay in the fair forest.
—Robert Henryson in The Evergreen :
The Lion and the Mouse.
Beastie, an affectionate diminutive
of beast, applied to any small
and favourite animal.
Beck — Bicker,
Wee, sleekit, cowerin', timorous beastie,
Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie !
Thou needna start awa sae hastie,
Wi' bickerin' brattle.
— Burns : To a Mouse.
Beck, to curtsey.
" It's aye gude to be ceevil," as the auld
wife said when she beckit to the deevil. —
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Bed-fast, confined to bed or bed-
ridden. In English, /as« as a
suffix is scarcely used except in
steadfast, i.e., fast fixed to the
stead place or purpose.
For these eight or ten months I have
been ailing, sometimes bed-fast and some-
times not. — Burns : Letter to Cunning-
ham,
An earth -fast or yird-fast
stane is a large stone firmly
fixed in the earth. Faith-fast,
truth- fast, and hope- fast are beau-
tiful phrases, unused by English
writers. If faithful and truth-
ful, faithless and truthless, are
permissible, why not faith-fast,
truth-fast, and hope-fast ?
Beet, to feed or add fuel to a
fire or flame; from the Gaelic
beatha, life, food, and beathaich,
to feed, to nourish.
May Kennedy's far-honoured name
Lang beet his hymeneal flame.
— Burns : To Gavin Hamilton.
It warms me, it charms me.
To mention but her name ;
It heats me, it beets me.
And sets me a' aflame.
— Burns : Epistle to Davie.
I wonderin' gaze on her stately steps.
And beet my hopeless flame.
— Allan Cunningham : Bonny
Lady Ann.
Beltain, the fire of Bel or Baal,
kindled by the Druids annually
on the first morning of May
direct from the rays of the sun.
Ben Ledi, in Perthshire — the
hill of God, as the name signi-
fies in Gaelic — was the most
sacred of all the hills, on the
summit of which this imposing
ceremony was performed. The
name of Bel or Baal is derived
from the Gaelic beatha or bea
{th silent), life, and uile, all ;
whence Bel, Beul, or Baal, the
life of all, and tain, a corrup-
tion of teine, the fire. The cere-
mony was also performed in Ire-
land in pre-Christian times on
the 2 1st of June. The word
" Beltane " is of frequent occur-
rence in the ballad poetry of
Scotland, and in conjunction
with '* Yule " or Christmas is by
no means obsolete ; as in the
phrase, " The love that is hot at
Beltane may grow cauld ere
Yule."
Belyve, by-and-bye, immediately.
This word occurs in Chaucer
and in many old English ro-
mances.
Hie we belyve
And look whether Ogie be alive.
— Romance of Sir Otuel.
Belyve the elder bairns come droppin' in.
^— Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Bicker, a drinking-cup, a beaker,
a turn ; also a quarrel.
Fill high the foaming bicker !
Body and soul are mine, quoth he,
I'll have them both for liquor.
—The Gin Fiend and his Three
Houses.
Bide — Billies,
Setting my staff wi' a' my skill
To keep me sicker ;
Though leeward whiles, against my will,
I took a bicker.
— Burns : Death and Doctor Hornbook.
Bicker means rapid motion, and, in a
secondary and very common sense, quar-
relling, fighting, a battle. Sir Walter Scott
refers to the bickers or battles between the
boys of Edinburgh High School and the
Gutterbluids of the streets. In " Hal-
lowe'en" Burns applies bickering to the
motion of running water : —
Whiles glistened to the nightly rays,
Wi' bickerin, dancin' dazzle.
— R. Drennan.
Bide, to stop, to delay, to wait,
to dwell or abide.
Bield, a shelter. Of uncertain
etymology, perhaps from huild.
Better a wee bush than nae bield.
Every man bends to the bush he gets
bield frae.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Beneath the random bield of clod or stane.
— Burns : To a Mountain Daisy.
Bien, comfortable, agreeable, snug,
pleasant ; from the French hien,
well. Lord Neaves was of opinion
that this derivation was doubt-
ful, but suggested no other. If
the French etymology be inad-
missible, the Gaelic can supply
hinn, which means harmonious,
pleasant, in good order ; which
is perhaps the true root of the
word.
While frosty winds blaw in the drift
Ben to the chimla lug,
I grudge a wee the great folk's gift
That live sae bien and snug.
— Burns : Epistle to Davie.
Biens the but and ben.
— James Ballantine : The Fathers
Knee.
Bier or beir, a lament, a moan.
As I went forth to take the air
Intil an evening clear,
I spied a lady in a wood
Making a heavy bier;
Making a heavy bier, I wot.
While the tears dropped frae her e'en,
And aye she sighed and said Alas !
For Jock o' Hazelgreen.
— Old Ballad, on which Sir Wal-
ter Scott modelled his "Jock
o' Hazeldean."
Jamieson says that heir (not
hier) is allied to the Icelandic
hyre, a tempest, and to old
English hri, hyre, hine, force ;
but it is of more probable origin
in the Gaelic huir, to lament,
to whine ; whence probably the
prevalence of the custom among
the Celtic nations of moaning
over the dead body, and chant-
ing the doleful coronach or
death- wail, came afterwards to
be applied to the hier, or table,
board, or plank, on which the
corpse was extended, or the
coffin in which it was placed.
Bigly, beautiful ; origin unknown.
Will ye come to my bigfy bower,
An' drink the wine wi' me ?
— Buchan's Ancient Scottish Ballads.
Billies, fellows, comrades, young
men ; a term of familiarity and
affection.
When chapman billies leave the street,
And drouthy neebors neebors meet.
—Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Rise up ! rise up now, billie dear,
Rise up ! I speak these words to see
Whether thou'st gotten thy deadly
wound.
Or if God and good leaching may suc-
cour \.\i&^.— Border Minstrelsy.
" This word," says Jamieson,
Bink — Bismeres.
**is probably allied to German
hillig, the Belgian billiks, equals,
as denoting those that are on a
footing as to age, rank, relation,
affection, or employment."
This is an error. In German,
hillig means moderate in price,
fair, just, equitable, reasonable.
The Lowland Scotch billie is
the same as the English fellow ;
and both are derived from the
Gaelic ba-laoch, a shepherd, a
cowherd, a husbandman; from
ha, cows, plural of bo, a cow, and
laoch, a lad, a young man.
Bink or bunker, a bench ; called
in America a bunk.
I set him in beside the iink,
And gied him bread and ale to drink.
— Herd's Collection : The Brisk
Young Lad.
A winnock (window) bunker in the east,
Where sat Auld Nick in shape o' beast.
—Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Bird or burd, a term of endear-
ment, applied to a young woman
or child.
And by my word, the bonnie bird
In danger shall not tarry,
And though the storm is raging wild,
I'll row ye o'er the ferry.
—Thomas Campbell.
Birdalane or burdalane. A term
of sorrowful endearment, ap-
plied to an only child, especially
to a girl, to signify that she is
without household comrades or
companions.
And Newton Gordon, birdalane.
And Dalgetie both stout and keen,
—Scott's Minstrelsy.
Birkie, a young and conceited
person ; from the Gaelic biorach,
a two-year-old heifer ; hioraiehe,
a colt ; applied in derision to a
very young man who is lively but
not over-wise.
Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts and stares and a' that.
—Burns : A Mans a Man.
" And besides, ye donnard carle ! "
continued Sharpitlaw, " the minister did
say that he thought he knew something
of the features of the birkie that spoke to
him in the Park."— Scott : Heart of
Midlothian.
" Weel, Janet, ye ken when I preach
you're almost always fast asleep before
I've well given out my text ; but when any
of these young men from St. Andrews
preach for me, I see you never sleep a wink.
Now that's what I call no using me as you
should do." "Hoot, sir," was the reply,
"is that a'? I'll soon tell you the reason
o' that. When you preach, we a' ken the
Word o' God is safe in your hands; but
when thae young birkies tak it in hand,
ma certie ! but it tak's us a' to look after
them." — Dean Ramsay.
Birl, to pour out liquor ; probably
from the same root as the Eng-
lish purl, as in the phrase *' a
purling stream," probably de-
rived from the ancient but
now obsolete Gaelic bior, a well ;
bioral, pertaining to a well or
like a well.
There were three lords hirling at the wine
On the dowie dens o' Yarrow.
— Motherwell's Ancient Minstrelsy.
Oh, she has birled these merry young men
With the ale, but and the wine.
— Border Minstrelsy : Fause Foodrage.
Birs, the thick hair or bristles on
the back of swine.
The souter gave the sow a kiss.
Humph ! quo' she, it's a' for my birs !
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Bismeres or bismar, the keeper of
a brothel, a bawd; from the
16
Bit and Brat — Black-Mail.
Gaelic haois, lust, lewdness, and
mathair (pronounced ma-air), mo-
ther ; also a prostitute. Jamie -
son derives the word from the
Anglo-Saxon, and quotes Kudd
— " Bismer, contumelia, aut bis-
merian, illudere, dehonnorare
polluere." The Gaelic deriva-
tion is more satisfactory than
that from the hybrid language
called Anglo-Saxon, which is
but inchoate and primitive old
English based upon corrupted
Celtic, with superadded Dutch
and Flemish.
Bit and brat. To earn " bit and
brat " is to earn food and rai-
ment ; from the Gaelic biadh,
food, and brat, a rag, a gar-
ment, or clothing.
Bittock, a small bit or piece.
When a wayfarer on the road
asks of a chance passer-by
at what distance is the place
to which he is bound, the
probable reply is, that it is
two, three, or any other number
of miles " and a bittock," signify-
ing that the respondent will not
pledge himself to the exactitude
of his reply, adding, with the
proverbial cautiousness popu-
larly ascribed in England to
his countrymen, that there may
be a bittock added to his com-
putation ; though the quali-
fying bittock has often been
found to exceed the primary
estimate.
Black -mail. The word mail is
derived from the Gaelic mdl.
rent, tax, or tribute ; and malay
a bag, a sack, a purse, a budget
to contain the tribute. Why
the particular exaction called
black -mail, levied by many
Highland chieftains in former
times to ensure the protection
of the herds of cattle passing
through their territories to
southern markets, received the
epithet of black has never been
clearly explained. The word
has been supposed by some to
designate the moral turpitude
and blackness of character of
those who exacted such a tax,
and by others it has been con-
jectured that black-mail derived
its name froni the black cattle
of the Highlands, for whose
protection against thieves and
caterans the tribute was levied ;
while yet another set of etymo-
logists have set forth the opinion
that plack-mail, not 6/acA;-mail,
was the proper word, derived
from the small Scottish coin —
the plaque or plack — in which
the tribute was supposed to be
collected. But as mail is un-
doubtedly from the Gaelic, and
as black-mail was a purely High-
land extortion, and so called
at a time when few resident
Highland chiefs and none of
their people spoke English, it
is possible that black is not to
be taken in the English sense,
but that it had, like its associated
word, mail, a Gaelic origin. In
that language, blathaich — pro-
nounced (the <A, silent) bld-aich —
signifies to protect, to cherish.
Thus black-mail meant the tri-
Black'MaiL
II
bute or tax of protection. If
hlach, the colour, were really in-
tended, the Highlanders would
have used their own word and
called the tribute mdl-dubh . The
Gaelic blathaich has the secon-
dary meaning of to heat. In
the same sense, the Flemish has
hlaken, to warm, to animate,
to burn. In connection with
the idea of warming, the Scot-
tish language has several words
which can scarcely be explained
by hlach in the English sense.
The first is black-burning, which
Jamieson says is " used in re-
ference to shame when it is so
great as to produce deep blush-
ing, or to crimson the counte-
nance." This phrase is equiva-
lent to the English, a burning
shame, when the cheeks burn
or glow, not with black, but
with red. The second is black-
fishing, which Jamieson defines
as fishing for salmon by night
by means of torches. He ex-
plains the epithet black in this
instance by suggesting that
"the fish" are black or foul
when they come up the streams
to deposit their spawn, an ex-
planation which is wholly in-
admissible. The third and
fourth phrases are black-foot and
black-sole, which both mean "a
confidant in love affairs, or one
who goes between a lover and
his mistress endeavouring to
bring the cold or coy fair one
to compliance." In these in-
stances, black is certainly more
related to the idea of warming,
inciting, animating, than to that
of blackness. Black- foot and
black-sole in reality mean hot-
foot and hot-sole, as in the
corresponding phrase, hot-haste,
applied to the constant running
to-and-fro of the go-between.
Black-icinter, which signifies,
according to Jamieson, "the
last cart-load of grain brought
home from the harvest-field,"
is as difficult as either of the
phrases previously-cited to
associate with the idea of black-
ness, either moral or physical ;
but rather with that of comfort,
warmth — or provision for the
winter months. The winter
itself may be metaphorically
black, but not by any exten-
sion of meaning or of fancy can
the epithet black, in colour, be
associated with a cart-load of
grain. There are two other
equivalent phrases in Scottish
use in which black is an epithet,
namely, black victual, meaning
pulse, beans and peas, and black
crop, which has the same sig-
nification. Jamieson says these
crops are so called because they
are always green, and extends
the meaning to turnips, i pota-
toes, &c., for the same reason !
But black cannot be accepted
as equivalent to green.
Of all the derivations ever
suggested for black - mail, the
word on which this disquisition
concerning black started, the
most unfortunate is that of
Jamieson, who traces it to " the
German blakmal, and to the
Flemish blaken, to rob." It is
sufficient for the refutation of
12
Black Saxpence — Black Watch.
Jamieson to state that there
is no such word as hlakmal in
the German language, and. that
llaken, as ab'eady observed, does
not signify to rob, but to burn.
In conclusion, it may be stated
that the English black has long
been a puzzle to the compilers
of dictionaries. There is no
trace of it to be found in the
sense of colour in any of the
Teutonic languages. Black in
German is schwarz ; in Dutch,
Flemish, and Swedish, swai-t ; in
Danish, svaerte ; and in old Eng-
lish, sivarth and swarthy.
Worcester's Dictionary de-
lives black fvombleak. Mr. Wedg-
wood, who is one of the latest
authorities, says **the original
meaning of black seems to have
been exactly the reverse of
the present sense, viz., shining
white. It is, in fact," he adds,
" radically identical with the
French blanc, from which it
differs only in the absence of
the nasal."
Perhaps it may be possible,
ex fumo dare lucem, to kindle
a light out of all this smoke.
May not the real root of the Eng-
lish black (as a colour) be the
Gaelic bldaick, or the Flemish
blaken, to burn ? That which is
burned is blackened. A black man,
or negro, is one whose skin has
been tanned or burned by the sun ;
and sun-burnt in this case means
blackened. It may be said of
this explanation, whether cor-
rect or not, that it is at all
events entitled to as much con-
sideration as those from bleak
and blanc, and that it is^ far
more probable than either.
Black saxpence, supposed in
Scottish superstition to be a
magical sixpence given by the
Devil in payment for the soul
of the person who accepted it.
The virtue of this "black" six-
pence consisted in its having
always a bright sixpence along-
side of it ; that as soon as it
was taken away and spent, it was
replaced by another, and so on
to the " crack of doom." Jamie-
son supposed that the infernal
sixpence was so named from its
colour ; but possibly, and more
probably, it was thus designated
from the Gaelic blathaich, pro-
tection, as being a protection
against absolute poverty as long
as the unholy compact existed.
See Black-mail and Black- Watch
for this sense of the word
black.
Black-Watch, a name given to the
Highland regiment, the brave
and very distinguished Forty-
Second, which has fought, bled,
and conquered in many a hard-
won field in every part of the
world, where its services were
required to vindicate the right
and uphold the honour of Great*
Britain. It is generally sup-
posed that the name was given
to them on account of the dark
colour of the tartan which they
wear ; but the tartan is not
black, but very dark green,
like the tartans of many High-
land clans, in which green is
Blae — Blethers.
13
the predominant hue, varied
by black, bhie, red, or yellow
stripes in some of them. It is
possible, however, that hlack
in this instance, as in hlack-
mail, &c. (which see), signifies
protection, and that the popular
name of the illustrious regiment
in question signifies the ^^pro-
tecting watch."
Blae, of a livid blue colour, sickly
blue.
Blaeberries, bilberries.
The morning dlae and wan.
— Douglas : Translation of the
yEneid.
How dow you this blae eastlin' wind,
That's like to blaw a body blind ?
— Burns.
Be in dread, O sirs ! Some of you will
stand with blae countenances before the
tribunal of God.
— Bruce : The SouTs Confirmation.
Blash, a gust of wind.
Amidst a glint o' sunshine comes a blash
o' cauld sleet. — Noctes Ainbrosiance.
Blate, shy, modest, bashful; of
unknown derivation. Bleid in
Gaelic is the reverse of Hate
in Lowland Scotch, and means
impertinent, troublesome, for-
ward, presuming.
Says Lord Frank Ker, Ye are na' blate
To bring us the news o' yer ain defeat.
—Jacobite Ballad : Johnnie Cope.
A blate cat makes a proud mouse.
—Allan Ramsay.
Blaud, to lay anything flat with
violence, as the wind or a storm
of rain does the corn.
Curst common sense, that imp o' hell,
This day M'Kinlay takes the flail,
And he's the boy will bland her.
— Burns : The Ordination.
Ochon ! ochon ! cries Haughton,
That ever I was born
To see the Buckie burn rin bluid.
And blauding a' the corn.
— A berdeenshire Ballad.
Blavers. The blue cornflower.
Blavers that grow amid white land.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads : The
Gardener Lad.
Blaw-i'-my-lug, a flatterer, a
cajoler, a wheedler ; one who
hlows fair words into the ear of
a ready listener for a selfish or
sinister purpose.
Bledoch, skim-milk ; from the
Gaelic Ueodhach or hleoghann,
to milk.
She kirned the kirn and scummed it clean,
Left the gudeman but bledoch bare.
— Allan Ramsay's Evergreen : The
Wife of A uchtermuchty.
Blether, to talk nonsense, to be
full of wind like a bladder,
Bletherskite, nonsense.
Blethers, nonsense, impertinence.
Blaidry, foolish talk, from the
Gaelic blaidaireachd, and Ueidir,
impertinence. Bletherum-skate
or Uetherum-sMte, sometimes cor-
rupted into hladderskate, are
derivatives of this word, *" Ye
blethrin loon ' and * ye sJcyte,' "
says Cromek, the editor of the
" Remains of Nithsdale and
Galloway Song, " are terms of
familiar reproach still in use,
and are applied to those satiric
H
Blinter — Blunk.
rogues who have the art of
mingling falsehood with truth
with admirable art."
Stringing blethers up in rhyme
For fools to sing.
— Burns : The Vision.
Fame
Gathers but wind to blether up a name.
—Beaumont and Fletcher.
Some are busy bletherin
Right loud that day.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Right scornfully she answered him,
Jog on your gate, you bladderskate —
My name is Maggie Lauder.
— Semple : Maggie Lauder.
" She's better to-night," said one nurse
to another. "Night's come, but it's not
gone," replied her helpmate, in the full
hearing of the patient, " and it's the small
hours'll try her," "The small hours'll
not try me as much as you do with your
blethering tongues," remarked the patient
with perfect sang-froid. — A Visit to the
London Hospitals, March 23, 1870.
I knew Bums's " Blethering Bitch," who
in his later years lived in Tarbolton, and
earned a scanty living by breaking stones
on the road. In taking a walk round the
hill mentioned in " Death and Dr. Horn-
book," I came upon Jamie Humphrey
(such was his name) busy at work, and
after talking with him a short time, I
ventured to ask him, " Is it true, Jamie,
that you are Bums's blethering bitch ? "
"Aye, deed am I, and mony a guid gill I
hae gotten by it ! " This was a broad hint ;
but I did not take it. — R. Drennan.
Blinter, to flicker like a flame
about to expire for want of
nourishment.
Blirt, a sudden burst of grief or
anger, also to weep, sob, and
lament simultaneously. A ' ' blirt
of greeting " signifies an out-
burst of tears. The English
hlurt is akin to the Scottish hlirt,
though not exactly synonymous,
and is principally used to signify
a sudden and unpremeditated
disclosure of what ought to
have been kept secret, as in the
phrase ** He blurted out the
truth," or "He blurted out an
oath." The root both of hlirt
and hlurt is the Gaelic hlaor, to
cry out or roar, and hlaoHe,
cried out or roared.
Blob, a large round drop of water
or other liquid. A similar word,
hleh, now obsolete, was once
used in England to signify an
air-bubble, and, in its form of
hlebster, is the root of blister.
We look on this troubled stream of the
generations of men to as little purpose
almost as idle boys do on dancing blebs or
bubbles on the water. — Sir Thomas
More : Consolations of the Soul.
Her e'en the clearest blob o dew out-
shining. — Allan Ramsay.
The bonnie red rose,
Wet wi' the blobs o' dew.
— Allan Cunningham.
Blouter, to bluster or talk idly;
Gaelic bladair, to talk idly.
Cacklin' about! Coleridge or blouterin
about Byron. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Blunk, to mismanage or spoil any-
thing by clumsy, inexpert, or
stupid handling ; also a dull,
stolid, and foolishly inert person,
Jamieson thinks it is derived
from the Icelandic Wwjirfa, sleepy-
headed. It is more probably
from the Gaelic blonach or blonag,
fat, greasy ; whence fat-headed
and stupid.
Bluntie — Bonnieness.
IS
Bluntie. In the Dictionary of the
Scottish Language by an anony-
mous author (Edinburgh, 1818),
bluntie is described as a stupid
fellow. Jamieson has ''blunt,
stupid, bare, naked," and " blun-
tie, a sniveller," which he derives
from the Teutonic blutten, homo
stolidus.
They mool me sair, and haud me doun,
And gar me look like bluntie. Tarn ;
But three short years will soon wheel roun',
And then comes ane-and-twenty, Tam.
— Burns.
The etymology of the English
word blunt is uncertain, but as it
signifies the opposite of sharp,
the Scottish bluntie may be ac-
cepted as a designation of one
who is not sharp or clever. No
English dictionary suggests any
etymology that can reasonably
be accepted, the nearest being
flump, round, or rounded with-
out a point. ** Blunt" the slang
word for money, is supposed by
some to be derived from the
name of Sir John Blunt, a rich
director of the South Sea Com-
pany in the year 1 720.
Bob, to make a curtsey, to bend,
to bow down.
Sweet was the smell of flowers, blue, white,
and red.
The noise of birds was maist melodious,
The bobbing boughs bloom'd broad abune
my head.
— R. Henryson : The Lion and
the Mouse.
When she cam' ben she bobbit.
—Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Weel done, quo' he ; play up, quo' she ;
Weel bobb'd, quo' Rob the Ranter,
It's worth my while to play indeed
When I hae sic a dancer.
^ — Maggie Lauder.
When she came ben she bobbit.—BvKus.
Out came the auld maidens a' bobbin^ dis-
creetly.
—James Ballantine : The Auld
Beggar Man.
When she came ben she bobbit fu' low,
And what was his errand he soon let her
know.
Surprised was the laird when the lady said
Na!
As wi' a laigh curtsie she turned her aw a.
— The Laird o' Cockpen.
Bodle, a small Scottish coin, of
less value than a bawbee, the sixth
part of an English penny.
Black Madge, she is prudent, has sense
in her noddle,
Is douce and respectit ; I care na' a bodle.
— Joanna Baillie.
Bonailie, a parting drink, a stir-
rup-cup ; a deoch an dorus, of-
fered to and partaken with a
departing guest, with wishes
for a good and pleasant journey ;
a bon voyage. The word, some-
times written bonalais or bonally,
is a corrupt spelling of the
French bonne allee, or bon aller.
Bonnie, beautiful, good-natured,
and cheerful — the three quali-
ties in combination — as applied
to a woman ; applied to natural
objects, it simply signifies beau-
tiful, as in *' Ye banks and braes
o' bonnie Doon." This is an old
English word, used by Shake-
speare and Ben Jonson, and
still current in the Northern
English counties, as well as in
Scotland.
Bonnieness, a word that conveys
the sense of both prettiness
i6
Bonspiel — Brander.
and goodness, that are some-
times, but ought never, to dwell
apart.
Bonnieness gaed to the water to wash,
And prettiness gaed to the barn to thrash ;
Gae tell my maister to pay me my fee,
For bonnieness winna let prettiness be,
— Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Bonspiel, sport or play.
I hae been at mony a bonspiel, but I
ne'er saw such a congregation on the ice
before. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Boodie, a ghost, a sprite, a hob-
goblin ; by some derived from
hode, a message, the German
hote, a messenger, and by others,
with more probabihty, from the
Gaelic bodach, a spectre — a word
which is also applied irrever-
ently to an ill-favoured and
churlish old man.
Borrow, to ransom, and not, as in
Enghsh, to effect a loan.
And in cam' her brother dear,
A waeful man was he.
I'd gie a' the lands I hae,
Bonnie Jean, to borrow thee.
Oh, borrow me, brother, borrow me.
Or borrowed I'll never be,
For I gar'd kill my ain dear lord,
An' life's nae pleasure to me.
— The Laird o Warristoun.
Bourack or bourock, a name
given by children to the little
mounds of sand or earth that
they raise on the sea-shore or in
their playgrounds in imitation
of castles or houses ; — a diminu-
tive, apparently, of the word
hower, a lady's chamber. The
word is sometimes used for a
shepherd's hut or shieling. In
some parts of Scotland it signi-
fies a heap or mound of any kind,
and also metaphorically a heap
or crowd of people.
We'll ne'er big bourocks i' the sand
together {Old Proverb), i.e., we'll never
be familiar or closely allied in sentiment or
purpose.
Bourd, a jest, a joke ; also to jest,
to play tricks with. In old
English, hord. From the Gaelic
hurt, mockery.
The wizard could no longer bear her bord.
But, bursting forth in laughter, to her said.
— Spenser : Faerie Queene.
I'll tell the bourd, but nae the body.
A sooth bourd is nae bourd.
They that bourd wi' cats may count upon
scarts.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Properbs.
Bouse, to drink deeply, to revel ;
whence the colloquial English
word " boozy."
Then let him bouse and deep carouse
Wi' bumpers flowing o'er,
Till he forgets his loves and debts.
And minds his griefs no more. — Burns.
And though bold Robin Hood
Would with his Maid Marian
Sup and botise from horn and can.
—Keats.
Brae, the brow or side of a hill ;
from the Gaehc bruaich, a hill
side, a steep.
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans fine,
But mony a weary foot we've trod
Sin auld lang syne. — Burns.
Brander, a gridiron, also a toast-
ing-fork; from the Teutonic
brennen, to burn; gebrannt,
burned.
Brander — Bree,
17
Brander, a gridiron, i.e., a burner,
on which to submit food to the
direct action of the fire without
the intervention of water ; from
the Teutonic brennen, to burn,
and gelvannt, burnt.
Brander-bannock, a cake heated
on a gridiron ; a common mode
of preparing oaten cakes in Scot-
land.
Brankie, gaudy, showy. BranJcit,
vain, conceited, proud of one's
fine clothes. BrankirC a great
show of finery.
Where hae ye been sae braw, lad ?
Where hae ye been sae brankie, O ?
Where hae ye been sae braw, lad ?
Cam' ye by Killicrankie, O ?
— Johnson's Musical Mtiseum.
Branne, the calf of the leg;
whence the English Iravmy,
muscular.
Your stocking shall be like the cabbage
leaf,
That is baith braid and lang,
Narrow, narrow at the cute (the instep or
ankle).
And braid, braid at the branne.
— Ballad of the Gardener, from
Kinlock's Collection.
Brash, a sickness, a rash, an
eruption.
The lady's gane to her chamber,
A moanful woman was she.
As gin she had taken a sudden brash,
An' were about to dee.
— The Gay Gosshawk.
Brash, a sudden gust of wind,
also a tuzzle or fight ; brashy or
braushie, stormy.
Brat, a rag or clothes ; from the
Oaelic brat, a covering, a mantle,
a rag ; also bratach, a flag, a ban-
ner ; whence perhaps the con-
temptuous English term of brat,
for a beggar's child, in allusion
to the rags in which it is clad.
We've aye had bit and brat, John,
Great blessings here below ;
And that helped to keep peace at home,
John Anderson my jo.
— From the old version of ' ' John A nder-
son my Jo," abridged, amended, and
purijied by Robert Burns.
Bratchet, a contemptuous or angry
term for a troublesome or mis-
chievous child ; a diminutive of
brat, a child, so called from the
Gaelic brat, a rag ; synonymous
with another Scottish phrase for
a poor man's child, as used by
Burns, " a smytrie o' wee duddie
(ragged) weans."
Brattle, clatter, or any noise made
by the rapid collision of hard
substances; possibly from be-
rattle, the augmentative of the
English word rattle.
List'ning the doors an' windows rattle,
I thought me on the ourie cattle,
Or silly sheep, that tide the brattle
O' winter war.
—Burns: A Winter Night.
Breathin'. ''I'll do't in a &rm<A-
iw'," instanter, in the time
which it would take to draw
a breath. This phrase is far
superior to the vulgar English
" in a jiffy," or to the still more
intolerable slang "the twink-
ling of a bedpost."
Bree, the juice, the essence, the
spirit. Barley-Sree, the juice of
the barley, i.e., whisky or ale.
B
i8
Breeks — Brownie.
Brew is to extract the spirit or
essence of barley, malt, hops,
&c. Both hree and hrew are
directly derived from the Gaelic
hrigh, spirit, juice, &c. The
Italians have hrio, spirit, energy,
life, animation. From this
source is derived the English
slang word a ''brick," applied
to a fine, high-spirited, good
fellow. Various absurd attempts
have been made to trace the
expression to a Greek source
in a spurious anecdote bor-
rowed from Aristotle, who
speaks of a tetragonos aner or
*' four-cornered man," supposed
in the slang of the Universities
to signify a hrick.
Breeks, the nether garments of a
man, trousers, trews, breeches.
The vulgar English word breeches
is derived from the breech, the
part of the body which they
cover. The Scottish word has
a more dignified origin in the
Gaelic breaghad, attire, dress, or-
nament, and breaghaid, adorn,
embellish, "from which Celtic
word," says Ainsworth in his
Latin Dictionary, "the Romans
derived bracca and braccatus,
wearing trews, like the Gauls."
Thir breeks o' mine, my only pair,
I wad hae gien them aff my hurdies
For ae blink o' the bonnie burdies.
— Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Brent or brant, high, steep ; also
smooth.
Her fair brent brow,
Smooth as the unwrinkled deep.
— Allan Ramsay.
John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquaint,
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonnie brow was brent.
— Burns : John Anderson my Jo.
In "John Anderson my Jo," the auld
wife means that her husband's brow was
smooth. I believe that brent in this pas-
sage is the past-participle of bum. Shin-
ing is one of the effects of burning. I
think the word is always used to mean
smooth, unwrinkled — as in the Scottish
phrase brent new, the English] bran new,
shining with all the gloss of newness. —
R. Drennan.
Brim, fierce, disastrous, fatal,
furious; from the Gaelic brea-
mas, mischief, mischance.
The brim battle of the Harlaw.
— Allan Ramsay : Tke Evergreen.
Bring home, to be delivered of a
chHd.
Now when nine months were past and gone,
The lady she brought home a son.
— Buchan's Ballads : Lord Dingwall.
Brook, to spot, or soil, or blacken
with soot ; brooTdt, having a
dirty face ; and brooJcie, a nick-
name either for a sweep or a
blacksmith. Bruckit is tanned
by the sun or freckled. The
root is the Gaelic brucach,
spotted, freckled, speckled, par-
ticularly in the face.
Broostle, to perspire profusely;
also to be in a great hurry,
bustle, or confusion. From the
Teutonic braus, bustle, noise,
or tumult ; brausen, to ferment,
to rush, to roar, to snort with
anger or impatience.
Brownie, a household sprite in
the ancient and not yet extinct
Brown Study — Bubbly-jock.
19
superstition of Scotland, who, if
conciliated, performed domestic
duties, and made himself use-
ful and agreeable, similar in
his character to Puck or Robin
Good-fellow in England. From
the Gaelic bronn, a gift, a fa-
vour.
Brown study. This phrase, to
signify deep, sad, or melan-
choly meditation, was originally
Scotch, but has long become
familiar in English. It has
puzzled all the philologists, who
persist in deriving almost every
English word and phrase from
the Teutonic, the Greek, or the
Latin, to the exclusion of the
Celtic, from which even these
three languages are largely de-
rived. But they have made no
guesses superior to that which
would trace it to a brow study, be-
cause those who fall into brown
studies often knit their brows in
deep thought ! The real source
of the word is the Gaelic bron,
sorrow, grief, sadness, melan-
choly, mourning ; bronag, a sor-
rowful woman ; bron bhrat, a
mourning cloth, a cerement or
mortcloth ; bronaeh, sorrowful,
and bronadh, lamentation. This
explanation ought to satisfy
even the Keltophobists, and
teach them to "rest and be
thankful " in their study of this
particular colloquialism.
Bruik, to enjoy, to possess;
from the Teutonic brauchen, to
make use of. Was braucht es ?
What is the use of it ?
Weel bruik ye o' yon broun, broun bride,
Between ye and the wa',
And sae will I o' my winding-sheet.
That suits me best of a'.
— Jamieson's Collection : Ballad of
Lammikin.
Brulzie or bnilyie, a disturb-
ance, a commotion, a quarrel.
This word seems to be the root
of the English brawl, broil,
embroil, and embroilment, and
the French embrouiller ; all de-
rivable from the Gaelic bruUl,
to crush, to beat, to fight, to
thrash.
Bannocks o' bear-meal, bannocks o' barley !
Wha' in a brulzie will first cry a parley?
Never the lads wi' the bannocks o' barley ;
Here's to the Highlandman's bannocks o"
barley !
— ^Johnson's Musical Museum,
Bnimble, to make a rumbling
noise. The English rumble and
the Lowland Scotch brumble are
synonymous, and both appear
to be derived from the Teutonic
brummen, to rush audibly like
a rapid stream ; to gurgle, to
growl.
Bryttle, to cut up venison.
And Johnnie has bryttled th^ deer sae weel,
And has feasted his gude blude-hounds.
— Border Minstrelsy : Johnnie oj
Braidislie.
Bubbly-jock, a turkey-cock.
Some of the idiot's friends coming to
visit him at a farmhouse where he resided,
reminded him how comfortable he was,
and how grateful he ought to be for the
care taken of him. He admitted the fact,
but he had his sorrows and troubles like
wiser men. He stood in awe of the great
turkey-cock of the farm, which used to
run and gobble at him. "Aye ! aye ! " he
20
Buckie — But,
said, unburthening his heart, " I'm very
weel aff, nae doubt ; but eh ! man, I'm
sair hadden doun by the Bztbbly-jock!"
Dean Ramsay.
Buckie, a whelk or periwinkle.
An' there'll be partans [crabs] an' btcckies.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Buckle-to, to marry ; derived from
the idea of fastening or joining
together. The word occurs in
a vulgar English song to a very
beautiful Scottish air, which
was written in imitation of
the Scottish manner by Tom
D'Urfey in the reign of Charles
II. It has been long popular
under the title of "Within a
Mile of Edinburgh Town."
Buckle-beggar signified what was
once called a hedge-priest, who
pretended to perform the cere-
mony of marriage. To "buckle
with a person" was to be en-
gaged in argument with another.
*' Buff nor stye," a common collo-
quialism. To say of any one that
" he would neither buff nor stye,"
means that he would neither do
one thing or another, that he
did not know his own mind,
or that he was so obstinately
wedded to his own purpose that
nothing could make him deviate
from it. It is probably a cor-
ruption of "he would neither
le of nor stay." Jamieson,
however, derives buff from the
Teutonic bof, a cheer made by
mariners ; and thinks that stye
may refer to the act of mounting
the shrouds, from the Swedish
stiga, to ascend ! He has thus
had recourse to two languages to
help him out of a difficulty, when
one, and that his own, would
have been sufficient.
He would neither buff nor stye for father
or mother, friend or foe. — Galt: ^The
Entail.
Buirdly, strong and stalwart,
hearty, well-built.
Buirdly chiels [fellows]
Are bred in sic a way as this is.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Burnewin, a contraction of
"Bum-the wind," the popular
and familiar name for a black-
smith.
Busk, to adorn, to dress ; from
the Gaelic busgadh, a head-dress,
an adornment for the person ;
busgainnick, to dress, to adorn,
to prepare.
A bonnie bride is soon buskit.
— Allan Ramsay's Scoti
Proverbs.
Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie bride.
Busk ye, b-uskye, my winsome marrow.
— Hamilton of Bangor.
But. This word in Scotland long
preserved the meaning it once
had in England of "without,"
and was derived etymologicaUy
from "be out," of which it is
an abbreviation. It remains in
the heraldic motto of the Clan
Chattan, " Touch not the cat
but the glove ! " It does duty in
the humorous Jacobite song, in
ridicule of George I., the Elector
of Hanover : —
But and Ben — Cadgie.
21
Wha the deil hae we gotten for a king,
But a wee, wee German lairdie ;
And when we gaed to bring him hame.
He was delvin' in his yairdie,
Sheughin kail and layin' leeks,
But the hose, and but the breeks,
And up his beggar duds he cleeks,
The wee, wee German lairdie.
But and ben, the out and in, the
front and back rooms of a
cotter's hut.
Toddlin but and toddlin ben,
I'm nae sooner slockened, than drouthy
again.
— Sir'Alexander Boswell : A
Matrimonial Duet.
Had siller been made in the kist to lock by,
It wadna been round, but square as a dye.
Whereas by its shape ilka body may see
It aye was designed it should circulate free.
Then we'll toddle but, and we'll toddle ben.
An' aye when we get it, we'll part wi't
again. — Ibid.
Byspel, an accidental piece of
good fortune ; a wonderful
stroke of luck or dexterity. An
epithet applied, generally in a
half-hearted spirit of laudation,
to any person of rare good
qualities or successful rise in
the world; as in the phrase
" He's just a 6yspeZ," The word
is from the Teutonic beispiel, an
example ; literally a by-play. In
this sense it is sometimes held
to signify an illegitimate or
a love-child, a "by-blow," a
bastard.
Byssim, a monster, also a
worthless and shameless woman.
Supposed to be from the Ice-
landic bysn, a monster, a pro-
digy. The German bose, wicked,
and the Gaelic baois, lust, libi-
dinousness, and also madness,
have been suggested . as the
root of this word. A third
derivation is worthy of study,
that from baoth {bao), wicked,
and smuain, thoughts, whence
bao - smuain, quasi bissim or
byssom, a wicked thought, or
a person with wicked thoughts.
The word Bezonian, which has
puzzled Shakespearian commen-
tators to explain, may be allied.
C
Ca', to drive, or drive in, to smite ;
also to contend or fight ; from
the Gaelic cath, pronounced ca\
to smite, to fight.
I'll cause a man put up the fire,
Anither ca in the stake.
And on the head o' yon high hill
I'll burn you for his sake.
Buchan's Ballads : Young Prince James.
Every naig was cad a shoe on.
The smith and thee got roaring fu' on.
— Burns : Tarn o' Shanter.
Ca' cannie ! an exhortation to be-
ware, to take heed or care as to
what you are doing or saying ;
ca\ to drive, and cannie, cau-
tious or cautiously.
Cadgie — sometimes written caigie
— cheerful, sportive, wanton,
friendly ; possibly from the old
Gaelic cad, a friend, whence,
according to some philologists,
22
Cair — Cannie.
cadie, a lad (used in the sense
of kindness and familiarity) ;
but, according to others, from
the French cadet, a younger
born.
A cock-laird fu' cadgie
Wi' Jeanie did meet ;
He haused her, he kissed her,
And ca'd her his sweet.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Yon ill-tongued tinkler, Charlie Fox,
May taunt you wi' his jeers and shocks ;
But gie't him het, my hearty cocks,
E'en cowe the cadie I
And send him to his dicing-box
And sportin' lady.
— Burns : Author s Earnest Cry
and Prayer.
Cair, to strain through. " This
word," says Jamieson, "is used
in Clydesdale, and signifies to
extract the thickest part of
broth or hotch-potch while
dining or supping." It is pro-
bably from the Gaehc cir, a
comb ; whence also the Enghsh
word to curry a horse, and curry-
comb, the comb used for the
purpose.
Caird, a tinker.
Close the awmrie, steek the kist,
Or else some gear will soon be miss'd ',
Tell the news in brugh and glen,
Donald Cairds come again.
— Sir Walter Scott.
From the Gaelic cear (i, a smith,
a Wright, a workman ; with the
prefix teine, fire, is derived the
English tin-caird or tinker, a fire-
smith. Johnson, ignorant of
Celtic, traced tinker from tink,
because tinkers struck a kettle
and produced a tinkling noise
to announce their arrival.
Caller, fresh, cool. There is no
exact Enghsh synonym for this
word. " Caller herrm," " Caller
haddie," and "Caller ow" are
familiar cries to Edinburgh
people, and to all strangers who
visit that beautiful city.
Sae sweet his voice, sae smooth his tongue,
His breath's like caller air ;
His very foot has music in't
When he comes up the stair.
— MiCKLE : There's nac Luck
about tJie House.
Upon a simmer Sunday morn.
When Nature's face is fair,
I walked forth to view the com
And snuff the caller air.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Camsteerie, crooked, confused,
unmanageable ; from the Gaelic
cam, crooked, and stiuir, to steer
or lead.
The phalanx broken into pieces like
camsteerie clouds. — Noctes Ambrosiams.
Cannie, knowing, but gentle ; not
to be easily deceived, yet not sly
or cunning. A very expressive
word, often used by Enghshmen
to describe the Scotch, as in the
phrase, "a canny Scotsman,"
one who knows what he is about.
The word also means dexterous,
clever at a bargain, and also for-
tunate. It is possibly derived
from the Gaelic ceannaich, to
buy ; and is common in the
North of England as well as in
Scotland.
Bonny lass, canny lass, wilt thou be
mine?
— The Cumberland Courtship.
He mounted his mare and he rode can-
nilie.
— The Laird o' Cockpen.
Cantie — Carle,
23
Hae naething to do wi' him; he's no
canny.
They have need of a canny cook who
have but one egg for dinner.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Cantie, joyons, merry, talkative
from excess of good spirits;
from the Gaelic cainnt, speech,
or can, to sing.
Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair.
— Burns.
Some cannie wee bodie may be my lot,
An' I'll be cantie in thinking o't.
— Brockett's North Country Glossary:
Newcastle Song.
The cantie auld folks.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
The clachan yill had made me cantie.
—Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Cantrip, a charm, a spell, a trick,
a mischievous trick. The word
is a corruption of the Gaelic
word ceann, head, chief, prin-
cipal, and drip, a trick.
Coffins stood roun' like open presses,
That showed the dead in their last dresses ;
And by some devilish cantrip slight,
Each in its cauld hand held a light.
— Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Burns, in the " Address to the Deil," has
another example of this word, in which the
humour is great and the indecency greater.
— Lord Neaves.
Caperaoity, peevish, crabbed, apt
to take offence, of singular and
uncertain humour.
" Me forward ! " answered Mrs. Patt ;
" the capemoity, old, girning ale-wife may
wait long enough ere I forward it ! " —
Scott : St. Ronans Well.
Gaelic, cabair, a gabbler, a
tattler ; naitheas, mischief.
Cappernoytit, slightly de-
ranged.
D'ye hear what auld Dominie Napier
says about the mirk Monday? He says
it's an eclipse — the sun and the moon fecht-
ing for the upper hand ! But, Lord ! he's
a poor capemoytit creature. — Laird of
Logan.
Carfuffle, agitation of mind, per-
plexity ; from the Gaelic cearn^
a twist or wrong turn, and haoh,
haobach, and baobhail, an alarm,
a fright, a perplexity ; and with
the aspirate, the b pronounced
as/, bhaobaU, fuffle.
Troth, my lord may be turned fule out-
right an' he puts himsell into a carfuffle
for ony thing ye could bring him, Edie. —
Scott : The Antiquary.
Carkin', grinding, oppressively
wearying, vexatious. The root
of this word is the Gaelic
garg, rough, from whence also
gargle, the rough noise pro-
duced by a liquor to foment the
throat, but not to be swallowed.
The lisping infant prattlin' on his knee
Does a' his weary carkin cares beguile,
An' makes him quite forget his labour
and his toil.
— Burns : Cotter's Saturday Night.
Carle, a man, a fellow ; from the
Teutonic Icerl. This word, which
was used by Chaucer, has been
corrupted into the English churls
which means a rude fellow. In
Scotland it still preserves its
original and pleasanter signifi-
cation.
The miller was a stout carle for the nones ;
Full big he was of braune, and eke of bones.
— Chaucer.
The pawky auld carle cam' ower the lea,
Wi' mony guid e'ens and guid days to me,
Saying, Kind sirs, for your courtesy.
Will you lodge a silly poor man ?
— Ritson's Caledonian Songs.
24
Carle-wtfe — Carp.
Oh ! wha's that at my chamber door ?
Fair widow, are ye waukin' ?
Auld carle, your suit give o'er,
Your love lies a' in talkin'.
— ^Allan Ramsay.
When lairds break, carles get land.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Up starts a carle, and gains good,
And thence comes a' our gentle blood.
— Idem.
My daddie is a cankered carle.
He'll no twine wi' his gear ;
But let them say or let them dae.
It's a' ane to me ;
For he's low doun, he's in the broom,
That's waiting for me.
— James Carnegie, 1765.
Carle, a man, or fellow, is also
used adjectively for male, manly,
strong, vigorous : as in carlc-
hem'p, the largest seed-bearing
stalk of hemp ; carle-dodder, the
largest stalk of dodder-grass ;
carle-heather or carlin-heather, the
largest species of heather or
erica ; carle-tangle, the largest
species of tangle or sea-weed ;
carle-wife, a man who does
women's work ; carle-cai, a tom-
cat, a male cat, &c.
Ye have a stalk o* carle-hemp in you.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The carle-stalk of hemp in man —
Resolve. — Burns.
Carle-wife, a husband who med-
dles too much with the house-
hold duties and privileges of
the wife ; a much better word
than its English equivalent — a
"molly-coddle."
Carline or carlin, an old woman.
Cats and carlines love to sleep i' the sun.
— Allan Ramsay.
That auld capricious carlin Nature.
—Burns: To James Smith.
The Rev. Mr. Monro of Westray, preach-
ing on the flight of Lot from Sodom, said :
"The honest man and his family were
ordered out of the town, and charged not
to look back ; but the auld carlin. Lot's
wife, looked owre her shouther, for which
she was smote into a lump of sawt." And
he added, with great unction : " Oh, ye
people of Westray, if ye had had her, mony
a day since ye wad hae putten her in the
parritch-pat ! " — Dean Ramsay.
Carp, by some commentators con-
sidered to signify to sing, by
others to rehearse, from the oft-
recurring phrase in old ballads
recording the performances of
bards and minstrels — " he harpit
and he carpU."
And ay he harpit, and ay he carpit.
Till a' the nobles ga'ed o'er the floor ;
But and the music was sae sweet.
The groom forgot the stable door.
— Scott's Border Minstrelsy : The
Lochmaben Harper.
To this passage Mr. Robert
Chambers, in his ** Collection of
Scottish Ballads," appended the
note: — "In the 'Minstrelsy of
the Scottish Border ' carpit is ex-
plained as meaning sung, but I
suggest, with great deference,
that it appears, from the use
made of it in Barbour's ' Bruce,'
that it refers to the narrative
which the ancient minstrels ac-
companied on their instruments."
But Mr. Chambers has left the
doubt exactly where he found it,
for the old minstrels sometimes
sang and sometimes merely re-
cited or declaimed their stories.
The etymology and meaning are
both as doubtful as ever. The
English to carp, to cavil or find
fault, is probably connected.
Carry — Chandlers.
25
Carry, the driving clouds.
Mirk and rainy is the night,
No a starn (star) in a' the carry.
— Tannahill.
The word is derived from the
Gaelic caraich, to move, to stir ;
caraidhy movement.
Castock, sometimes written cus-
tock, a cabbage-stalk.
There's cauld kail in Aberdeen,
An' castocks in Stra'bogie.
— Duke of Gordon.
Every day's no Yule-day ; — cast the cat
a castock. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
In their hearts they're as callous as cus-
tocks. — Noctes Ambrosiance.
Cateran. A Highland cateran was
a term formerly applied in the
Lowlands to a Highland marau-
der or cattle-stealer, and gene-
rally to the Highlanders, who
were all supposed to be lawless
depredators on the wealth of the
Lowlands. The word is probably
from the Gaelic cath, a battle,
a fight ; cathach, a fighter or
warrior; and ran, to shout, to
roar ; whence, by emphatic de-
nunciation, a roaring, a violent
warrior or depredator.
My love he was as brave a man
As ever Scotland bred,
Descended from a Highland clan,
A cateran to his trade.
— Gilderoy.
Cauld bark. To live in ''the
cauld bark," is to be dead and
buried. Bark, in this meta-
phorical euphemism, is evidently
not traceable to hark, a boat
or ship, or to the hark of an
animal; but is possibly from
hark, skin (which see), or from
herg or }mrg or burrow, a hill or
hillock, or slight mound raised
over a grave.
Cauld coal. * * He has a cauld coal
to blaw," i.e., he is engaged in
a hopeless undertaking; there
is no spark of fire in it which
can be blown into a flame.
Cauldrife, cold-hearted, cool in
love or friendship, indifferent -
minded.
Gae, get you gone, you cauldrife wooer,
Ye sour-looking cauldrife wooer.
I straightway showed him to the door,
Sayin', Come nae mair to me, oh !
—Herd's Collection: The Brisk
Young Lad.
Cavee. According to Jamieson,
this is an Aberdeenshire word,
signifying a state of commotion
or perturbation of mind. He
suggests its derivation from the
French ca& vif, a matter that
gives or requires activity (of
mind). Is it not rather the
Gaelic cabhag {ca-vag), hurry,
haste, dispatch, trouble, diffi-
culty ? whence cahhagach, hasty,
impetuous, hurried. Cave is
used in the "Noctes Ambro-
sianae" as synonymous with toss.
" Gallopin' on a grey horse that
caves the foam from its fiery
nostrils."
Chandlers, candlesticks ; the Eng-
lish chandeliers.
Hae ye ony pots or pans.
Or ony broken chandlers ;
I am a tinker to my trade,
An' newly come frae Flanders.
26
Channer — Clachan.
As scant of siller as of grace,
Disbanded, I'd a bad run ;
Gae tell the lady o' the place
I've come to clout the cauldron.
— The Tinker, or Clout the Cauldron.
Channer, to contend, to com-
plain, to grumble, to chide, to
remonstrate ; from the G-aelic
canran, a contentious murmur-
ing, chiding ; canranach, queru-
lous murmuring, contentions ;
and canranacha, petulance, ill-
humour.
The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,
The channeriti worm doth chide.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Clerk's
Twa Sons o' Ourenford.
How the worm could channer
or chide in the grave is incom-
prehensible, unless one of the
meanings of the word is to
fret or cause to fret with vexa-
tion. This interpretation has
led to the supposition that
"fret," in the sense of its for-
mer signification of " gnaw "
or " eat," from the German
fressen, Flemish /re^m, as in the
Scripture phrase ** The moth
fretteth the garment," is synony-
mous with channer. This, how-
ever, is not the case, as the
Gaelic etymology suffices to
prove. But neither channcring
nor fretting supplies an intelli-
gible or satisfactory explana-
tion of the ballad-writer's mean-
ing.
Chap, to knock ; chaup, a blow.
I dreamed I was deed, and carried far,
far, far up, till I came to Heaven's yett —
when I chappit, and chappit, and chappit,
till at last an angel keekit out and said,
" Wha are ye?"— Dean Ramsay.
The chiel was stout, the chiel was stark,
And wadna bide to chap nor ca',
And Girzie, faint wi' holy wark,
Had na the power to say him na !
— Holy Girzie.
The Burnewin comes on like death at
every chaup.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Chark, to make a grinding or
grunting noise, also to com-
plain petulantly and obstinately.
A form of cark, with the sub-
stitution of ch for c or ^% as in
church for kirk, &c.
Cheep, to chirp or chirrup like a
bird.
Ye're nae chicken for a your cheepin. —
Proverb.
Chiel, a fellow, a youth ; the same
as the ancient English childe,
as used by Byron in *' Childe
Harold." From the Gaelic gULe,
a youth.
The brawny, bainie ploughman chiel.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
A chiefs amang ye takin' notes.
— Burns.
Clachan, a village; from the
Gaelic clach, a stone, and clachan,
the stones or houses.
The clachan yill (ale) had made me cantie.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Ye ken Jock Hornbook o' the clachan.
— Idem.
The clachan of Aberfoyle.
— Sir Walter Scott : Rob Roy,
Many English and American
tourists in Scotland, and other
readers of the works of Sir
Walter Scott, imagine that
the "clachan of Aberfoyle"
means the m\R of Aberfoyle.
Clart — Clepie.
27
They derive the word from the
English clack, the noise of the
miU-wheel, and knowing no-
thing of dachan, the village, are
disappointed when they find
neither windmill nor watermill
on the classic spot.
Clart, to defile, to make dirty.
Clarty, dirty; from the Gaelic
clabar or clubhar, filth, mud,
mire.
Searching auld wives' barrels ;
Ochon the day !
That clarty barm [dirty yeast] should stain
my laurels !
' But — what'll ye say ?
Those movin' things ca'd wives and weans
Wad move the very hearts o' stanes.
— Burns : On being Appointed
to the Excise.
Clatch, to daub, to do any kind
of work carelessly, awkwardly,
recklessly, orignorantly ; claught,
snatched.
Claur or glaur, mud, dirt, mire;
"a gowpen o' glaur" a handful
of mud ; "a humplock of glaur, ' '
a heap of mud.
The wee laddie, greetin', said his brither
Jock had coost a gowpen o' glaur at
him and knockit him on the neb. — James
Ballantine.
Claut, to snatch, to lay hold of
eagerly ; something that has
been got together by greed ; a
large heap.
Ken ye what Meg o' the Mill has gotten ?
She's gotten a coof wi' a claut o' siller,
And broken the heart o' the barley miller.
—Burns : Meg o' the Mill.
Claut is undoubtedly from the English
word claw, which had the sense in olden
time of to scratch, to gather together, and
is in that sense still in use in some parts of
England. Claut, in Scotch, is most fre-
quently used as a noun, and is the name
given to a hoe used to gather mud, &c.,
together ; to claut the roads, to gather the
mud. I don't think the world itself con-
tains the idea of getting together a large
heap by greed. I don't recognise the
other meanings, " to snatch," " to lay hold
of eagerly." I would use a different word
to express these meanings, — to glaum, io
play glaum, would fit them exactly. —
R. Drennan.
Clavers, idle stories, silly calum-
nies.
Hail Poesie ! thou nymph reserved ;
In chase o' thee what crowds hae swerv'd
Frae common sense, or sunk unnerv'd
'Mong heaps o' clavers.
—Burns : On Pastoral Poets.
Claw, to flatter ; from the Gaelic
civil, praise, and not, as igno-
rantly supposed, from the Eng-
lish claw, to scratch with the
nails, in allusion to the itch.
Claiu me and I'll claw you. — Scottish
Proverbs.
I laugh when I am merry, and claw no
man in his humour.
— Shakespeare : Much Ado about
Nothing.
Claymore, the Highland broad-
sword; from the Gaelic ciaid-
heamh, or glaive, a sword, and
mor, great.
Wha on the moor a gallant clan
From boastin' foes their banners bore.
Who showed himself a better man
Or fiercer waved the broad claymore ?
— Sir Alexander Boswell.
Clepie, deceitful ; from the Gaelic
clihe, deceit.
28
Clishmaclaver — Clunk.
Clishmaclaver, idle talk, foolish
gossip, incessant gabble.
What further clish-ma-claver might been
said. — Burns : The Brigs o' Ayr.
From the Gaelic dis {dish),
nimble, rapid, and dab {dabh),
an open mouth ; dabach, gar-
rulous ; dahaire, a babbler, a
loud disagreeable talker ; dabar,
the clapper of a milL
Clocking-hen, a hen engaged in
the act of incubation ; from
dock or ducJc, the cry or cackle
of the hen when hatching. The
word is sometimes used jocu-
larly or contemptuously for an
elderly woman or nurse.
Clocksie, lively, sprightly, viva-
cious, talkative; possibly from
dack, talk; and that, again,
from the Gaelic dach or dock,
a bell ; applied derisively to the
tongue of a garrulous person,
likened to the clapper of a bell.
The clocksie auM laird o' the Warlock Glen,
Wha stood without, half cowed, half
cheerie.
Raised up the latch and cam' crousely ben,
— Joanna Baillie,
Cloot, a cloven foot ; Clootie, one
who is hoofed or cloven-footed,
i.e., the devil.
O thou, whatever title suit thee,
Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Cloot (pronounced clute, long French «)
is not a hoof, but the half of a hoof. We
speak of a horse's hoof, and of a cow's
cloots, and apply this latter word only to
the feet of those animals that divide the
hoof. — R. Drennan.
Clour, a lump on the flesh caused
by a heavy blow.
That cane o* yours would gie a clour on
a man's head eneuch to produce a phre-
nological faculty. — Professor Wilson :
Noctes A inbrosiancE.
Clour is a heavy blow— the lump is only
the result of a clour. — R. Drennan.
Clout, a rag ; cloutie, a little rag,
baby-clouts, baby-clothes. Clcmt
also signifies a patch, or to
patch, to mend, as in the old
song of "Clout the Cauldron"
(mend the kettle).
Wha my baby-clouts will buj' ?
—Old Song.
A countryman in a remote part of Aber-
deenshire got a newly coined sovereign in
the days when such a thing was seldom
seen, and went about showing it to his
friends and neighbours for the charge of a
penny each sight. Evil days unfortunately
overtook him, and he was obliged to part
with his beloved coin. A neighbour one
day called upon him and asked for a sight
of his sovereign. "Ah! man," said he,
" it's gane ; but I'll let ye see the cloutie it
was rowed (wrapped) in for a bawbee I " —
Dean Ramsay.
ClufF, to strike with the fist, to
slap ; "a duff i' the lug," a box
on the ear. The word is akin
to the English fisticuff and to
Clunk, the gurgling, confused
sound of liquor in a bottle or
cask when it is poured out ;
equivalent to the Enghsh glug
in the song of " Gluggity Glug."
It is derived by Jamieson from
the Danish glunk and the Swe-
dish klunka, which have the
same meaning.
Clyte — Cock,
29
Sir VioHno, with an air
That showed a man o' spunk,
Wished unison between the pair,
And made the bottle clunk.
—Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
An old English song has
"and let the cannikin clink, '^
which is obviously from the
same root, though clunk is more
expressive of a duU sound than
clink is.
Clyte, a fall ; to stop in the midst
of a set speech for want of words
or ideas, and sit down sud-
denly. "I couldna find words
to continue my speech," said
a Glasgow bailie, " and sae I
clyted"
I fairly clyted
On the cauld earth.
— Allan Ramsay.
Clyte, a heavy, sudden kind of fall. I
have generally heard the word as a verb
used in connection with the word played
— " It played clyte at my heels," " He got
as far as the road, and then played clyte."
— R. Drennan.
Clytie-lass, a servant girl whose
duty is to carry out of the
house all filth or ordure, and
to deposit it on the midden or
elsewhere. The first word is ap-
parently from the Gaelic cuil-
aite, the back place or latrine,
from cuU or cvZ, back, and aite,
a place, whence by abbreviation
clyte and clytie.
Cock. This syllable, which enters
into the composition of many
words and phrases both in
Lowland Scotch and modern
English, has generally been
associated with its supposed
derivation from cock, the name
given to the male of birds,
and especially to the fami-
liar gallinaceous barn-door fowl
that " crows in the morn-
ing." Its true derivation, how-
ever, is from the Gaelic coc,
which means to elevate, to
erect, to stand up, to throw
high, to lift, as in such phrases
as a ^^ cocked-hat," a ^^ cockade,"
•' cock up your beaver," " cock-
sure" (manifestly or presumedly
sure, or pretending to be so),
" cock-a-hoop," and many others.
It is more common in Lowland
Scotch than in English. To
cock, signifies to mount one boy
on the back of another for
punishment on the posteriors ;
to cock-shy, to throw a stone or
other missile high in the air;
cock-a-penny or cock-a-pentie, to
live beyond one's income for
pride or ostentation, or the dis-
inclination to appear as poor as
one is in reality by expending
more pennies than one has
honestly got ; cockie-vain, con-
ceited, arrogant, stuck up ;
cockie-ridie, a game among chil-
dren, when one rides on the
shoulders of another ; a cock-
horse, a wooden horse, on which
children mount for amusement ;
cock-laird, a small landed pro-
prietor, who affects the dignity
and gives himself the airs of a
great one ; cock-headed or cockle-
headed, vain, conceited, whimsi-
cal, stuck up ; cockemonie (which
see) ; cock-raw, manifestly or
plainly raw, underdone ; cock-
up nose, a tumed-up nose, " tip-
30
Cockernonte — Cod-crune.
tilted," as Lord Tennyson more
elegantly describes it, and cock-
eye, a squint-eye, that cocks
up or awry when it should
look straight.
None of these words have
any connection with the male
bird of the Gallinacese, but all
are traceable etymologically to
the Gaelic root of coc. Philolo-
gists, if so disposed, may trace
to this same source the vulgar
and indecent English and Scot-
tish words which may be found
in Juvenal and Horace as
Mentuia.
Cockernonie, a gathering up of
the hair of women, after a
fashion similar to that of the
modern " chignon," and some-
times called a " cock-up." Mr.
Kirkton, of Edinburgh, preach-
ing against " cock-ups "—of
which chignons were the re-
presentatives a quarter of a
century ago — said: "I have
been all this year preaching
against the vanity of women,
yet I see my own daughter in
the kirk even now with as high
a * cock-up ' as any one of you
aU."
Jamieson was of the opinion,
that cocA;erno7iie signified a snood,
or the gathering of the hair in
a band or fillet, and derived
the word from the Teutonic
Tcoker, a cape, and nonne, a nun,
i.e., such a sheath for fixing the
hair as nuns were accustomed
to use ! The word was a con-
temptuous one for, false hair — a
contrivance to make a little hair
appear to be a good deal— and
seems to have been compounded
of the Gaelic coc, to stand erect,
and neoni, nothing.
I saw my Meg come linkin' ower the lea,
I saw my Meg, but Meggie saw na me,
Her cockernonie snooded up fu' sleek.
— Allan Ramsay.
But I doubt the daughter's a silly thing :
an unco cockemony she had busked on her
head at the kirk last Sunday. — Scott :
Old Mortality.
My gude name ! If ony body touched
my gude name I wad neither fash council
nor commissary. I would be down upon
them like a sea-falcon amang a wheen wild
geese, and the best o' them that dared to
say onything o' Meg Dods but what was
honest and civil, I wad soon see if her
cockernonie was made o' her ain hair or
other folks' !— Scott : St. Ronans' Well.
Cod, from the Gaelic, cod, a
cushion, a pillow, a bag, a re-
ceptacle ; peas-cod, the shell in
which the peas are formed and
retained. The word is retained
in English in an indelicate sense
for the scrotum.
I hae guid fire for winter weather,
A cod o' cafF (chaff) wud fill a cradle,
A halter an' a guid hay tether,
A deuk about the dub to paidle.
— The Wooin' o' Jenny and Jock.
Cod-crune or cod-crooning, a
curtain lecture ; from the Gaelic
cod, a pillow, and croon, to mur-
mur, to lament, to moan. Jamie-
son derives the word from the
Teutonic Tcreunen, and says it is
sometimes called a "bowster
(bolster) lecture." No such word,
however, as kreunen or krunen
is to be found in the German
dictionaries.
Codroch — Collte-shangie.
31
Codroch, miserable, ugly, detest-
able. These are the meanings
assigned to the word by Allan
Ramsay, though Jamieson, who
cites it as used in Fifeshire and
the Lothians, explains it as a
rustic, or one who is dirty and
slovenly.
A codroch coffe, he is sure sich,
And lives like ony wareit wretch.
—Pedder Coffe : The Evergreen.
The final syllable seems to
be the Gaelic droch, bad, evil,
wicked, mischievous. Go is
doubtless the Gaelic cotrih (pro-
nounced c6), a prefix equivalent
to the Latin co and con. Jamie-
son derives it from the Irish
Gaelic cudar, the rabble, a
word that does not appear in
O'Reilly's excellent Irish Dic-
tionary, though cudarman and
cudarmanta appear in it as
synonymous with ** vulgar and
rustic."
Coffe, a fellow; in vulgar Eng-
lish, a chap. From the German
kaufen, to buy ; and Jcaufmann,
a merchant, a tradesman.
Coft, bought, purchased. Cooft,
to buy, from kaufen, has become
obsolete ; but cooper, a buyer or
seller, survives in horse-cooper
or horse-dealer.
Then he has cqft for that ladye
A fine silk riding-gown ;
Likewise he co/t for that ladye
A steed, and set her on.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads:
Jock o' Hazelgreen {old version).
Cog and cogie, a bowl or cup, also
a basin. From the Gaelic cimch,
a cup, used either for broth, ale,
or stronger drink.
I canna want my cogie, sir,
I canna want my cogie ;
I winna want my three-girred cog
For a' the wives in Bogie.
— Duke of Gordon.
It's good to have our cog out when it
rains kail ! — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
Coggle, to shake, to waggle ; from
the Gaelic gog or cog, to shake ;
gogail, wavering, unsteady.
Whence probably the French
coquette, a flirt, or one who
wavers or is unsteady in the
bestowal of her favours to male
admirers.
It coggled thrice, but at the last
It rested on his shoulders fast.
— George Beattie : John o Arnha.
Collie-shangie, a loud dispute, a
quarrel, an uproar, a noise of
angry tongues.
How the collie-shangie works
Betwixt the Russians and the Turks.
— Burns : To a Gentleman who Sent
hint a Newspaper.
" It has been supposed," says
Jamieson, " that from collie, a
shepherd's dog, and shangie, a
chain, comes the word collie-
shangie, a quarrel between two
dogs fastened with the same
chain." Under the word " col-
lie," he explains it to mean a
quarrel, as well as a dog of that
species ; as if he believed that
the gentle and sagacious shep-
herd's dog was more quarrel-
some than the rest of the
canine species. In Gaelic, coUeid
32
Conundrum — Corbie.
means noise, confusion, uproar ;
and coileideach, noisy, confused,
angry ; which is no doubt the
etymology of collie in the com-
pound word collie-shangie. The
meaning of shangie is diflScult
to trace, unless it be from the
Gaelic seang (pronounced shang),
slender, lean, hungry.
Conundrum, a kind of riddle sug-
gestive of resemblances where
no resemblances exist ; a wordy
puzzle. The word is of com-
paratively recent introduction
into English, and has been sup-
posed by some etymologists to
be derivable from the German
Jcennen, to know. Stormonth
was content to trace it to the
Anglo-Saxon cunnan; but on its
being pointed out to him by
the present writer, in a private
note, after the issue of the first
edition of his Dictionary, that
the derivation was so far un-
satisfactory that it did not ac-
count for the final syllable, and
that it was an ancient Scottish
word, of which the components
were the Gaelic conn, sense or
meaning, and antrom, heavy or
difficult, he abandoned the
Anglo - Saxon derivation, and
expressed his resolve to adopt
the Gaelic etymology if his Dic-
tionary ever reached a second
edition. He died, unfortunately,
before preparing a second edi-
tion for the press.
Coof, cuif, gowk, a fool, a sim-
pleton, a cuckoo.
Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts an' stares an' a' that ;
Though hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a cut/for a' that.
— Burns : A Man's a Man.
Coof and gowTc, though appar-
ently unlike each other in sound,
are probably corruptions of the
same Gaelic words, cudbhag
{cuafag) and cuach, a cuckoo : —
Ye breed of the gowk (cuckoo), ye hae
but ae note in your voice, and ye're aye
singing it. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
In England, a "fool" and a
"goose" are synonymous; but
in Scotland the cuckoo is the
bird that symbolises stupidity.
Cuif, fool, and blockhead, are not exact
synonyms, — rather a useless fellow, a sort
of male tawpie. A man may be a cuij,
and yet the reverse of a fool or blockhead.
— R. Drennan.
Coo-me-doo, a term of endear-
ment for a turtle-dove, wood
pigeon, or cushat.
O coo-me-doo, my love sae true.
If ye'll come doun to me,
Ye'se hae a cage o' guid red gowd
Instead o' simple tree.
— Buchan's Ballads: The Earl o'
Mars Daughter.
Corbie, the hooded-crow ; also
the raven ; from the French
corheau.
Corbies will no pick out corbies' e'en
{Old Proverb). [Signifying that two of a
trade ought not to divulge the tricks of
the trade ; also applied among thieves to
a confederate who informs against them,
or peaches. \
The adder lies i' the corbies nest.
Beneath the corbies wing ;
And the blast that rives the corbies nest
Will soon bring hame the king.
^ —Jacobite Song, 1745.
Cosh — Craig.
33
Cosh, quiet, snug. {See Cozie.)
And sang fu' sweet the notes o' love,
Till a' was cosh within.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Gay
Gosshawk.
Cosie, cozie, comfortable, snug,
warm.
While some are cozie in the neuk.
And forming assignations
To meet some day.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Jamieson says that cosie, snug,
warm, comfortable, seems to be
of the same derivation as cosh, a
comfortable situation, and com-
fortable as implying a defence
from the cold. It is evidently
from the Gaelic coiseag, a little,
snug, or warm corner, a deriva-
tion from cos and cois, a hollow,
a recess, a corner.
Couthie, well - known, familiar,
handsome, and agreeable — in
contradistinction to the English
word uncouth.
Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
And burn together trimly.
— Burns : Halloween.
My ain couthie dame,
O my ain couthie dame ;
Wi' my bonny bits o' bairns,
Aftd my ain couthie dame.
— Ingleside Lilts.
Covrp, to tumble over ; akin to the
French cowp, a blow ; whence to
suffer a blow in falling.
I drew my scythe in sic a fury,
I near had cowpit in my hurry.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
word is traceable in the English
crabbed, ill-tempered.
He that crabbs without cause should
mease (apologise) without mends (making
amends). — Scottish Proverb.
Crack, talk, gossip, conversation,
confidential discourse, a story ;
from the Gaelic crac, to talk ;
cracaire, a talker, a gossip, and
cracaireachd, idle talk or chat.
To ''crack a thing up" in Eng-
lish is to talk it into repute
by praise. A crach article is a
thing highly praised. Jamieson
derives the word from the Ger-
man hralcen, to make a noise,
though there is no such word in
that language.
But raise your arm, and tell your crack
Before them a'.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
They're a' in famous tune
For cracks that day.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
The cantie auld folk crackin crouse.
The young anes rantin' through the house ;
My heart has been sae fain to see them,
That I for joy hae barkit wi' them.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
A lady on hiring a servant girl in the
country, told her, as a great indulgence,
that she should have the liberty of attend-
ing the kirk every Sunday, but that she
would be expected to return home im-
mediately after the conclusion of the ser-
vice. The lady, however, rather unex-
pectedly found a positive objection raised
against this apparently reasonable arrange-
ment. "Then I canna engage wi' ye,
mem, for indeed I wadna gie the crack i'
the kirkyard for a' the sermon." — Dean
Ramsay.
Crabb, to find fault, to be angry,
to complain for slight cause,
or without real necessity. This
Craig, the neck.
Ane got a twist o' the craig,
Ane got a punch o' the wame
C
34
Crambo- Clink — Croon.
Symy Hair got lamed o' a leg,
And syne ran wabblin' hame.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Death of
Featherstonehaugh.
Crambo-clink or crambo-jingle, a
contemptuous name for dog-
gerel verse, and bad or medi-
ocre attempts at poetry, which
Douglas Jerrold, with wit as
well as wisdom — and they are
closely allied — described as
"verse and ?wrse."
A' ye wha live by crambo-clink,
A' ye wha write and never think,
Come mourn wi' me.
— Burns : On a Scotch Bard.
Amaist as soon as I could spell,
I to the crambo-jingle fell,
Tho' rude and rough ;
But crooning to a body's sel'
Does weel enough.
— Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Crambo seems to be derived
from the Gaelic crom, crooked,
or perhaps from " cramp "
or "cramped." "Clink" and
"jingle," assonance, conson-
ance, or rhyme, are from the
English.
Creel or creil, a fish-basket ; from
the French creiUe, with the same
meaning.
The boatie rows, the boatie rows,
The boatie rows fu' weel,
And muckle luck attend the boat,
The merlin, and the creel. — Old Song.
Creepie, a low stool ; from the
Gaelic cruh, to bend low.
I sit on my creepie arid spin at my wheel,
An' think on the laddie that lo'es me sae
weel. — Logie d Buchan.
Creeshie, greasy.
Kamesters (wool-combers) are aye cree-
shie {Old Proverb), i.e., people are ever
tainted with their trade, as in the phrase,
" Millers are aye mealy."
Crone, an old woman, a witch.
Worcester, in his Dictionary,
derives this word from the
Scottish "croon" "the hollow
muttering sound with which old
witches uttered their incanta-
tions." {See Croon.)
Crony, a comrade, a dear friend,
a boon companion ; derived in
a favourable sense from crone.
This Scottish word seems to
have been introduced to English
notice by James I. It was used
by Swift and other writers of
his period, and was admitted
into Johnson's Dictionary, who
described it as a " cant word."
To oblige your crony Swift,
Bring our dame a New Year's gift.
— Swift.
My name is Fun, your crony dear,
The nearest friend ye ha'e.
—Burns: The Holy Fair.
And at his elbow Souter Johnny,
His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony.
—Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Croodle, to coo like a dove: "a
wee croodlin' doo," a term of
endearment to an infant.
Far ben thy dark green plantin' shade
The cushat (wood-pigeon) croodles amor-
ousHe. — Tannahill.
There's ae thing keeps my heart light,
Whate'er the world may do ;
A bonnie, bonnie, bonnie, bonnie.
Wee croodlin doo. — Old Song.
Croon, to hum over a tune, to
prelude on an instrument. The
Crouse — Crummie.
35
word seems derivable from the
Gaelic cronan, a dull, murmur-
ing sound, a mournful and mo-
notonous tune.
The sisters grey before the day
Did croon within their cloister.
— Allan Ramsay.
Whiles holding fast his guid blue bonnet,
Whiles croonin o'er some auld Scots sonnet.
— Burns : Tarn o' Shunter.
Where auld ruined castles grey
Nod to the moon,
To fright the nightly wanderer's way
Wi' eldritch croon.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Plaintive tunes.
Such as corpse-watching beldam croons.
— Sttidies/rom the Antique.
Crouse, merry, lively, brisk, bold,
from the Gaelic craos, greedy,
sensual, gluttonous, eager for
any pleasure of the senses.
A cock's aye crouse on his ain midden. —
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The cantie auld folk crackin' crouse,
The young anes rantin' through the house.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
crowdie is thick and firm, and in
that quality its great merit con-
sists, as distinguished from its
watery competitor, the nourish-
ment of the sick-room, and not
to be compared to the strong
wholesome "parritch," which
Burns designated "the chief of
Scotland's food."
Oh, that I had never been married,
I'd never had nae care ;
Now I've gotten wife and bairns.
An' they cry crowdie evermair !
Once crowdie, twice crowdie.
Three times crowdie in a day !
— Burns.
Then I gaed hame at crowdie-time.
And soon I made me ready.
—Burns : The Holy Fair, i
My sister Kate came up the gate
Wi' crowdie unto me, man ;
She swore she saw the rebels run
Frae Perth unto Dundee, man.
— The Battle of Sheriffmuir.
Crowdie, properly, is oatmeal mixed
with cold water ; but it is also used for
food in general, as in the expression,
"I'll be hame about crowdie-t\xa.t." — R.
Drennan.
Crowdie, oatmeal boiled to a
thick consistency ; crowdie-time,
breakfast-time or meal-time.
Jamieson goes to the Icelandic
for the origin of the word crowdie,
once the favourite and general
food of the Scottish people, in
the days before the less nutri-
tious potato was introduced
into the country. But the name
of crowdie is not so likely to
be derived from the Icelandic
graut-ur, gruel made of groats,
as from the Gaelic cruaidh,
thick, firm, of hard consistency.
Gruel is thin, but porridge or
Crummie, a familiar name for a
favourite cow ; from the crooked
horn. Gaelic crom, crooked. In
the ancient ballad of **Tak'
your auld cloak about ye,"
quoted by Shakespeare in
*' Othello," the word appears
as Crumboch
Bell, my wife, who loves no strife,
She said unto me quietlie.
Rise up and save cow Crumbock's life.
And put thine auld cloak about thee.
The word appears as Crum-
mock in Burns's "Epistle to
Major Logan." - „
36
Crunt — Cupar.
Hale be your heart, hale be your fiddle,
Lang may your elbuck jouk and diddle,
To cheer you through the weary widdle
O' this wide warl',
Until you on a crummock driddle,
A grey-hair'd carl.
Crunt, a smart blow with a cudgel
or fist on the crown of the
head.
And mony a fellow got his licks
Wi' hearty crunt.
—Burns : To Willie Simpson.
This word seems to come
either from the English crown,
the head (hence a blow on the
head), or from the Gaelic crun,
which has the same meaning.
The crown of the head, the very
top of the head, is a common
phrase ; the croon of the cause-
way — the top ridge of the road,
or the middle of the road — is a
well-known Scotticism. In slang
English, a crunt is called a wqp-
jper, or one for his "nob."
Cuddie, a donkey; supposed by
some to be derived from the
Gaelic cutach, bob-tailed, or
from ceutach, grace, elegance,
beauty, upplied to the animal
by its owner either in affection
or derision.
One^day my grandfather saw Andrew
Leslie's donkey up to the knees in a field
of clover. " Hallo, Andrew ! " said he, " I
thought your cztdJie wad eat nothing but
thistles and nettles." " Ay," said he,
" but he misbehaved himself, and I put
him in there just to punish him." — Dean
Ramsay.
Cuddle. This word, which in the
English vernacular means to em-
brace, to fondle, to press to the
bosom, simply signifies in Scot-
tish parlance to sleep, and is
derived from the Gaelic cadaiL
An auld beddin' o' claes
Was left me by my mither ;
They're jet black o'er wi' flaes ;
Ye may cuddle in them thegither.
The bride she gaed to her bed,
The bridegroom he came till her,
The fiddler crept in at the foot,
An' they a' cuddled together.
—Maggies Tocher: The Tea-
Table Miscellany.
Where shall I cuddle the night ?
— Galt : Mansie Wauch.
Cuif or coof, a fool, a blockhead.
{See Coop, anJLe.)
Cupar.
He that will to Cupar, maun to Cupar.
This proverb, applied to an
obstinate man who will have his
own way, has puzzled many
commentators. Dean Ramsay
asks, "Why Cupar? and whether
is it the Cupar of Angus or the
Cupar of Fife ? "
It has been suggested that the
origin of "Cupar," in the sense
employed in the proverb, is the
Gaelic comhar {covar), a mark, a
sign, a proof, and that the phrase
is equivalent to "he who will be
a marked man (by his folly or per-
versity) must be a marked man."
It has also been suggested
that " Cupar " is from comharra
{covarra), shelter or protection
of the sanctuary, to which a
man resorted when hard pressed
by justice for a crime which he
had committed.
Cum — Cutty-mun.
37
Cum, a grain of corn ; whence
kernel, the fruit in the nut ;
curny-gutty.
Mind to splice high with Latin — a cum
or two of Greek would not be amiss : and if
ye can bring in anything about the judg-
ment of Solomon in the original Hebrew,
and season with a merry jest or so, the dish
will be the more palatable. — Scott : For-
tunes of Nigel.
Allied words to cum are
"kern" and "churn," a hand-
mill for grinding corn, and
" churn," a mill for stirring the
milk so as to make butter.
Cushat, a turtle-dove, a wood-
pigeon.
O'er lofty aiks the cushats wail,
And echo coos the dolefu' tale.
— Burns : Bess and her Spinning
Wheel.
Custock or castock, the edible
stalk of cabbage ; a kail-runt.
There's cauld kail in Aberdeen,
An' custocks in Stra'bogie,
An' ilka lad maun hae his lass.
An' I maun hae my cogie.
— Herd's Collection : The Three-
Girred Cog.
Cutty or cuttie, short ; from the
Gaelic cutach, that has been cut,
abridged, or shortened ; whence
cwW2/-pipe, a short pipe.
I'm no sae scant o' clean pipes as to blaw
wi' a burnt cutty. — Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Till first ae caper, then anither,
Tam tint his reason a' thegither,
And roared out " Weel done, cutty sark ! "
And in an instant a' was dark.
— Burns : Tam o Shanter.
Her cutty sark, o' Paisley ham,
That when a lassie she had worn,
In longitude though sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vaunty.
—Ibid.
Cuttie-stool, a three-legged stool;
a short stool, such as Jennie
Geddes is reported to have
thrown from the pulpit stairs
at the head of the heretical
minister.
A circumstance connected with Scottish
church discipline has undergone a great
change in my time — I mean the public
censure from the pulpit of persons con-
victed of a breach of the seventh command-
ment. . . . This was performed by the
guilty person standing up before the whole
congregation on a raised platform called
the cutty-stool. — Dean Ramsay.
The culprits did not always take the ad-
monition patiently. It is recorded of one
of them in Ayrshire, that when accused of
adultery by the minister, he interrupted
and corrected his reverend monitor by
denying the imputation, and calling out,
"Na! na! minister; it was simple /ornie
(fornication), and no adultery ava." — Ibid.
Cutty-mun and tree-ladle. These
words, according to Jamieson,
were the names of old tunes
once popular in Scotland. No
trace of them, however, has
hitherto been discovered, and
the interpretation given to them
by Jamieson remains a mere
supposition on his part. Cutty-
mun, he says, means a spoon
with a short handle. Cutty no
doubt signifies short or small,
as in cutty-stool and in {Mtty-
pipe ; but Jamieson should have
been aware that in no known lan-
guage does mun signify a spoon.
Investigation would have shown
him that the same language
from which cutty is derived sup-
38
Daff- — Dambrod.
plied the true etymology of mwn,
from mainne, delay, and that
cutty-mun signified short delay.
In like manner tree-ladle has no
reference to a wooden spoon or
ladle, as he supposed, but is
derived from the Gaelic triall,
departure on a journey, and
luathaich, speed ; luathailteach,
swift, speedy. Thus the old
tune mentioned by Jamieson
resolves itself into a Low-
land rendering of the Gaelic,
and signified "a short shrift
and speedy exit." This would
be an appropriate phrase ap-
plied to the hanging of a High-
land criminal by a feudal chief,
or to i the more formal but
equally eflScacious justice as
administered in the Lowlands,
and is, there can be little or no
doubt, the real meaning of the
name of the old song on which
Jamieson relied for his inter-
pretation.
Daff, to make merry, to be sportive ;
daffin', merriment.
Wi' daffin weary grown,
Upon a knowe they sat them down.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Dr. Adam, Rector of the High School
of Edinburgh, rendered the Horatian ex-
pression " desipere in loco " by the Scottish
phrase " weel-timed daffin " — a translation
which no one but a Scot could properly
appreciate. — Dean Ramsay.
I>aff has long ceased to be cur-
rent English, though it was used
by Shakespeare in the sense of
to befool. In the scene between
Leonato and Claudio in " Much
Ado About Nothing," when
Claudio refuses to fight with
an old man, Leonato rephes :
Canst thou so ^a^ me— thou who killed
my child ?
The Shakespearean commen-
tators all agree that this word
- should be doff me, or put me off.
They interpret in the same way
the line in King Lear : —
The madcap Prince of Wales, that
daff'd the world aside !
It would appear, however, that
in both instances, daff was used
in the sense which it retains in
Scotch, that of fool or befool.
Daft, crazy, wild, mad.
Or maybe in a frolic daft
To Hague or Calais take a waft.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Daidle, to trifle, to dawdle.
Daidlin in the mock-turtle ! I hate
a' things mock. — Nodes Ainbrosiance.
Daiker or daker, to saunter, to
stroll lazily or idly, or without
defined purpose or object.
Dambrod, draught - board or
chess-board ; from the Flemish
dambord ; the first syllable from
Dapperpye — Dautie.
39
the French dame^ or jcu aux
dames, draughts.
Mrs. Chisholm entered the shop of a
linen-draper, and asked to be shown some
table-cloths of a dambrod pattern. The
shopman was taken aback at such appar-
ently strong language as " damned broad,"
used by a respectable lady. The lady, on
her part, was surprised at the stupidity
of the London shopman, who did not
understand so common a phrase. — Dean
Ramsay.
Dapperpye, brilliant with many-
colours ; from dapper, neat and
smart, the German tapfer, brave,
English, bravery in attire, and
pied, variegated.
Oh, he has pu'd off his dapperpye coat.
The silver buttons glanced bonny.
— Border Minstrelsy : Annan
Water.
Darg or daurk, a job of work ;
from the Gaelic dearg, a plough.
You will spoil the darg if you stop the
plough to kill a mouse. — Northumbrian
Proverb.
He never did a good darg that gaed
grumbling about it. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
Monie a sair daurk we hae wrought.
— Burns : To his Auld Mare
Maggie.
Darger, a day-labourer, one who
works by the piece or job ; also
a ploughman.
The croonin kye the byre drew nigh.
The darger left his thrift.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Water
Kelpie. ^
Daud, to pelt ; also a large piece.
I'm busy too, an' skelpin' at it.
But bitter daudin showers ha'e wat it.
—Burns: To J. Lapraik.
He'll clap a shangan on her tail,
An' set the bairns to dai4d her
Wi' dirt this day.
—Burns : The Ordination.
A daud o' bannock
Wad mak' him blithe as a body could.
—Allan Ramsay.
Daud and hlaud or hlad are
synonymous in the sense of a
large piece of anything, and
also of pelting or driving, as
applied to rain or wind.
I got a great blad o' Virgil by heart.
— Jamieson.
Dauner or daunder, to saunter,
to stroll leisurely, without a
purpose.
Some idle and mischievous youths waited
for the minister on a dark night, and one
of them, dressed as a ghost, came up to
him in hopes of putting him in a fright.
The minister's cool reply upset the plan.
"Weel, Maister Ghaist, is this a general
rising, or are ye jist taking a dauner
frae your grave by yoursel' ? " — Dean
Ramsay's Reminiscences.
Daunton, to subdue, to tame, to
daunt, to dominate, to break in
(applied to horses) ; from the
Gaelic dan, bold, daring, and
danaich, to exert boldness, to
dare, to challenge, to defy.
To daunton me, and me sae young,
Wi' his fause heart an' flatterin' tongue,
That is the thing ye ne'er shall see,
For an auld man shall never daunton me.
— Old Song, altered by Burns.
Daut, to fondle, to caress.
Dautie, a darling, one who is fon-
dled and affectionately treated ;
allied to the English doat, doat
upon, and dotage.
40
Daw — Deas.
Whae'er shall say I wanted Jean,
When I did kiss and daut her.
— Burns : Had I the ivyte.
My dautie and my doo (dove).
— Allan Ramsay.
To some it may appear that daivtie may
have had its origin from the Gaelic dalt, a
foster-child. — Jamieson.
Yestreen ye were your daddie's doo,
But an your mither's dautie.
— Bvchan's Ancient Bal/ads : The
Trooper and Fair Maid.
Daw, a slut, akin to the colloquial
English dowdy, an ill -dressed
woman or sloven.
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Sold her bed and lay in the straw.
— Nursery Rhyme.
Dawds and blawds is a phrase
that denotes the greatest abun-
dance. — Jamieson.
Dawk, a drizzling rain ; dawky,
moist, rainy, not exactly a down-
pour of steady rain, but of inter-
mittent drizzle.
Day-daw, abbreviation of day-
dawn, or dawn of day.
Dead is often used in the sense of
very, extremely, or entirely, as in
the English word dead-heat. It
occurs in Scottish parlance as
dead-loun, very calm and still;
dcad-cauld, extremely cold ; dead-
ripe, very ripe, or ripe to rotten-
ness ; dead-sweir, extremely lazy
or tired out.
Dear me ! Oh dear me ! Deary
me ! These colloquial exclama-
tions are peculiar to the Eng-
lish and Scottish languages, and
are indicative either of surprise,
pain, or pity. If the word
" dear " be accepted as correct,
and not a corruption of some
other word with a different
meaning, the explanation, if
literally translated into any
other language, would be non-
sensical ; in French, for in-
stance, it would be clier moi !
and in German, A ch theuer mich !
The original word, as used by
our British ancestors, and
misunderstood by the Danes,
Flemings, and Dutch, who suc-
ceeded them in part posses-
sion of the country, appears to
have been the Gaelic Dia {dee-a),
God. Oh Dia ! or Oh dear !
and Oh dear me ! would signify,
God ! Oh God I or Oh my God !
synonymous with the French
Mon Dieu ! or Oh mon Dieu ! and
the German Mein Gott ! or Ach
mein Gott !
Deas, a stone seat in the porch,
or at the porch of a church,
probably so named from its
usual position at the right hand
side ; from the Gaelic deas, the
right side, on the right hand.
An' when she came to Marie's kirk.
An' sat down in the deas.
The licht that came frae fair Annie
Enlichten't a' the place.
Vkkcy' s Reliques : Sweet William
and Fair A nnie.
The etymology of the Eng-
lish and French word dais has
given rise to much diference of
opinion. Stormonth's English
Dictionary defines dais as "a
canopy over a throne, after-
wards the whole seat," and sug-
Deave — Deray.
4t
gests a derivation from the " old
French dais, a. table, from Latin
discus, a quoit — the raised floor
at the upper end of a dining-
room ; a raised seat, often cano-
pied." Brachet's Etymological
Dictionary, in which the com-
piler follows Littr^, says that
*' dais in old French always
meant a dinner-table, but espe-
cially a state table with a
canopy ; that gradually the
sense of table has been lost,
and that of canopy prevails ;
whereas in England the sense
of canopy is lost, while that of
the platform on which the table
stands has taken its place."
May not all these apparent
discrepancies between canopy,
platform, table, seat, and disk
or discus, be explained by the
Gaelic deas, as the real origin of
dais ? The right-hand side of
the host was the place of honour,
reserved for the most distin-
guished guest ; and the canopy
was raised, as a matter of course,
at the upper end of the ban-
queting hall, where kings and
great nobles held their festivals.
The suggestion will be taken by
philologists quantum vaZeat. It
is certainly as well deserving
of consideration as the deriva-
tion from discus is, which has
hitherto found favour with phi-
lologists who are ignorant of the
Gaelic.
Deave, to deafen.
Last May a braw wooer came down the
lang glen,
An' sair wi' his love he did deave me ;
I said there was naethin' I hated like men,
The deil gae wi'm to believe me.
—Burns.
A drunken wife I hae at hame,
Her noisome din aye deaves me ;
The ale-wife, the ale-wife,
The ale-wife she grieves me ;
The ale-wife an' her barrelie
They ruin me an' deave me.
— Buchan's Scots Songs and
Ballads.
Deil's-buckie or Deevil's-buckie,
an angry epithet applied to any
mischievous lad or small boy.
Jamieson says huckie signifies a
spiral shell of any kind, and
adds that a refractory urchin
is not only designated by irate
persons as a deiVs buckie, but as
a thrawn or twisted buckle. It
may be questioned, however,
whether huckie is not derived
from the Gaelic buachaille, a
cowherd, and not from a shell,
as far more likely to be in use
among a pastoral and agricul-
tural peasantry than a shell,
that is not in any way sugges-
tive of either a good boy or a
bad one,
Deray, disorder, disarray. The
word is also applied to any
amusement of a boisterous char-
acter.
Sic dancin' and deray.
—Christ's Kirk on the Green.
The word is used by the old
poets Barbour and Douglas, but
seldom or never by those of the
seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies, and is all but obsolete.
42
Dern — Dilly Castle.
Dem, dismal, gloomy.
Auld Dourie never saw a blink,
The lodging was so dark and dem.
— Border Minstrelsy : Chirstie's Will.
Deuch, a drink, a draught ; a cor-
ruption of the Gaelic deoch, which
has the same meaning. Jamie-
son has deuch-an-dorach and
deuch-an-doris, both corruptions
of the Gaelic deoch-an-dorus, a
drink at the door, the parting
cup, the stirrup-cup. The ale-
house sign, once common in Eng-
land as well as in Scotland,
"The Dog and Duck," appears
to have had no relation to aqua-
tic sports, but to have been a
corruption of the Gaelic deoch
an diugh, a drink to-day. In
the same manner, " Mad Dog"
— once set up as a sign at a
place called Odell, as recorded
in Hotten's " History of Sign-
boards" — is merely the GaeUc of
math deoch or maith deoch, good
drink. In the London slang of
the present day, duke is a word
used among footmen and grooms
for gin.
Deuk. A vulgar old song, which
Burns altered and sent to
"Johnson's Museum," without
much improvement on the
coarse original, commences with
the lines : —
The bairns gat out wi' an unco shout.
The deuk's dang o'er my daddie, oh I
The fient may care, quo' the ferlie auld wife,
He was but a paidlin' body, oh !
The glossaries that accompany
the editions of Burns issued by
Allan Cunningham, Alexander
Smith, and others, all agree in
stating that deuTc signifies the
aquatic fowl the duck. But
" the ducTc has come over, or
beaten over, or flown over my
father," does not make sense of
the passage, or convey any mean-
ing whatever. It is probable —
though no editor of Burns has
hitherto hinted it — that the
word deuk should be deuch,
from the Gaelic deoch, drink, a
deep potation, which appears in
Jamieson without other allusion
to its Gaelic origin than the
weU-known phrase the deoch-
an-dorus, the stirrup-cup or
drink at the door. {See Deuch,
ante.) Seen in this light, the
line "the deuch' 8 dang o'er my
daddie" would signify "the
drink or drunkenness has beaten
or come over my daddie," and
there can be little doubt that
this is the true reading.
Dew-piece, a slight refreshment,
a piece of bread, a scone, or oat-
cake, given out to farm-servants
in the early morning before pro-
ceeding to out-of-door work.
Dight, to wipe, or wipe off.
Dight your mou' ere I kiss you.
—Old Song.
Just as I dight frae the table the wine
drops in ma sleeve. — Nodes AmbrosiamB.
Dilly castle. This, according to
Jamieson, is a name given by
boys to a mound of sand which
they erect on the-sea shore, and
stand upon until the advancing
Ding — Dirdunt,
43
tide surrounds it and washes it
away. He thinks the name
comes from the Teutonic " digle
or digel, secretus, or from the
Swedish doelja or dylga, oc-
cultare suus, a hiding-place."
The etymology was not so far
to seek or so difficult to find as
Dr. Jamieson supposed, but is
of purely home origin in the
Gaelic dile (in two syllables), a
flood, an inundation, an over-
flow of water.
Ding, to beat, or beat out ; from
the Gaelic dinn, to trample, to
tread down.
If ye've the deil in ye, ding him out wi'
his brither. Ae deil dings anither.
It's a sair dung (beaten) bairn that manna
greet. — Allan Ramsay, Scots Proverbs.
Ding only survives in English
in the phrase ding, dong, bell ;
and is the slang of working
people out on the strike for an
advance of wages, who call a
comrade who has left the con-
federacy, and yielded to the
terms of the employer, a dung,
i.e., one who is beaten in the
conflict.
The following ludicrous ex-
ample of the use of dung as
the past tense of ding, to beat,
is given by Dean Ramsay in
an anecdote of two bethrels
or beadles, who were severally
boasting of the fervour of their
two ministers in preaching : —
"I think," said one, "our minister did
weel. Ay ! he gart the stour fly out o' the
cushion." To which the other replied with
a calm feeling of superiority, " Stour out
o' the cushion ! Hoot ! our minister, sin'
he cam' till us, has dung the guts out o' twa
Bibles ! "
Dink, from the Gaelic diong,
worthy, highly esteemed, proud,
is suggested by Jamieson to
mean neat, prim, saucy. The
word occurs in the song, "My
lady's gown there's gairsupon't,"
in which a lover draws a contrast
between the great lady of his
neighbourhood and the humble
lass that he is in love with, to
the disadvantage of the former.
To "dink up" is to dress gor-
geously or ostentatiously. Gair,
in the title of the song, signifies
an ornamental fold in the
dress.
My lady's dink, my lady's dressed.
The flower and fancy o' the West ;
But the lassie that a man lo'es best,
That's the lass to make him blest.
Dinsome, noisy, full of din.
Till block an' studdie (stithy or anvil) ring
and reel
Wi' dinsome clamour. *
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Dirdum, noise, uproar; supposed
to be a corruption of the Gaelic
torman, noise, uproar, confu-
sion.
Humph ! it's juist because — ^juist that
the dirdum's a' about yon man's pock-
manty.— Scott : Rob Roy.
Sic a dirdum about naething.
— Laird of Logan.
What wi' the dirdum and confusion,
and the lowpin here and there of the
skeigh brute of a horse. — Scott: For*
tunes of Nigel.
44
Dirl — Donsie.
Dirl, a quivering blow on a hard
substance.
I threw a noble throw at ane.
become much more common in
English than " never-do-well."
It jist played dirl upon the bane,
But did nae mair.
' — Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Divot, a piece of turf ready cut
and dried for burning.
The dell sat gimin' in the neuk,
Rivin' sticks to roast the Duke,
{ And aye they kept it hot below,
Bonnie laddie ! Highland laddie !
Wi' peats and divots frae Glencoe,
Bonnie laddie ! Highland laddie !
— Jacobite Ballad.
Doited, confused, bewildered,
stupid; hopelessly perplexed;
of a darkened or hazy intellect.
I'hou clears the head o' doited lear.
Thou cheers the heart o' droopin' care,
Thou even brightens dark despair
Wi' gloomy smile.
— BuKNS : Scotch Drink.
Ye auld, blind, doited bodie,
And blinder may ye be —
'Tis but a bonnie milking cow
My minnie gied to me.
— Our Gudeman cam' Hame at E'en.
This word seems to be deriv-
able from the Gaelic doite^ dark-
coloured, obscure.
Doited evidently has some connection
with the modern English word dotage,
which again comes from dote, which an-
ciently had, in addition to its modern
meaning, that of to grow' dull, senseless,
or stupid. — R. Drennan,
Do-nae-guid and Ne'er-do-weel.
These words are synonymous,
and signify what the French call
a vaurien, one who is good for
nothing. Neer-do-weel has lately
Donnart, stupefied.
Just dung don-
"Has he learning'
nart wi' learnin'."
—Scott : St. Ronaris Well.
Jamieson traces this word to
the German donner, thunder ;
but it comes most likely from
the Gaelic donas, ill-fortune, or
donadh, mischief, hurt, evil —
corrupted by the Lowland
Scotch by the insertion of the
letter r. The EngUsh word
dunce appears to be from the
same source, and signifies an
unhappy person, who is too
stupid to learn.
Donnot or donot, a ne'er-do-weel,
usually applied to an idle or
worthless girl or woman ; a cor-
ruption of do-nought, or do-
nothing.
Janet, thou donot,
I'll lay my best bonnet
Thou gets a new gudeman afore it be night.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
Donsie, unlucky ; from the Gaelic
donas, misfortune ; the reverse
of sonas, sonsie or lucky.
Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes,
Their failings and mischances.
— Burns : Address to the Ufico Guid.
Jamieson admits that the
word may be derived from the
Gaelic donas, and says that it
means not only unlucky, but
pettish, peevish, ill-natured,
dull, dreary. But all these epi-
thets resolve themselves more
or less intimately into the idea
of unluckiness.
Doo — Dous.
45
Doo, a dove, a pigeon ; <^o-tart or
tert, a pigeon-pie. *' My bonnie
doo " is a familiar and tender
salutation to a lover. Doo-cot,
a dove-cot.
Oh, lay me doun, my doo, my doo,
Oh, lay me doun, my ain kind dearie ;
For dinna ye mind upo' the time
We met in the wood at the well sae
wearie.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Dook or douk, to dive under
water. Colloquial English, to
duck or dive.
Gae douk, gae douk, the king he cried,
Gae douk for gold and fee.
Oh, wha will douk for Hunter's sake.
— Herd's Collection ; Young Hunter.
Dool or dule, pain, grief, doleful-
ness ; from the Gaelic dolas,
the French deuil, mourning.
Of a' the numerous human dools,
Thou bear'st the gree.
— Burns : Address to the Toothache.
I'hough dark and swift the waters pour,
Yet here I wait in dool and sorrow ;
For bitter fate must I endure.
Unless I pass the stream ere morrow.
— Legends of the Isles.
Oh, dule on the order
Sent our lads to the Border —
The English for once by guile won the day.
— The Flowers of the Forest.
Dorty, haughty, stubborn, austere,
supercilious ; from dour, hard
(q.v.)
Let dorty dames say na !
As lang as e'er they please,
Seem caulder than the snaw
While inwardly they bleeze.
—Allan Ramsay : Polwarth on the
Green.
Then though a minister grov/ldorty,
Ye '11 snap your fingers
Before his face.
—Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
Douce, of a gentle or courteous
disposition ; from the French
d(yax, sweet.
Ye dainty deacons and ye douce conveners.
—Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Ye Irish lords, ye knights and squires, ;
Who represent our brughs and shires,
An' doucely manage our aflFairs
In Parliament.
—Burns: The Author s Earnest Cry
and Prayer.
Doun - draught. A pull -down,
draw-down, or drag-down.
Twa men upon ae dog's a sair doun-
draught. — Nodes A mbrosiancB.
Dour, hard, bitter, disagreeable,
close-fisted, severe, stern ; from
the French and Latin, dur and
dwrus.
When biting Boreas, fell and dour.
Sharp shivers through the leafless bower.
—Burns: A Winter Night.
I've been harsh-tempered and dour
enough, I know ; and it's only fitting as
they should be hard and dour to me where
I'm going.— A. Trollope : Vicar of Bull-
hampton.
Dous or Doos, i.e., doves. To
''shoot amang the dous'^ is a
metaphorical phrase for making
an assertion at random or with-
out knowledge. It is sometimes
applied to any wilfully false
assertion. The true meaning is
merely that of an indiscriminate
shot, in the hope of hitting or
killing something — as in the
46
Dow — Down.
barbarous practice, miscalled
sport, which was the fashion
under royal patronage at Hur-
lingham, of firing into a cloud
of pigeons with the chance or
the certainty of killing some of
them.
Dow, to be able, of which the
synonym in the infinitive mood
to can, from the Teutonic Tcannen,
has long been obsolete. The
misuse and perversion of this
word in English in the cus-
tomary greeting "How do you
do?" is a remarkable instance
of the corruption of the popular
speech by the illiterate multi-
tude, and its adoption after long
currency by the literate, until it
acquires an apparent authen-
ticity and a real vitality which
no correction however authori-
tative can rectify. *' How do
you do?'' originally meant, and
still means, how do you douo?
i.e., how is your strength or
ability? how do you thrive or
prosper or get on? as in the
German phrase Wie geMs? or
Wie hcfinden sie sieh ? the Italian
Come state ? or Come sta ? in the
French Comment vous portez
vous ? or Comment vous va-t-iZ ?
or the Gaelic Cia mar tha sibh
an diugh, pronounced ca-mar-a
shee an dew, equivalent to the
English How are you ? The an-
cient word doughty, strong, is a
derivative of dow, able. Dow
is provincial in England, but
common in Lowland Scotch.
Facts are chiels that winna ding,
And downa be disputed.— Burns.
And now he goes daundrin' about the
dykes,
An' a' he dow do is to hund the tykes.
—Lady Grizzel Baillie.
Dowd, stale, flat ; from the Gaelic
daoidh, weak, feeble, worth-
less.
Cast na out the dowd water till ye get
the fresh. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
Dowf, doof, doofing, doofart.
All these words are appUed to a
stupid, inactive, dull person,
and appear to be the originals
of the modern English slang a
duffer, which has a similar
meaning.
Her <&«j^ excuses pat me mad.
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
They're dowfzcnd. dowie at the best,
Dowfaxi^ dowie, dow/axvd dowie,
Wi' a' their variorum ;
They canna please a Highland taste
Compared wi' Tullochgorum.
— Rev. John Skinner.
Dowie, gloomy, melancholy, for-
lorn, low-spirited ; from the
Gaelic duibhe, blackness.
It's no the loss o' warl's gear
That could sae bitter draw the tear,
Or mak' our bardie, dowie, wear
The mourning weed.
— Burns : Poor Mailie's Elegy.
Come listen, cronies, ane and a'.
While on my dowie reed I blaw.
And mourn the sad untimely fa'
O' our auld town.
— James Ballantine.
Down. The Scottish language
contains many more compounds
of down than the English, such
as down-drag and down-draw,
that which drags or draws a
Downa-do — Draidgie.
47
man down in his fortunes, an
incumbrance ; down-throw, of
which the English synonym is
overthrow ; down-way, a decUvity
or downward path ; down-put or
doiim-putting, a rebuff ; doion-
eoming, abandonment of the
sick-room on convalescence ;
doion-looJc, a dejected look or
expression of countenance ; all
of which are really English,
although not admitted into the
dictionaries.
Downa-do, impotency, powerless-
ness, inability.
I've seen the day ye buttered my brose,
And cuddled me late and early, O !
But downa-do s come o'er me now.
And oh I feel it sairly, O !
— Burns : The Deuk's Dang o'er
my Daddie.
Dowp, the posterior, sometimes
written dolp. This word applies
not only to the human frame,
but to the bottom or end of
anything, and is used in such
phrases as the " dowp of a
candle," "the dowp of an ^%%,"
as well as in the threats of
an angry mother to a young
child, " I'll skelp your dowp''
*' Where's your grannie, my wee
man 1 " was a question asked
of a child. The child replied,
** Oh, she's ben the house, burn-
ing her dowp,'' i.e., her candle*
end.
Deil a wig has a provost o' Fairport
worn sin auld Provost Jervie's time, and
he had a quean o' a servant lass that
dressed it hersel' wi' the dowp d a candle
and a dredging-box.— Scott : The Anti-
quary.
Dowp-skelper. A humorous word
appUed to a schoolmaster ; from
skelp, to smite with the palm of
the hand. A similar idea enters
into the composition of the Eng-
lish phrase " a bum-brusher,"
with the difference that Irusher
refers to the rod, and not to the
palm of the hand. Burns applies
the epithet to the Emperor
Joseph of Austria, with what
allusion it is now difficult to
trace : —
To ken what French mischief was brewin'
Or what the drumlie Dutch were doin' —
That vile dowp-skelper Emperor Joseph,
If Venus yet had got his nose off.
— Burns : To a Gentleman who had Pro-
mised to send him a Newspaper.
This word is not to be mis-
taken for dw6-skelper — from duh,
a pool, a pond, a puddle — and
applied to one who rushes on his
way recklessly, through thick
and thin, heedless of dirt or
obstruction.
Draibles or drabbles, drops of
liquor or crumbs of food allowed
to fall from the hand upon the
clothes in the act of drinking or
eating ; akin to the English
drihlets, signifying small quanti-
ties of anything.
Draidgie. A funeral entertain-
ment ; from the French dragic, a
comfit, a sweetmeat. This word
does not appear in Jamieson,
but is to be found in a small
and excellent handbook of the
Scottish vernacular, published
in Edinburgh, 1818.
48
Dram — Dreigh.
Dram. This ancient Scottish word
for a small glass or "nip"of whisky
or any other alcoholic liquor has
long been adopted into English,
but has no synonym of any allied
sound in any other European
language. The French call it a
''petit verre," and the Germans
a •* schnapps," while the Ameri-
cans have recently taken to call-
ing it a " smie, " or " a/i eye-opener. "
Philologists have been contented
to derive it from the Greek
drachma, though, if this be the
fact, it is curious that the word
has not found its way into the
vernacular of any other people
than those of the British Isles.
But though the classic etymo-
logy be too firmly rooted in
popular estimation to be readily
abandoned, it may be interest-
ing to note that in Lowland
Scotch dram originally signified
melancholy, heaviness of mind,
from the Gaelic truime, heavi-
ness, and that the dram was re-
sorted to in order to raise the
spirits and drive out melancholy
— an idea which seems to have
suggested the current American
slang of a ''smiled
*" A story is told in Scotland of an old
farmer too much addicted to his "dram"
and his toddy, who was strictly forbidden
by his medical attendant to indulge in
more than an ounce of whisky per diem, if
he hoped to escape a serious illness. The
old man was puzzled at the word "ounce,"
and asked his son,*who had studied at the
University of St. Andrews and was quali-
fying for the Scottish ministry, what the
doctor meant by an ounce. " An ounce,"
said his son, "why, every one knows that
an ounce is sixteen drams (drachms)."
" Ah ! weel," said his sire, " if I may tak'
saxteen drams i' the day, it's a' richt,
an' I'll dae weel eneuch. The doctor, nae
doot, kens his business. I've already had
twa the day, and I've still fourteen to the
fore ! " Tradition does not record the ulti-
mate fate of the old farmer.
Dreder, terror, apprehension,
dread of impending evil ; some-
times written dredour.
What aileth you, my daughter Janet,
You look so pale and wan ?
There is a dreder in your heart,
Or else you love a man.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads: Lord
Thomas and the Kings Daughter.
Dree, to endure, to suffer ; pro-
bably from the Teutonic triiben,
to trouble, to sadden, and
thence to endure trouble or
suffering ; or from tragen, to
bear, to carry, to draw.
Sae that no danger do thee deir
What dule in dem thou dree
(What soon thou mayst suffer in secret).
—Robyn and Makyn ; The Evergreen.
Oh wae, wae by his wanton sides,
Sae brawlie he could flatter.
Till for his sake I'm slighted sair,
And dree the kintra clatter.
— Burns ; Here's his Health in Water.
In the dialects of the North
of England, to dree is used in
the sense of to draw or journey
towards a place.
In the summer-time, when leaves grow
green,
And birds sing on the tree,
Robin Hood went to Nottingham
As fast as he could dree.
— Robin Hood and the Jolly Tinker.
Dreigh, difficult, hard to travel,
tedious, prolix, dry.
Hech, sirs ! but the sermon was sair dreigh !
— Galt.
Dreich at the thought and dour at the
delivery. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Driddle — Drumlie.
49
Driddle. This is a word of several
meanings, all more or less signi-
ficant of anything done by small
quantities at a time, such as to
urinate often, to move with slow
steps, to spill a liquid by un-
steady handling of the vessel
which contains it. It appears
to be traceable to the Gaelic
drudh or druidh, to ooze, to
drip, to penetrate, and drudhag,
a small drop.
Droddum, a jocular name for the
breech, the posteriors, but more
popularly known as the hurdies
or dowp (which see).
My sooth ! right bauld ye set your nose out,
As plump and grey as ony grozet ;
Oh, for some rank mercurial rozet,
Or fell red smeddum,
I'd gie ye sic a hearty dose o't,
Wad dress your droddum.
—Burns : To a Louse, on seeing one on
a Lady's Bonnet at Church.
The word seems to be of kin
to drod, thick, squat, fleshy.
The derivation is uncertain.
Droich, a dwarf ; from the Gaelic
troid or troich, with the same
meaning.
Only look at the pictures (of the aristo-
cracy) in their auld castles. What beauti-
ful and brave faces ! Though now and
then, to be sure, a dowdy or a droich, —
Noctes Atnbrosiance.
Drook, to wet; drookit, wet
through, thoroughly saturated
with moisture ; from the Gaelic
druchd, dew, moisture, a tear, a
drop; drudhag {dru-ag), a drop
of water; and drughadh, pene-
trating, oozing through. The
resemblance to the Greek SaKpv,
a tear, is noteworthy.
There were twa doos sat in a dookit,
The rain cam' doun and they were drookit.
— Nursery Song.
The last Hallowe'en I was waukin'
My drookit sark sleeve, as ye ken,
His likeness cam ben the house stalkin'.
And the vera grey breeks o' Tam Glen.
—Burns: Tam Glen. '
My friends, you come to the kirk every
Sabbath, and I lave you a' ower wi' the
Gospel till ye're fairly drookit wi't. — Ex-
tract from, a sermon by a minister in
Arran : Rogers's Illustrations of Scot-
tish Life.
Drouth, thirst ; drouthie, thirsty ;
from dry, dryeth.
Tell him o' mine and Scotland's drouth.
— Burns : Cry and Prayer.
Folks talk o' my drink, but never talk o'
my drouth. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
When drouthie neebors neebors meet.
— Burns : Tam o' Shanter.
Drumlie, turbid or muddy (ap-
plied to water), confused, not
clear ; applied metaphorically to
thoughts or expression. This
word would be a great ac-
quisition to the English lan-
guage if it could be adopted,
and lends a peculiar charm to
many choice passages of Scottish
poetry. All its English synon-
yms are greatly inferior to it,
both in logical and poetical ex-
pression. It is derived from the
Gaelic trom or truim, heavy
(and applied to water), turbid.
The word appears at one time
to have been good English.
Draw me some water out of this spring.
Madam, it is all foul, drumly, black,
muddy ! — French and English Grammar,
1623.
50
Drummock — DunL
Haste, boatman, haste I put off your boat,
Put off your boat for golden monie ;
I'll cross the drumlit stream to-night,
Or never mair I'll see my Annie.
—Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
When blue diseases fill the drumlie air.
—Allan Ramsav.
Drink drumly German water
To make himself look fair and fatter.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
They had na sailed a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When dismal grew his countenance,
And drumlie grew his e'e.
— Laidlaw : The Demon Lover.
There's good fishing in drumlie waters.
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
I heard once a lady in Edinburgh ob-
jecting to a preacher that she did not
understand him. Another lady, his great
admirer, insinuated that probably he was
too deep for her to follow. But her ready
answer was, " Na, na !— he's no just deep,
ut he's drumly."— Dkkh Ramsay.
Drummock, cold porridge.— iNToc^M
AmbrosiancB.
Drunt, draunt, to drawl, to whine,
to jrrumble; a fit of ill-humour,
pcttishness. Both of these words
are from the Gaelic dranndan,
grumbling, growling, mourning,
complaining ; dranndanach, pee-
vish, morose, though errone-
ously derived by Jamieson from
the Flemish drinten, tumescere.
May nae doot took the drunt,
To be compared to Willie.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
Nae weel-tocher'd aunts to wait on their
drunts.
And wish them in hell for it a*, man.
—Burns : The Tarbolton Lasses.
But lest he think I am uncivil,
To plague you with this draunting drivel.
—Burns.
Dub, a small pool of dirty water.
The Qoosc-dubs is the name of a
street in Glasgow. Deuk-dub, a
duck-pond.
O'er dub and dyke
She'll run the fields all through.
— Leader Haughs and Yarrow.
There lay a deuk-dub afore the door.
And there fell he, I trow.
—Herd's Collection : The Brisk
Young Lad.
Dud, a rag ; duddies, little rags.
Then he took out his little knife,
Let a' his duddies fa*.
An' he was the brawest gentleman
That stood amang them a'.
— We'll Gang no* Mair a Rovin.
A smytrie o' wee duddie weans.
— Burns.
The duddie wee laddie may grow a braw
man.— David Hutcheson.
Dunnie-wassal, a Highland gen-
tleman.
There are wild dunnie ' wastats three
thousand times three
Will cry oich for the bonnets o' Bonnie
Dundee.— Sir Walter Scott.
This word, generally mis-
printed in the Lowlands, and
by Sir Walter Scott in his ex-
cellent ballad of "Bonnie Dun-
dee," is from the Gaelic duinc, a
man, and uasal, gentle, noble, of
good birth.
Dunsh, to sit down hastily and
heavily.
His dowp dunshin do^tm.—Noctes Am-
brosiana.
Dunt, a blow, a knock ; from dint,
to deal a heavy blow that leaves
a mark on a hard substance.
Dush — Eerie.
51
I am naebody's lord,
I am slave to naebody ;
I hae a gude broad sword,
I'll talc' dunts frae naebody.
—Burns : Naebody.
Dush or dish, to push with tho
head or horns like animals, to
butt, to ram ; also to give a hard
blow, to destroy or discomfit.
Ye needna doubt I held my whisht,
The infant aith, half-formed, was crusht ;
I glower'd as eerie's I'd been dusht
In some wild glen;
Then sweet, like modest worth, she blusht,
And steppit ben.
•—Burns: The Vision.
The English slang duh, to de-
feat or conquer, seems to be of
similar origin ; as when the late
Lord Derby made use of the
expression ''Dish the Whigs,"
he meant to discomfit, circum-
vent them, or defeat them as a
party. The root seems to be
the Gaelic dith {di), to press,
to squeeze, and disne, a die or
press.
Duxy, ugly, mischievous ; from
the Gaelic duaich and duaich-
nidhf ugly.
You duxy lubber, brace your lyre ;
Still higher yet 1 you fiend, play higher.
Sic themes were never made to suit
Your dozen o' lugs, ye duxy brute.
— Georgb Bkattik : John o' Amha\
Dwam, a swoon, a fainting fit.
Fast congealin' into a sort oi divam and
stupefaction. — Nodes A mbrosiante.
Dyke-louper, an immoral unmar-
ried woman, or mother of an
illegitimate child. Tho dyhc in
this phrase means the marriage
tie, obligation, or sacramental
wall that prohibits the illicit
intercourse of the sexes ; and
louper, one who treats the wall
and its impediment as non-
existent, or who despises it
by louping, jumping, or leaping
over it.
Dyvor, a bankrupt ; from the
Gaelic dith (di), to destroy, to
break ; and fear, a man — a
broken man or bankrupt. Jamie-
son derives the word from tho
French devoir, duty, or to servo.
.Smash them, crash them a' to spails.
And rot the dyvors in the jails.
—Burns : Address 0/ Beelzebub.
E
Eastie - wastie, a person who
docs not know his own mind,
who veers round in his purpose
from one side to the other, i.e.,
from eait to vaut.
Eee-bree, an eyebrow.
There's no a bird in a' this forest
Will do as muckle for me
As dip its wing in the warm water
An' straik it on my ee-bree.
— Johnnie o' Braidislee {when dying
alone in the forest).
Eerie, gloomy, wearisome, full of
fear.
In mirkiest glen at midnight hour
I'd rove and ne'er be eerie, O I
If thro* that glen I gacd to tlicc,
My ain kind dearie, O.— Burns.
52
Eith — Erne.
It was an eerie walk through the still
chestnut woods at that still hour of the
night. — The Dream Numbers, by T. A.
Trollope.
Aft yont the dyke she's heard you bummin'
Wi' eerie drone.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Eerie is a most difficult word to explain.
I don't know any English word that comes
near it in meaning. The feeling induced
by eerieness is that sort of superstitious
fear that creeps over one in darkness, —
that sort of awe we feel in the presence of
the unseen and unknown. Anything un-
usual or incongruous might produce the
feeling. "The cry of howlets mak's me
eerie," says Tannahill. The following
anecdote illustrates the feeling when a
thing unusual or incongruous is presented :
— An Ayrshire farmer, who had visited
Ireland, among other uncos he had seen,
related that he went to the Episcopal
church there, and this being the first time
he had ever heard the English service, he
was startled by seeing a falla' come in with
a long white sark on, down to his heels.
" Lord, sir, the sicht o' him made me feel
quite eerie." — R. Drennan.
Eith, easy ; etymology uncertain,
but neither Gaelic, Flemish, nor
German,
It's eith defending a castle that's no
besieged.
It's eith learning the cat the way to
the kirn.
Eith learned, soon forgotten.
It's eith working when the will's at hame.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Eke, to add to, an addition ;
*'eiA;to a testament," a codicil
to a will. This English word
has acquired a convivial mean-
ing in Scotland among toddy-
drinkers. When a guest is about
to depart, after having had a
fair allowance of whisky, the
host presses him to *' tak an
eke"— i.e., another glass, to eke
out the quantity. " I hate
intemperance," said a northern
magistrate, who was reproached
by an ultra-temperance advocate
for the iniquity of his trade as
a distiller, "but I like to see a
cannie, respectable, honest man
tak' his sax tumblers and an eke
in the bosom o' his family. But
I canna thole intemperance I "
Eldritch, fearful, terrible. Jamie-
son has this word elrische, and
thinks it is related to elves or
evil spirits, and that it is derived
from two Anglo-Saxon words
signifying elf and rich, or
rich in elves or fairies ! The
true derivation is from the
Gaelic oiUt, terror, dread, horror,
which, combined with droch, bad,
wicked, formed the word as
Bums and other Scottish writers
use it.
On the eldritch hill there grows a thorn.
—Percy's Reliques : Sir Carline.
The witches follow
Wi' mony an eldritch screech and hollow.
—Burns : Tam o' Shunter.
I've heard my reverend grannie say.
In lonely glens ye like to stray,
Or where auld ruined castles gray
Nod to the moon.
To fright the nightly wanderer's way
Wi' eldritch croon.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Erne, an uncle ; from the Teutonic
okeim.
The pummel o' a guid auld saddle,
And Rob my erne bocht me a sack,
Twa lovely lips to lick a ladle.
Gin Jenny and I agree, quo' Jock.
— The Wooin o' Jenny and Jock.
Ettle — Eytyn,
53
Ettle, to try, to attempt, to en-
deavour.
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie prest,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle.
But little wist she Maggie's metal.
— Burns : Tam o' Skanter.
I ettled wi' kindness to soften her pride.
— James Bai.lantine : The Way to Woo.
They that ettle to get to the top of the
ladder will at least get up some rounds. —
They that mint at a gown of gold will
always get a sleeve of it. — Scott : The
Monastery.
Ettle. — The correct synonyms are to
intend, to expect, to aim at. Intention is
the essential element in the meaning of this
word. — R. Drennan.
Everly, continually, always, for
ever.
To be set doun to a wheelie (spinning
wheel),
An' at it for ever to ca',
An' syne to hae't reel by a chielie (fellow)
That everly cryed to draw.
— Wood an' Married an a.
Ewe-bucht, a sheepf old ; buchtin',
or buchtin'-time, the evening
time or gloaming, when the
cattle are driven into the fold.
When o'er the hill the eastern star
Tells bughtin -tim.e is near, my jo.
And owsen frae the furrow'd field.
Return sae dowf and wearie, O.
—Burns : My Ain Kind Dearie, O.
Oh, the broom, the bonnie, bonnie broom.
The broom o' the Cowden knowes !
And aye sae sweet as the lassie sang,
In the ewe-bucht, milking her ewes.
— The Broom d the Cowden Knowes.
The word 'bught seems to be
an abbreviation of the Gaelic
huaigheal, a cow-stall, and huai-
chaUle, a cowherd, a shepherd ;
huaiie, a fold ; btmilte, folded, or
driven into the fold. Jamieson
goes to Germany for the root of
the word and does not find it.
Eydent, diligent, earnest, zealous ;
from the Gaelic eud, zeal.
My fair child.
Persuade the kirkmen eydently to pray.
— Henrvsone : The Lion and the
Mouse : The Evergreen.
Their master's and their mistress'scommand
The youngsters a' were warned to obey.
An' mind their labours wi' an eydent hand.
— Burns '.Cotters Saturday Night.
Eyrie, an eagle's nest ; from the
Gaelic eirich, to rise, and eirigh,
a rising.
The eagle and the stork
On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build.
—Milton.
'Tis the fire shower of ruin all dreadfully
driven
From his eyrie that beacons the darkness
of heaven.
—Campbell : LochieTs Warning.
Ejrtyn, Etyn, Etaine, Aiten, Red-
Aiten. This word, with its dif-
ferent but not unsimilar spell-
ings, appears to be a corruption
of the Norse Jotun, a giant.
It was formerly used in England
as well as in Scotland. Eynde
Etyn, or the gentle giant, is the
title of a Scottish ballad in Kin-
loch's Collection.
They say the King of Portugal cannot
sit at his meat, but the giants and etyns
will come and snatch it from him. — Beau-
mont and Fletcher : Burning Pestle .
54
Fa! — FairifH .
Fa', the Scottish abbrevation of
fall. The word is used by Burns
in the immortal song of "A
man's a man for a' that," in a
sense which has given rise to
much doubt as to its meaning : —
A king can mak' a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that ;
, But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith, he mauna^a' that.
The context would seem to im-
ply that /a' means to try, to at-
tempt. No author except Bums
uses the word in this sense ; and
none of the varieties of words
in which fall or the act of faLl-
ing, either physically or meta-
phorically, is the primary mean-
ing, meets the necessities of
Burns's stanza. Halliwell has
fay as an archaic English word,
with five different meanings, of
which the fourth is to succeed,
to act, to work. The /a' of
Burns may possibly be a variety
of the English word, current in
Ayrshire in his time. It finds
no place in Jamieson.
Burns did not originate the
idea, so well expressed, and to
which he has given such wide
currency. It is to be found in
an anecdote recorded of King
James VI. and his faithful old
nurse, who came uninvited from
Edinburgh to pay him a visit.
It is told that the King was de-
lighted to see her, and asked
her kindly what he could do
for her. After some hesitation,
she replied that she desired no-
thing for herself, only that she
wanted his Majesty to make her
son a gentleman. * ' Ah, Jeanie,
Jeanie ! " said the King, ** I can
mak' him a duke, if ye like ; but
I canna mak' him a gentleman
unless he mak's himsel' ane I "
Faird, a journey, a course.
Jamieson thinks it signifies a
hasty and noted effort, and
quotes a Mid-Lothian phrase,
" Let them alane ; it's but a
faird, it'll no last lang ; they'll
no win (arrive) far afore us."
The word is evidently from the
same source as fare, to travel,
as in waj-farer ; the Teutonic
fahren, to go, to travel; and
fdhre, a ferry, a passage over
the water, and gefdhrlich, dan-
gerous ; as originally applied to
travelling in primitive and un-
settled times.
Fairdy, clever, tight, handy ; fair
to do.
With ane ev'n keel before the wind,
She is rightyairdy with a sail.
TAe Fleming Bark— belonging to
Edinburgh.
— Allan Ramsay : The Evergreen.
Fair in' signifies either reward
or punishment ; one's deserts.
Fair fa' ! may good or fair
things befall you! is equiva-
lent to a benison or benediction.
Fank — Feck.
55
Jamieson derives the word from
fair or market, and thinks it
means a present bought at a
fair. But this is guess-work,
and does not meet the sense
of the passage in "Tarn o'
Shanter." Possibly it has some
connection with the Teutonic
gefakr, danger, also a doom or
punishment ; supposed, in its
favourable term, to be derived
from a present purchased at a
fair to be bestowed as a gift on
one who was not at it.
Fair fa your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin' race.
— Burns : To a Haggis.
Ah, Tarn \ ah, Tam ! thou'lt get thy
fairin ;
In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'.
— Burns : Tam o Shanter.
Fank, a coil, a tangle, a noose ;
possibly from fang, to take hold
of. To fank a horse in a field,
to catch him with a rope noose
or lasso ; fanhit, entangled ; a
fanh o' tows, a coil of ropes.
It may also be the root of the
English /wn/fc, i,e., to be in a coil
of perplexity or dread. The com-
mon derivation of funk, from
the German funk, a sparkle of
light, is not tenable. The Gae-
lic fainnich signifies to curl,
from fainne, a ring.
Farle, a small oaten or wheaten
cake, the fourth part of a ban-
nock; from farthel, or fourth
part ; the Flemish viertel and
Qerman fiertel.
An' there'll be gude lapper-milk kebbucks,
An' sowens, z.x\ farles, an' baps.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Fash, to bother, to worry, to
distress one's self; from the
French sefdcher, to be angry.
Fashions, troublesome.
Speak out, and n&v&r /ash your thumb, i
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
The Rev. John Brown of Whitburn was
riding out one day on an old pony, when
he was accosted by a rude youth. " I
say, Mr. Brown, what gars your horse's tail
wag that way ? " " Oh ! " replied Brown,
"just what gars your tongue wag; it's
fashed -wx a weakness."— Dean Ramsay.
Fazard, dastard, coward.
They are mair fashions nor of feck ;
Yon fazards durst not, for their neck,
Climb up the crag with us.
— Montgomery : The Cherry and
the Slae.
The root of this word would
appear to be the Gaelic /as,
vacant, hollow, good-for-no-
thing, with the addition of ard,
as in dastarc?, coward, wizard,
a suffix which signifies eminent,
or in a high degree. Thus, fa-
zard or fasard means worthless
in the extreme.
Feck, power, activity, vigour.
Feck seems to be derivable from
the Gaelic fiach, worth, value.
Feckfvl, full of power. Feckless,
without power or vigour of body
or mind. Worcester, in his dic-
tionary, derives this word from
effectless.
Many &feckful chield this day was slain.
— Blind Haury's Wallace.
56
Fell — Feu.
The lazy luxury which feckless loons
indulge in. — Scott.
Feckless folk are aye fain o' ane anither.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs, j
Poor devil ! see him o'er his trash,
PiS, feckless as a withered rash.
— Burns : To a Haggis.
That feckless fouter ! — Nodes Am-
brosiatue.
Fell, to km.
The sister of a lady, who had died of a
surfeit from eating too bountifully of straw-
berries and cream, was consoled with by
a friend, who said to her, " I had hoped
your sister would have lived many years."
" Leeve ! " she replied, " how could she
leeve, when she just felled hersel' at
Craigo wi' strawberries an' cream?" —
Dean Ramsay.
Fend, to ward off — probably a
contraction from defend. Fend
also means to prosper or do weU,
to provide, to live comfortably —
possibly from the idea of ward-
ing off want or poverty.
Can she mak' nae better fend for them
than that ?— Scott : The Monastery.
But gie them guid coo-milk their fill.
Till they be fit to fend themsel'.
—Burns : Dying Words of Poor Mailie.
Here stands a shed to fend the showers,
And screen our countra gentry.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
How is \iefendin\ John Tod, John Tod ?
He is scouring the land wi' a song in his hand.
— Chambers's Scots Songs : John Tod.
Fendy, clever at contrivances in
diflSculty, good at making a
shift.
" Alice," he said, " was both canny and
fendy." — Scott : Waverley.
Ferlie, a wonder, to wonder, won-
derful.
Who barkened ever slike 2i ferlie thing.
— Chaucer : The Reeves Tale.
On Malvern hills
Me befel aferly.
—Piers Ploughman.
Never breathe out of kin and make your
{riends ferly at you.
The longer we live the moreferlies we see.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
And tell what new taxation's comin'.
And ferlie at the folk in Lunnon.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Ferlie and wonner. In this
phrase wonner is a corruption
of the English wonder ; a con-
temptuous and ludicrous term
to designate a person or thing
that is strangely, wondrously
ugly, ill - favoured, or mean ;
almost synonymous with the
modern English slang a guy or
a cure. Burns uses both words
in the same poem : —
Ha ! where ye gaun, ye crdiwWn' ferlie I
Ye ugly, creepin', blastit wonner,
Detested, shunned by saint and sinner ?
— To a Certain Insect, on seeing one
on a Lady's Bonnet at Church.
Ferrikie. Jamieson cites this as
an Upper Clydesdale word for
" strong, robust." He derives it
from the German ferig, which
he translates expeditus, alacer ;
but there is no such word as
ferig in the German language.
It is more probably from the
Gaelic fear, a man, fearachas,
manhood, and fearail, manly,
virile, strong, lusty. The Welsh
hasher, solid, strong.
Feu, to let land for building ; a
possession held on payment of
a certain rent to the feudal
proprietor, heritor, or owner of
the soil. Where the English
Fey — Fient.
57
advertise " land to let for build-
ing purposes," the Scotch more
tersely say "land to/ew."
There is, or was lately, a space of un-
occupied ground on the " Corran" at Oban,
contiguous to DunoUy Castle, in the midst
of which on a pole was a board inscribed
"This land to feu" An English bishop
on his holiday tour having observed the
announcement, and wondering what it
meant, turned to his wife and asked her
if she knew. She did not, and the bishop
thereupon hazarded the conjecture that it
meant to "fire," from the French ^».
" Very likely," replied the lady, " to burn
the grass." Before the bishop left Oban
his ignorance on the subject was dispelled
by a guest at the table-d' hdte of the hotel
to whom he applied for information.
" Curious language, the Scotch ! " was
his lordship's rejoinder. — C. M.
Fey, fated, bewitched, unlucky,
doomed ; one whose fate is
foreknown or prophesied ; from
the Gaelic faidhf a prophet, the
Latin vates.
Let the fate fall upon ih&feyest.
Take care of the man that God has
marked, for he's no^^^.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
We'll turn again, said good Lord John,
But no, said Rothiemay,
My steed's trepanned, my bridle's broke,
I fear this day I'm/ey.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
They hacked and hashed, while broad-
swords clashed.
And through they dashed, and hewed,
and smashed.
Till fey men died awa, man.
— The Battle of Sheriffmuir.
Fidgin'-fain, extremely anxious;
from jldge, the English fidget, to
be restless or anxious, and /aw,
willing or desirous.
It pat m& fdgin fain to hear it.
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Fiel. The glossaries to Burns
explain this word to mean
" smooth and comfortable,"
apparently from the context : —
Oh, leeze me on my spinnin'-wheel,
And leeze me on my rock and reel,
Frae tap to tae that deeds me bien,
And haps m^.fiel and warm at e'en !
— Bess and her Spinning- Wheel.
Jamieson, who has fe\i and
fiel, defines the words to mean
" soft and smooth like velvet,
silky to the touch, and also
clean, neat, comfortable." The
word must not be confounded
with/eiZ, fe\Jl, fele, which signify
much, many, and very, and
are clearly derivable from the
Teutonic viel, which has the
same meaning ; as viel gelt, much
money. Jamieson derives the
word used by Burns from the
Icelandic /eZ^rfr, habitis idorem ;
but this is exceedingly doubtful.
The Gaelic has fial, generous,
liberal, bountiful, good, hos-
pitable ; and possibly it is in
this sense that Bess applies the
word to the spinnin'-wheel that
provides her with raiment.
Fient, none, not a particle of;
equivalent to " the devil a bit,"
from fiend, the devil ; fient-hait,
not an iota, the devil a bit.
But though he was o' high degree,
The^^«^ o' pride — nae pride had he.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
The queerest shape that e'er I saw,
Yor fient a wame it had ava !
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Fient-haet o't wad hae pierced the heart
O' a kail runt. — Burns : Idem.
58
Fiere — Flaw.
Fiere, a friend, a comrade. This
word is supposed by some to be
a misprint for frere, a brother.
And here's a hand, my trnsiy Jiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine.
— Burns: Auld Langsyne-
This word may either be a
synonym for the Latin vir and
the Gaelic fear, a man, or may
be derived from fior, true, or a
true man. The Scottish poet
Douglas has fior for sound and
healthy. It is sometimes spelt
feer.
First-foot, the first person who is
met by lad or lass in the morning.
Early morning she drest up
And all her maides fair,
The ploughman chiel was her _first-/oot
As she went to take the air.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Flaff, a momentary display.
Ga' I ever for a flaff in the Park forget
my ain cosie bield. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Flamfoo. According to Jamieson
this word signifies a gaudily-
dressed woman, or any gaudy
ornament of female dress. He
derives it from an alleged old
English word meaning " moon-
shine in the water ! " It seems,
however, to come from the Gaelic
fiann, corrupted into fiam, red,
the showy colour so much ad-
mired by people of uneducated
taste ; conjoined with the Scot-
tish fu' for full. The English
word flaunting, and the phrase
flaunts, fiery red ribbons, are
from the same root.
Flannen, the Scottish as well as the
English vernacular Hannen for
flannel, seems to be preferable
to flannel as the correct pronun-
ciation of the word. Both are
correct if the etymology be cor-
rect, which traces the word to
the Gaelic flann, red, and olann,
wool. In the early ages of
civilisation, when wool was first
woven for garments to clothe
mankind, the favourite colours
were red and yellow. In Hak-
luyt's Voyages it is said — "By
chance they met a canoe of Domi-
nicans, to the people whereof he
gave a waistcoat of yeUow flan-
nel." Probably red was the first
dye used, whence/ann-oZanw, red
wool. At an after time, when
gaudy colours were not so much
in request, the wool was bleach-
ed, whence blanket or blanquette,
whitened.
I wadna be surprised to spy
You on an auld wife's flannen toy (cap),
Or aiblins some bit duddie boy,
On's wylie-coat ;
But Miss's fine Lunardi, fy !
How daur ye do't ?
— Burns : To a Louse, on seeing' one
on a Ladys Bonnet at Church.
Flaucht or flaught, a flash of
lightning, a sudden blaze in the
sky ; from the Flemish flakkeren
2ind. flihherin, to flicker, to shine
out quickly or instantaneously.
The thundeir crack'd, andflauchts did rift
Frae the black vizard o' the lift.
— Allan Ramsay : The Vision.
Fierce as ony flre-flaught fell.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Flaw, a burst of bad weather,
from the Gaelic fliuch, a rain-
storm.
Like an auld scart (cormorant) before a
flaw. — The A ntiquary.
Fleech — Flit,
59
Fleech or fleich, to pet, to
wheedle, to cajole ; also, to en-
treat or supplicate with fair
words. A fieeching day is a day
that promises to be fine, but
that possibly may not turn out
so. Possibly from the French
jlechir, to give way, to ask
humbly, instead of demanding
loudly.
Duncan _fieeched and Duncan prayed —
Ha ! ha ! the wooin' o't. — Burns.
Expect na, sir, in this narration,
Kfleechin, flatterin' dedication.
— Burns : Epistle to Gavin Hamilton.
Hoot ! toot ! man — keep a calm sough.
Better to Jleech a fool than fight wi' him.
— Scott : The Monastery.
Fleer, a gibe, a taunt — etymology
doubtful. The Flemish has
fieerSy a box on the ear.
Oh, dinna ye mind o' this v&ryjieer,
When we were a' riggit out to gang to
Sherramuir,
Wi' stanes in our aprons ?
— Chambers's Scottish Ballads : The
Threatened Invasion.
Fley, to scare, to frighten. Ety-
mology unknown, but possibly
from /ee, to run away for fear,
whence jity, to cause to run
away for fear, to frighten.
A wee thing Jleys cowards. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
It spak' right howe, My name is Death,
But be rvafleyd.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Flichter, to flutter, to fly feebly ;
a great number of small objects
flying in the air, as *' a flichter
of birds ; " a multitude of small
objects flying, floating, or flut-
tering in the air, as a flichter
or flight of birds ; a flichter of
motes in the sunbeams ; a
flichter of heavy or large snow-
flakes. To flichter is to flutter,
to quiver with joyous excite-
ment, and also to startle or
alarm. The word is evidently
akin to the English flight and
the Teutonic /mcA^
The bird maun flichter that has but ae
wing.— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The expectant wee things, toddlin', sprachle
through,
To meet their dad, wi' flichterin noise
and glee.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Flinders, fragments, splinters.
He put his fingers to the lock,
I wat he handled them sickerlie ;
And doors of deal and bands of steel
He gart them all m flinders flee.
—Bvckkh's Ancient Ballads : The
Three Brothers.
Flinging-tree, a flail, the pole of
a carriage, a bar of wood in any
agricultural implement.
The thresher's -w^zxy flingin -tree
The lee-lang day had tired me,
And when the day had closed his e'e
Far i' the west,
Ben i' the spence, right pensivelie,
I gaed to rest.
—Burns : The Vision.
Flit, to remove from one residence
to another ; aflittin', a removal.
As doun the burnside she gaed slow in the
flittin,
Fare ye weel, Lucy, was ilka bird's sang ;
She gaed by the stable where Jamie was
stannin',
Richt sair was his kind heart the flittin
to see.
— Lucy's Plittin', by William Laidlaw
{the steward, amanuensis, and
trusted friend of Sir Walter
Scott).
6o
Elite — Fogte.
Flite or fljrte, to reproach, to
blame, to animadvert, to find
fault with.
Theyyfj'/^ me wi' Jamie because he is poor ;
But summer is comin', cauld winter's awa,
An' he'll come back an' see me in spite
o' them a'
— George Halket : Logie o' Bttchan.
Hed ! gude-wife I ye 're 2.Jlytiti body ;
Ye hae the will, but ye want the wit.
— Sir Alexander Boswell : A Matri-
monial Duel.
Floan, to flirt. Jamieson says
that ''■floan means to show
attachment, or court regard in
an indiscreet way," and derives
the word from the Icelandic
jion, stolidus. Is it not rather
from the old English jione,
arrows (Halliwell and Wright),
whence metaphorically to dart
glances from the eye, and con-
sequently to flirt or cast amor-
ous looks ? The Kymric Celtic
has ffloyn, a splinter, a thin
wand, an arrow.
And for yon giglet hussies i' the glen.
That night and day zx& Jloaning at the
men.— Ross's Helenore.
Flunkey, a servant in livery ;
metaphorically applied to a per-
son who abjectly flatters the
great. The word was unknown
to literature until the time of
Burns. Thackeray and Carlyle
in our own day have made it
classical English, although the
most recent lexicographers have
not admitted it or its derivative,
jiunkeyism, to the honours of the
dictionary.
Our laird gets in his racked rents.
He rises when he likes himsel',
His flunkeys answer to his bell.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
The word is supposed to be
derived from the Gaelic flann,
red, and cas, a leg or foot — red-
legs, applied to the red or crim-
son plush breeches of footmen.
The word red-shanks was ap-
plied to the kilted Highlanders
by the English, and hence the
Highland retort of flunkey to
the English.
I think this derivation wrong ; vlonk in
Danish signifies proud, haughty. — Lord
Neaves.
Fodgel, sometimes written and
pronounced /o(iyeW plump, short,
corpulent, and good-tempered.
A man in Scottish parlance
may be stout and plump
without being fodyd, as fodgel
implies good nature, urbanity,
and cheerfulness, as well as
plumpness.
If in your bounds ye chance to light
Upon a fine, izx fodgel wight,
Of stature short, but genius bright,
That's he, mark weel.
— Burns : On the Peregrinations of
Captain Grose Collecting A ntiquities
throughout the Kingdom.
Fog, moss; from the Gaelic hog
or hhog, moist, soft.
" And so, John," said the minister, " I
understand ye have gone over to the In-
dependents ? " " Deed, sir," said John,
"that's true." "Oh, John," rejoined the
minister, "I'm sure ye ken that a rowin'
stone gathers nz&fog." "Aye," said John,
" that's true, too ; but can ye tell me what
gude the fog does to the stone ? " — Dean
Ramsay.
Fogie, a dull, slow man, unable
or unwilling to reconcile him-
Fog-moss — Fou,
6i
self to the ideas and manners
of the new generation. The
derivation of this word, which
Thackeray did much to popu-
larise in England, is uncertain,
though it seems most probable
that it comes from "foggy," for
a foggy, misty, hazy intellect,
unable to see the things that
are obvious to clearer minds ;
or it may be from the Gaelic
fogaire, an exile, a banished man.
In the United States the word
is generally applied to an ultra-
Conservative in politics.
Ay, though we be
0\A/ogies three,
We're not so dulled as not to dine ;
And not.so old
As to be cold
To wit, to beauty, and to wine.
— A II the Year Round.
Fog-moss, f oggage, tall grass used
for fodder. The etymology is
uncertain. The English fodder
is from the Gaelic fodar; but
this scarcely affords a clue to
fog or f oggage. Though possibly
f oggage may be a corruption of
the old and not yet obsolete
fodderage.
Thy wee bit housie too in ruin !
Its silly wa's the winds are strewin',
An' naething left to big a new ane,
O' foggage gr&&n,
An' bleak December's winds ensuin',
Baith snell and keen.
— Burns : To a Mouse.
Forbears, ancestors.
Forbye, besides, in addition to,
over and above.
Forbye sax mae I sell't awa.
—Burns ; Auld Farmer.
Forbye some new uncommon weapons.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Foreanent, directly opposite.
Foremost. In English this word
signifies first as regards place.
In Scottish parlance it also
signifies first as regards time.
They made a paction 'twixt them twa,
They made it firm and sure,
That whoe'er should speak ih.& foremost
word
Should get up an' bar the door.
— The Barrin'jo' oor Door.
Forfoughten, sometimes written
and pronounced/or/ow^^eri,worn
out with struggling or fatigue.
And \}ao\x^forfoughten sair eneugh,
Yet unco proud to leave. — Burns.
I am but like 2ifor/oughen hound,
Has been fighting in a syke (ditch).
— Border Minstrelsy : Hobbie Noble.
Forgather, to meet.
Twa dogs
Forgathered ance upon a time.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Forjeskit, wearied out, jaded, ex-
hausted ; derivation uncertain,
but probably from the Flemish
or Dutch patois.
The fi^nd, forjeskit, tried to escape
Thro' frequent changing o' his shape.
— Beattie : John o A mha\
Fou, drunk, is generally supposed
to be a corruption otfvll {i.e., of
liquor) ; but if such were the fact
the word ought to be contracted
into fu\ as wae/t^', sorrow/w',
which cannot be written waefou
or soTTOwfou. Fou, in French,
signifies insane, a word that
might be applied to an intoxi-
62
Fouter — Fusionless.
cated person ; but if the Scot-
tish phrase be not derived from
the French, it ought to be writ-
ten fu\ and not fou. Possibly
the root of the word is the
Gaelic fuath (pronounced fud),
which signifies hatred, abhor-
rence, aversion, whence it may
have been applied to a person
in a hateful and abhorrent state
of drunkenness. This, however,
is a mere suggestion. Jamieson
has fowsom, filthy, impure, ob-
scene.
We are na'ybu, we're na' that/bu,
We've just a wee drap in our e'e.
— Burns : Willie Brewed a Peck
o' Maut.
Fouter, an expression of extreme
contempt for a hateful person.
The French foutre has the same,
and even a worse meaning. Both
the Lowland Scotch and the
French are from the Gaelic and
Qelticfuathy hatred.
Fouth or rowth, abundance.
Fouth is from full, on the same
principle as the English words
tilth from till, spilth from spiU,
youth from youngeth, growth from
grow, drouth from dryeth. Rowth
has the same signification, and
is from row or roll, to flow on
like a stream.
He has afowth o auld knick-nackets.
Rusty aim and jinglin' jackets,
—Burns : To Captain Grose.
They that hae rowth o' butter may lay
it thick on their scones. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
Fremit, frammit, strange, un-
related, unfamiliar ; from the
Teutonic fremd, foreign.
Ye ha'e lien a' wrang, lassie,
In an unco bed,
Wi' a. fremit man. — Burns.
And mony a friend that kissed his caup
Is now a/rantmit wight,
But it's ne'er sae wi' Whisky Jean.
— Burns : The Five Carlins.
Frist, to delay, to give credit;
from the Teutonic fristen, to
spare, to respite.
The thing that's fristed is nae forgi'en.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Prozierbs.
Fnish, brittle.
Oh, woe betide \!a& frusk saugh wand
(willow wand).
And woe betide the bush o' briar,
It brak into my true love's hand.
— Border Minstrelsy : Annan Water.
Fulzie, surfeited with gluttony
and over-eating ; full of meat
and food.
Enough to sicken afulzie man. — Noctes
Ambrosiatue.
Furth, out of doors, to go forth,
to go out. The mucTde furth, is
the full, free open air. Furthy,
forward, frank, free, affable, open
in behaviour. Furth-setter, one
who sets forth or puts forth ; a
publisher, an author.
Sir Penny is of a noble spreit,
Kfurthy man, and a far seeand ;
There is no matter ends compleit
Till he set to his seil and hand.
— A Panegyrick on Sir Penny :
The Evergreen.
Fusionless, pithless, silly, sap-
less, senseless ; corrupted from
"foison," the old English word
for plenty ; the opposite of
"geason," scarce.
Fy / — Fytte.
63
For seven lang years I ha'e lain by his side,
And he's but 3i/tisionless bodie, O 1
— Burns : The Deuks Dang oer my
Daddy.
The mouths of fasting multitudes are
crammed -wi Jizzenless bran, instead of the
sweet word in season. — Scott : Old Mor-
tality.
Fusionless.—ln Bailey's Dictionary the
■word /oison means "the natural juice or
moisture of the grass or other herbs, the
heart and strength of it : " used in Suf-
folk. — R. D REN NAN.
Fy I or fye ! This exclamation is
not to be confounded with the
English fye! or fye! or the
Teutonic 'pfui! which are used
as mild reproofs of any act of
shame or impropriety.
Fy ! let us a' to the bridal.
For there will be lilting there ;
For Jock's to be married to Jeanie,
The lass wi' the gowden hair.
—Old Song.
In this old song, all the in-
cidents and allusions are ex-
pressive of joy and hilarity.
Jamieson suggests that/y means
" make haste ! " " Fye-gae-to"
he says, "means much ado, a
great hurry ; and fye haste, a
very great bustle, a hurry." He
gives no derivation. As the
Teutonic cannot supply one, it
is possible that the root is the
Gaelic faich, look 1 behold ! lo !
in which sense ''Fye! let us a'
to the bridal," might be trans-
lated "Look ye! let us all go
to the bridal."
Fyke, to be ludicrously and fussily
busy about trifles, to be rest-
less without adequate reason,
akin to fidget, which is possibly
from the same root. The word
is also used as a noun. Fiddle-
fyTce and fiddle-ma-Jike are inten-
sifications of the meaning, and
imply contempt for the petty
trifling of the person who
fykes.
Some drowsy bummle,
Wha can do nought hutjyke and fumble.
— Burns : On a Scotch Bard.
Gin he 'bout Norrie lesser _;5''^^ had made.
— Ross's Helenore.
Weening that ane sae braw and gentle-like
For nae guid ends was makin' sic 2. fyke.
— Ross's Helenore.
Fjrtte, the subdivision of a long
poem, now called a canto. Percy,
in a note in his "Ancient Ke-
liques," considers the word to
signify no more than a division,
a part to "fit" on to another.
As the bards of the Druids, who
sung in their religious festivals,
and who delivered their precepts
to the people in short verses of
couplets or triads — better for
committal to memory than long
prose homilies would have been
— were called^ad^s or prophets,
it is possible that that word, and
not the English jf?«, as Dr. Percy
says, was the origin of fytte as
applied to the subdivision of a
sacred song.
64
Gabbock — Gale.
G
Gabbock, a hunk, a large piece or
slice.
And there'll be
Fouth o' gude gabbocks o skate.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Gaberlunzie, a wallet or bag car-
ried by beggars for collecting
in kind the gifts of the chari-
table ; whence gaherlunzie-man,
a beggar.
Oh, blithe be the auld gaberlunzie-man,
Wi' his wallet o' wit he fills the Ian' ;
He's a warm Scotch heart an' a braid
Scotch tongue,
An' kens a' the auld sangs that ever were
sung ! — James Ballantine.
To love her for aye he gied her his aith,
Quo' she, To leave thee I will be laith,
My winsome gaberlunzie-man.
— The Gaberlunzie-Man (a ballad
attributed to King James V. )
Much research and ingenuity
have been exercised to find the
etymological origin of this pecu-
liarly Scottish word. Jamieson
says that gaberlunzie or gaber-
hinyie means a beggar's bag or
wallet, and implies that the
word has been transferred from
the bag to the bearer of it.
Gae-through-land, a wanderer, a
vagrant, a pilgrim, an exile, a
gangrel.
Oh, God forbid, said fair Annie,
That e'er the like fa' in my hand ;
Should I forsake my ain gude lord.
And follow you, a. gae-through- land.
— Buchan's Ancient Scottish
Ballads, 1828.
Gair, the English gore, an inser-
tion in a skirt, robe, or other
article of dress ; also a strip of
a different colour inserted as a
plait or ornament, sometimes
signifying a coloured belt from
which the sword or other weapon
was suspended ; gaired or gairy,
streaked with many colours ; pie-
bald, as a gairy cow or horse.
Young Johnston had a nut-brown sword
Hung low down by his gair.
And he ritted it through the young colonel,
That word he never spak' mair.
— Herd's Collection: Young Johnston.
Gale, to sing, whence nightingale,
the bird that sings by night.
The word is usually derived
from the Teutonic, in which
language, however, it only exists
in the single word nachtigaU.
Jamieson refers it to the Swedish
gdU (gale), a sharp, penetrating,
or piercing sound. Probably,
however, it is akin to the Gaelic
guil, to lament, and guileag, that
which sings or warbles ; and a
gale of wind is referable to the
Kymric or Welsh galar, mourn-
ing, lamentation ; gaho, (galu),
to call, to invoke ; and galaries,
mournful, sad, so called because
of the whistling, piping sound
of a storm.
In May the gowk (cuckoo) begins to gale,
In May deer draw to down and dale.
In May men mell with feminie.
And ladies meet their lovers leal.
When Phebus is in Gemini.
—Allan Ramsay : The Evergreen
Gallie-hooifi — Garraivery.
65
Gallic - hooin', making a loud
noise, blustering, talking vio-
lently without sense or reason.
GuUie-hooUe, a loud, blustering,
talkative, and conceited fool.
These two words seem to be
derivable from the Gaelic gal
or guil, to cry out, and uille,
all ; whence gal-uille, all outcry
or bluster, or nothing but out-
cry and noise. Gilhooly, a well-
known Irish patronymic, is pos-
sibly of the same Gaelic origin,
applied to a noisy orator.
Gang, gae, gaed, gate. These
words, that are scarcely retained
even in colloquial English, do
constant duty in the Lowland
Scotch ; they are all derived
from the Flemish. Gang and
gae are the English go ; gaed is
the English went, and gate is the
road or way by which one goes.
" Gang your ain gate" means go
your own road, or have your
own way. The English gate,
signifying a doorway, a barred
or defended entrance, is a relic
of the older and more extended
meaning of the Scotch.
I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen,
\gate I fear I'll dearly rue.
— Burns.
Gangrel, vagrant, vagabond wan-
dering ; from gang, to go.
Ae night at e'en, a merry core
Of randie gangrel bodies
At Posie Nansie's held the splore.
—Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
This word is sometimes em-
ployed to designate a young child
who is first beginning to walk.
Gardies, defensive weapons ; from
the Gaelic gairdein, an arm or
armour, and the French garde;
as in the phrase prenez-garde,
take care, or defend yourself.
He wields his gardies,
Or at the worst his aiken r««^(oaken staff).
—George Beattie : John o Amha.
Garraivery. This curious word
signifies, according to Jamieson,
"folly and revelling of a frolic-
some kind." He thinks it is
evidently corrupted from gil-
ravery and gilravage, which are
words of a similar meaning.
Gilravage he defines as "to hold
a merry meeting with noise and
riot." He attempts no etymo-
logy. It seems, however, that
garraivery is akin to the French
charivari, or the loud, discordant
uproar of what in England is
called " marrow bones and
cleavers," when a gang of rough
people show their displeasure
by serenading an unpopular per-
son — such, for instance, as a
very old man who has married
a very young wife— by beating
bones against butchers' axes
and cleavers, or by rattling
pokers and shovels against iron
pots and pans under his windows,
so as to create a painful and dis-
cordant noise. The word and the
custom are both of Celtic origin,
and are derived from the Gaelic
garbh, rough, and bairich or
bhairich, any obstreperous and
disagreeable noise ; also the
lowing, roaring, or routing of
cattle. The initial gr or c of the
Gaelic is usually softened into
E
66
Gash. — Gaunt.
the English and French ch, as
the Tc in Mrk becomes ch in the
English church, and as the Latin
cams and the Italian caro become
cher in French.
Gash, sagacious, talkative. Jamie-
son defines the word, as a verb,
"to talk much in a confident
way, to talk freely and fluently ; "
and as an adjective, "shrewd,
sagacious." It seems derivable
from the Gaelic gais (pronounced
gash), a torrent, an overflow ;
the English gush, i.e., an over-
flow or torrent of words, and
hence by extension of meaning
applied to one who has much to
say on every subject ; eloquent,
or, in an inferior sense, loqua-
cious.
He was a gash and faithful tyke.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Here farmers ^a^A in ridin' graith.
—Burns: The Holy Fair.
In comes a gaucie gash good-wife.
And sits down by the tire. — Idem.
Gaucie, jolly, brisk, lively.
tils gaucie tail in upward curl.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
In comes a gaucie gash good-wife,
And sits down by the tire.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Gaucie, big, of large dimensions ; jolly,
perhaps. It has almost the same meaning
as gash, with the additional idea of size ;
very like the English use of the word
"jolly" — a jolly lot — a jolly pudding, &c.
The Scotch use gaucie in precisely the
same way. — R. D.
Gaud, a bar, the shaft of a plough ;
gaudsman, a plough-boy. The
English groad signifies a bar or rod,
and to goad is to incite or drive
with a stick or prong. The word
is derived from the Gaelic gat, a
prong, a bar of wood or iron, and
gath, a sting.
Young Jockie was the blithest lad
In a' our town or here awa' ;
Fu' blithe he whistled at th^ gaud,
Fu' lightly danced he in the ha'.
— Burns: Young Jockie.
I've three mischievous boys,
Rum deils for rantin' and for noise —
A gaudsman ane, a thrasher t'other.
— Burns : The Inventory.
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
A red-hot gaud o' aim.
— Ballad of the Young Tatnlanc.
Gauf or gawf, a loud, discordant
laugh ; the English slang guffaw.
According to Jamieson, it was
used by John Knox. Gavrp, a
kindred word, signifies a large
mouth wide opened ; whence,
possibly, the origin of the Flem-
ish gapen, and the English gape,
which, according to the late
John Kemble, the tragedian,
ought to be pronounced with
the broad o, as in ah. Gauffin,
a giggling, light-headed person,
seems to be a word of the same
parentage. Gawpie is a silly
person who laughs without rea-
son.
Tehee, quo' she, and gied ZLgaiuf.
— Allan Ramsay : A Brash of
Wooing : The Evergreen.
Gauner, to bark, to scold vocifer-
ously.
Gaunt, to yawn. Gaunt-at-the-door,
an indolent, useless person, who
sits at the door and yawns ; an
idler, one without mental re-
sources.
Gaupie — Cell.
67
This mony a day I've groaned onAgaunted
To ken what French mischief was brewing.
— Burns.
Auld gude-man, ye're a drunken carle,
And a' the day y&gape and gaunt.
—Sir Alexander Boswell.
Gaupie, a silly fellow, from gawp,
to yawn or gape ; one who
yawns, from weariness, indif-
ference, or stupidity, when he
is expected to pay intelligent
attention to what is said of
him. A word of similar import,
founded upon the same idea of
listless and foolish yawning, is
found in the English phrase to
go mooning about, a word that
has no reference to the moon,
but that is derived from the
Gaelic meunan, a yawn ; meuna-
nach, yawning ; and dean-meu-
nan, to yawn or make a yawn.
Gawk, to romp, applied to girls
who are too fond of the society
of men, and who either play
roughly themselves or suffer
men to play roughly in their
company. The word is pro-
bably a variety of gecJc, to sport
or mock [see that word).
Gawkie, a clumsy or inexpert
person, from the French gauche,
the left hand, and gaucherie,
clumsiness. The word is collo-
quial in England as well as in
Scotland.
Gear, money, wealth, property,
appurtenance ; from the Teu-
tonic gehorig, belonging to, ap-
pertaining to.
He'll poind (seize) their gear.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
And gather gear by every wile
That's justified by honour.
— Burns : Epistle to a Young Friend.
Geek, to bear one's self haughtily,
to toss the head in glee or
scorn, to mock ; possibly from
the Flemish geh, a vain fool.
Adieu, my liege ! may freedom geek
Beneath your high protection.
■ — Burns : The Dream. To George III.
Gee. To take the gee, is an old
colloquialism, signifying to take
umbrage or offence, to give way
to a sudden start of petulance
and ill-humour. Jamieson de-
rives it from the Icelandic geig,
offence, in default of tracing
it to another origin. But the
derivation is doubtful.
On Tuesday, to the bridal feast,
Came fiddlers flocking free ;
But hey I play up the rinaway bride,
For she has ta'en the gee.
Woman's love a wilfu' thing,
An' fancy flies fu' free ;
Then hey ! play up the rinaway bride
For she has ta'en the gee.
— Herd's Collection.
" My wife has ta'en the gee"
is the title of an old and once
extremely popular song.
Gell, brisk, keen, sharp, active;
from the Gaelic geaU, ardour,
desire, love; geallmhor, greatly
desirous ; and geaUmhorachd,
high desire and aspiration.
Gell, intense, as applied to the weather ;
a gell frost is a keen frost. "There's a
gey gell in the market to-day," i.e., a
pretty quick sale ; "in great gell," in
great spirits and activity; "on the gell,"
a phrase applied to one who is bent on
making merry.— Jamieson.
6S
Gerss — Gielanger.
Gerss. " This term," says Jamie-
son, " is well known in the
councils of boroughs. When a
member becomes refractory, the
ruling party vote him out at the
next election. This they call
gerssing him, or turning him
out to gerss. The phrase," he
adds, " is evidently borrowed
from the custom of turning out
a horse to graze when there is
no immediate use for his ser-
vice." Perhaps, however, the
etymology is not quite so evi-
dent as Jamieson supposed.
The Gaelic geur or gearr sig-
nifies to cut, to cut off, to
shear ; gearraich or geurraich, to
shorten, and geariadh, a cutting ;
gearran, a gelding ; gearrta, cut.
To cut or shorten, rather than
to graze or turn out to graze,
appears, pace Jamieson, to be
the real root of the word.
Jamieson has the same word
differently spelled as girse, to
turn out of office ; girse-folk,
cotters at will, liable to be
ejected at short notice, to which
the Gaelic etymology of geurr
and its derivatives applies with
more force than that which he
suggests from grass.
Gey, a humorous synonym for
very. This word in Jamieson's
Dictionary is rendered "toler-
able, considerable, worthy of
notice." "A gey wheen," he
says, means "a great number."
It is doubtful whether the de-
rivation be from the English gay
or the Gaelic gu. In vulgar Eng-
lish, when " jolly" is sometimes
used for "gay," "a jolly lot"
would be equivalent to the Scot-
tish " a, gey -wheen.'^ In Gaelic
gu is an adverbial prefix, as in
gu leoir, plentiful or plentifully,
whence the phrase, "whisky
galore,'' plenty of whisky; gu
fior, with truth or truly.
A miller laughing at him (the fool of the
parish) for his witlessness, the fool i said,
"There are some things I ken and some
things I dinna ken." On being asked what
he knew, he said, " I ken a miller has aye
a gey fat sow ! " " And what do ye no
ken?" said the miller. "I dinna ken at
wha's expense she's fed." — Dean Ram-
say's Reminiscences.
The word is sometimes fol-
lowed by an\ as in the phrase
''gey an toom," very empty;
''gey an fou," very drunk. The
word gaylies, meaning tolerably
well in health, is probably from
the same source as gey, as in the
common salutation in Glasgow
and Edinburgh, "How's a' wi'
ye the day?" "Oh, gailies,
gailies I " The editor of Nodes
Ambrosiance, Edinburgh, 1866,
erroneously explains gey an to
mean rather.
Your factors, grieves, trustees, and bailies,
I canna say but they do gailies.
— Burns : Address of Beelzebub.
Mr. Clark, of Dalreach, whose head was
vastly disproportioned to his body, met
Mr. Dunlop one day. " Weel, Mr. Clark,
that's a great head of yours." " Indeed,
it is, Mr. Dunlop ; it could contain yours
inside of it." "Just sae," replied Mr.
Dunlop, " I was e'en thinking it •ws&geyan
toom (very empty)." — Dean Ramsay.
Gielanger, one who is slow to pay
his debts ; etymology unknown.
It has been thought that this
Gillravage — Glaik.
69
word is an abbreviation of the
request to give longer or gie langer
time to pay a debt, but this is
doubtful. The Flemish and
Dutch gijzelen signifies to arrest
for debt, gijzding, arrest for debt,
and gizzel kammer, a debtor's
prison; and this is most pro-
bably the origin of gielanger.
The greedy man and the gielanger are
well met.— Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
Gillravage, to plunder, also to
live riotously, uproariously, and
violently ; from the Gaelic gille,
a young man, and rabair, liti-
gious, troublesome ; 7*a6acA, quar-
relsome.
Ye had better stick to your auld trade o'
blackmail and gillravaging. Better steal
nowte than nations. — Scott : Rob Roy.
Gilpie or gilpey, a saucy young
girl.
I was a gilpey then, I'm sure
I wasna past fifteen.
— Burns : Halloween.
I mind when I was z. gilpie o a lassock,
seeing the Duke — him that lost his head in
London. — Scott : Old Mortality.
Gin {g hard, as in give) signifies
if'
Oh, gin my love were yon red rose
That grows upon the castle wa ;
And I myself a drap o' dew,
Into her bonnie breast to fa*.
— Herd's Collection, 1776.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin' through the rye.
—Old Song (^rearranged by Burns).
Home Tooke, in his letter to
Dunning, Lord Ashburton, on
the English particles, conjunc-
tions, and prepositions, derives
if from given; ^'' if you are
there," i.e., given the fact that
you are there. The more poeti-
cal Scottish word gin is strongly
corroborative of Home Tooke's
inference.
Girdle, a gridiron or brander, a
circular iron plate used for
roasting oat-cakes over the fire.
Wi' quaffing and daffing,
They ranted and they sang,
Wi' jumping and thumping
The very girdle rang.
— Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
The carline brocht her kebbuck ben,
Wi' girdle-cakes weel toasted broon.
— Tea- Table Miscellany : A ndro
and his Cutty Gun.
On reading the passage in the Bible to
a child where the words occur, " He took
Paul's girdle" the child said with much
confidence, " I ken what he took that
for." On being asked to explain, she
replied at once, "To bake his bannocks
on ! " — Dean Ramsay.
Girnagain, from gim or grin; a
derisive epithet applied to a
person who was always on the
grin, with or without reason.
An' there'll be gimagain Gibbie
An' his glaikit wife, Jeannie Bell.
— The Blithesome Bridal. \
Girnel, a meal-chest ; from cwn,
kern, and kernel.
Amaist as roomy as a minister's girnel.
— Nodes A tnbrosiana.
Glack, a ravine, a cleft in the
ground.
Deep i' the glack and round the well,
Their mystic rites I canna tell.
—John o Amha.
Glaik, glaikit, giddy-headed,
thoughtless, dazed, silly, foolish,
giddy, volatile. From the Gaelic
70
Glamour,
gleog, a silly look ; gleogach, silly,
stupid; gleogair, a stupid fel-
low; gleosgach, a vain, silly
woman.
That frequent pass douce Wisdom's door
For glaikit Folly's portals.
— Burns : Address to the Unco Guid.
Wi' \i\s glaikit wife, Jeannie Bell.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Glamour, enchantment, witch-
craft, fascination; once sup-
posed to be from the Gaelic
glac, to seize, to lay hold of,
to fascinate; and mor, great;
whence great fascination, or
magic not to be resisted. Lord
Neaves thought the word was
a corruption of grammar, in
which magic was once supposed
to reside. This word, once pecu-
liar to the Scotch, has with-
in the present century been
adopted by English writers both
of prose and verse, and has be-
come familiar in the conversa-
tion of educated people. It
signifies the kind of halo,
fascination, and magical charm
that a person or thing receives
from the imagination ; the high
and fanciful reputation which
the French language expresses
by 'prestige, a word which has
also striven to naturalise itself
in Enghsh. Its etymology has
scarcely been attempted by Eng-
lish philologists, some few of
whom, however, have disco-
vered, as they think, a kindred
origin for it in clamor, from the
Latin clamxire, to cry out, or
make a great noise. It is pos-
sible that this idea lies in reality
at the root of the poetical word
glamour, in its signification of
a glorified repute ; repute itself
being the outward manifesta-
tion of the popular belief in
the excellence of the person
or thing spoken of, and which
would not be known unless for
the spoken opinion or voice of
the multitude, which gives and
extends fame and glory. In
the Gaelic and British lan-
guages, fuaim signifies noise,
sound, recalling the classical
embodying of Fame as an angel
blowing a trumpet, making a
loud sound ; and glair signifies
praise loudly expressed, and
therefore glory. In like manner,
glamour may resolve itself into
the two Gaelic words, glaodk,
pronounced glao, a shout, and
mor, great, whence glao-mor or
glamour, a great or loud cry or
shout, attesting the applause
and approbation of those who
raise it. Stormonth, the latest
etymologist who has attempted
to explain the word, adopts
the etymology that found fa-
vour with Jamieson, and de-
rives it from glimmer or glitter,
" a false lustre, a charm on the
eyes, making them see things
different from what they are."
This etymology is plausible, and
will possibly be accepted by all
to whom the Gaelic derivation
has not been offered for con-
sideration ; but the Gaelic, sup-
ported as it is by the primitive
but highly philosophic ideas
that gave rise to the simple
but now grandiose words of
"fame" and "glory," merits
Glamp — Gleg,
n
the attention and study of all
students who love to trace
words to their origin, and en-
deavour by their means to sound
the depths of human intelli-
gence in the infancy of society
and of language.
And one short spell therein he read,
It had much oi glamour might,
Could make a lady seem a knight.
The cobweb on a dungeon wall
Seem tapestry in a lordly hall.
— Scott : The Lay of the Last
Minstrel.
As soon as they saw her weel-faur'd face,
They cast their glamour o'er her.
— Johnnie Faa, the Gipsie Laddie.
Ye gipsy gang that deal in glamour.
And you, deep read in Hell's black gram-
mar,
Warlocks and witches.
— Burns : On Captain Grose.
This Scottish word has been
admitted into some recent Eng-
lish dictionaries. Mr. Wedg-
wood seems to think it is akin
to gliTtimer. The fascination of
the eye is exemplified in Cole-
ridge's Ancient Mariner : —
Lie holds him with his glittering eye.
The wedding-guest stood still.
And listens like a three-year child —
The mariner hath his will.
Gaelic glam, to devour greedily ;
glavfiair, a glutton.
Clans frae wuds in tartan duds,
'Whz. glaumed at kingdoms three, man.
—Burns : The Battle of Sherifftnuir.
Gled or glaid, a kite, a hawk, a
vulture ; etymology uncertain.
And aye as ye gang furth and in,
Keep well the gaislings frae the gled.
He ca'd the gaislings forth to feed,
There was but sevensone o' them a',
And by them cam' the greedy gled,
And lickit up five— left him but twa.
— The Wife of Auchtemtuchty.
The name of Gladstone is
derived from gled-stane, the
hawk or vulture stone, and
synonymous with the German
Geir-stein, the title of one of
the novels of Sir Walter Scott.
deed or gleid, a burning coal,
a temporary blaze, a sparkle, a
splinter that starts from the fire.
And cheerily blinks the ingle gleed
Of honest Lucky.— Burns.
Mend up the fire to me, brother.
Mend up the gleed to me ;
For I see him coming hard and fast
Will mend it up for thee.
— Ballad of Lady Maisry.
Glamp, to clutch at, to seize
greedily or violently ; from the
Gaelic ^rZam, to seize voraciously.
Some glower'd wi' open jaws.
Syne glampit on the vacant air.
George Beattie ; John d Amhd .
Glampin round, he kent nae whither.
—Ibid.
Glaum, to grasp at, to clutch, to
endeavour to seize, without
strength to hold; from the
Gleg, sharp, acute, quick-witted ;
gleg - tongued, voluble ; gleg-
lugg'd, sharp of hearing; gleg-
ee'd, sharp-sighted.
Sae for my part I'm willing to submit
To what your glegger wisdom shall think
fit. — Ross's Helenore.
Unskaithed by Death's gleg gullie.
— Burns : Tarn. Samsons Livin.
He'll shape you aff fu' gleg
The cut of Adam's philibeg.
—Burns : Captain Grose.
72
Glent — Glunch,
Jamieson derives gleg from
the Icelandic and Swedish, un-
aware of the Gaelic etymology
from glac, to seize, to snatch,
to lay hold of quickly.
Glent, glint, a moment, a glance,
a twinkling; also to glance, to
shine forth, to peep out. From
the same root as the English
glance, the Teutonic gldnzen, and
Flemish glinster.
And in a. glent, my child, ye'll find it sae.
— Ross's Helenore.
Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth
Amid the storm.
— Burns : To a Mountain Daisy.
The risin' sun owre Galston muir
Wi' glowing light was glintin.
— Burns : Halloween.
Gley, to squint ; aglee or agley,
crooked, aslant, in the wrong
direction ; probably from the
Gaelic gli, the left hand, awk-
ward.
There's a time to gley and a time to look
even. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Gleyed Sandy he came here yestreen,
And speired when I saw Pate.
— James Carnegie, 1765.
The best -laid schemes of mice and men
Gang aft aglee.
— Burns : To a Mouse.
Glib-g^abbet, having "the gift of
the gab," speaking glibly with
voluble ease ; apparently derived
from the Gaelic glib or gliob,
slippery, and gah, a mouth.
And that glib-gabbet Highland baron,
The Laird o' Graham.
— Burns : Cry and Prayer.
Gliff, a moment, a short slumber,
a nap.
I '11 win out a gliff the night for a' that,
to dance in the moonlight. — Scott : The
Heart of Midlothian.
" Laid down on her bed for a gliff"
said her grandmother. — Scott: The An-
tiquary.
Gloaming, the twilight ; from the
English gloom or darkness. This
word has been adopted by the
best English writers.
When ance life's day draws near its
gloaming.
— Burns : To James Smith.
'Twixt the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye come hame.
—Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.
Glower, to look stupidly or in-
tently, to glare, to stare.
Ye glowered at the moon and fell in
the midden. — Allan '^MAStci'% Scots Pro-
verbs.
I am a bard of no regard,
Wi' gentle folks and a' that ;
But Homer-like, ih^glowrin byke (swarm)
Frae town to town I draw that.
—Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
He on\y glowered at her, taking no notice
whatever of her hints. — A. Trollope :
Vicar of Bullhampton.
Glunch, an angry frown, a sulky or
forbidding expression of counte-
nance. ' ' To glunch and gloom,"
to look angry, discontented,
sulky, and gloomy. Glunschoch,
one who has a frowning or
morose countenance ; from the
Gaelic glonn, a qualm, a feeling
of nausea ; glonnach, one who
has a disagreeable or stupid ex-
pression on his face : —
A glunch
O' sour disdain.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Does ony great man glunch and gloom ?
— Burns : Cry and Prayer.
Gotneril — Gowpen.
73
Gluftch and gloom.— Glunch, giving
audible expression to discontent in a series
of interjectional humphs; gloom, a frown-
ing, silent expression of displeasure. —
R. Drennan.
Gomeril, a fool, a loud -talking
fool; from the Gaelic geum, to
bellow. The English and Cock-
ney slang " Give us none of your
gum" i.e., of your impudence
or loud bellowing, is from the
root of geum.
He's naught but 3.gotneril, never tired of
talking. — Nodes AmbrosiancB.
Gowan, a daisy ; goioany, sprin-
kled with go wans or daisies.
Chaucer was partial to the word
daisy, which he derived from
** day's eye ; " though it is more
probably to be traced to the
Gaelic deise, pretty, a pretty
flower. The word gowan, to a
Scottish ear, is far more beauti-
ful.
Where the blue-bell and gowan lurk
lowly unseen. — Burns.
The night was fair, the moon was up,
The wind blew low among the go-wans.
— Legends of the Isles.
Her eyes shown bright amid her tears,
Her lips were fresh asgowans growing.
— Idem.
In gowany glens the burnie strays.
—Burns.
I'd not be buried in the Atlantic wave,
But in brown earth with gowans on my
grave,
Fresh gowans gathered on Lochaber's
braes. — All the Year Round.
Gowdspink, the goldfinch.
Nancy's to the greenwood gane.
To hear the gowdspink chattering ;
And Willie he has followed her,
To win her love by flattering.
— Scornful Nancy.
Gowff or goufif, to pull violently.
She broke the bicker, spilt the drink.
And tightly gouj^d his haffets (long hair).
—Herd's Collection : The Three-
Girred Cog.
Gowk, the cuckoo ; also a fool, or
a person who has but one idea
and is always repeating it ; from
the Gaelic cuach, with the same
meaning.
Ye breed o' the gowk, ye hae never a
song but ane. — Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Conceited gowk, puffed up wi' windy pride.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Gowl, to weep loudly, to whine
and blubber ; from the Gaelic
gul, with the same meaning.
The French has gueule, a mouth
that is very wide open. Gowl
also signifies large and empty,
as **a gowl or gowlsome house,"
and " a gowl (a hollow) between
the hills ; " possibly allied in
idea to the French gueule.
Ne'er may Misfortune's gowling bark
Howl through the dwelling o' the clerk.
— Burns : To Gavin Hamilton.
Gowl means to bawl, to howl, but has
the additional idea of threatening or terrify-
ing. To gowl at a person is to speak in a
loud threatening tone — "He gied me a
gowl," " What mak's y&gowl that way at
the weans ? " I have an idea that this is
one of the words that have crept into the
Scotch through the French.— R. Dren-
nan.
Gowpen, two handfuls ; from the
Flemish gaps, which has the
same meaning.
Those who carried meal seldom failed
to add a gowpen to the alms-bag of the
deformed cripple. — Scott : The Black
Dwarf.
74
Grade — Gree.
Gowpen means placing the two palms
together, and the hollow formed thereby is
a gowpen. The miller would have had but
a scanty " mouter " if his gowpen had been
only a handful. An ord inary beggar would
get a nievefu' o' meal, but a weel kent
ane and a favourite would get 2l gowpen.
Hence, you never heard the crucial test of
an Englishman's knowledge of Scotch when
he was asked ' ' What's a gowpen d glaur ? "
and his acquaintance with the tongue fail-
ing him, he was enlightened by the ex-
planation that it was " twa neivefu' o'
clairts." — R. Drennan.
Grade, well-behaved, graceful, of
pleasant manners and behaviour.
"A wife's ae dochter is never grade."
^Proverb.
Signifying that an only daughter
is likely to be spoiled by over-
indulgence, and therefore not
likely to be as agreeable in man-
ners as if she had sisters to
compete with her for favour.
Gradden, the coarse meal that is
ground in the quern by hand.
Grind the gradden, grind it ;
We'll a' get crowdie when it's done,
An' bannocks steeve to bind it.
Whisky gars the bark of life
. Drive merrily and rarely,
But gradden is the ballast gars
It steady gang and fairly.
— R. Jamieson : The Queen Lily.
Graith, tools, requisites, imple-
ments, appurtenances of a busi-
ness or work, harness ; graiihinrj-
dolhes, accoutrements.
Then he in wrath put up his graith —
" The deevil's in the hizzie."
— Jacob and Rachel : attributed
to Burns, 1825.
And ploughmen gather wi' their graith.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Ye'll bid her shoe her steed before
An' a gowd graithing was behind.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Gramarye, magic ; French gri-
moire, a magic-book. Attempts
have been made to derive this
word from grammar. It is more
likely, considering the gloomy
ideas attached to the French
grimoire (the immediate root of
the word), that it comes origi-
nally from the Gaelic gruaim,
gloom, melancholy, wrath, in-
tense sadness or indignation ;
and gruamach, sullen, surly,
morose, gloomy, grim, frowning.
Whate'er he did o{ gramarye.
Was always done maliciously.
—Scott : Lay of the Last Minstrel.
The wild yell and visage strange,
And the dark woods oi gramarye,
— Idem.
Grandgore, sometimes written
glengore and glandgore, the
venereal disease. Jamieson sug-
gests its origin from the French
grand, great, and gorre; but does
not explain the meaning of gorre,
which does not appear in French
dictionaries.
The word appears to be rightly
grandgore, and not glen or gland
gore, and to be derived from the
Gaelic grain, horrid, disgusting,
and gaorr, filth,
Gree, to bear the gree, to excel,
to be acknowledged to excel.
The origin of this phrase is un-
certain, though supposed to be
connected with degree, i.e., a
degree of excellence and supe-
riority.
Greetie — Grien.
75-
Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth.
Shall bear the gree and a' that.
— Burns.
I wad hae nane o' them, though they wad
fancy me,
For my bonnie mason laddie he bears
awa' the gree.
—Chambers's Scottish Songs : The
Mason Laddie.
Greetie, the affectionate diminu-
tive of greet, to weep or cry ;
not to be rendered into English
except by a weak paraphrase
and dilution of the touching
Scottish phrase, such as a small,
faint, or little cry or lament.
The same remark applies to the
diminutive of jeet in the sub-
joined verse.
We'll hap an' row, we'll hap an' row.
We'll hap an' row the^^^^zV o't ;
It is a wee bit wearie thing,
I downa bide the greetie o't.
— William Creech, Lord Proriost of
Edinburgh, and publisher of the
Poems of Robert Bums.
Gregorian, a popular name for a
wig in the seventeenth century,
introduced into England by the
Scottish followers of James VI.
when he succeeded to the Eng-
lish throne. Blount, in his
" Glossographia," says : " Wigs
were so called from one Gre-
gorie, a barber in the Strand,
who was a famous perruque-
maker."
He cannot be a cuckold that wears a
gregorian, for a periwig will never fit
such a head. — Nares.
Yet, though one Gregorie, a
wig-maker, may have lived and
flourished in London in the
early part of the seventeenth
century, it does not follow that
the word gregorian was derived
from his name, any more than
that of the designation of a
tailor by trade had its origin in
the patronymic of taylor. At
all events, it is worthy of note
that in Gaelic gruaig signifies a
wig; gruagach, hairy; gruagag,
a little wig, or a bunch of hair ;
and gruagair, a wig-maker and
hairdresser.
Grien or grene, to covet, to long
for, to desire ardently and un-
reasonably ; grening, longing,
akin to the English yearn, "a
yearning desire," German gem,
Flemish gearne, willingly, de-
sirous of. From this comes pro-
bably "grreen sickness," a malady
that afflicts growing girls when
they long for unwholesome and
unnatural food, and would eat
chalk, charcoal, unripe fruit, and
any kind of trash. The medical
name of this malady is chlorosis,
a Greek translation of "green
sickness," arising from the fact
that English physicians under-
stood the popular word green,
the colour, but not grien or
grene, to covet, which is the
main symptom of the dis-
Teuch Johnnie, staunch Geordie an' Walie,
That griens for the fishes an' loaves.
— Burns : The Election.
They came there justice for to gett,
They'll never grene to come again.
—Border Minstrelsy : The Raid of the
Redswire.
76
Grip — Grue.
Grip, tenacity, moral or physical ;
to hold fast.
Will Shore couldna conceive how it was
that when he was drunk his feet wadna
baud the grip. — Laird of Logan.
But where you feel your \\ono\xv grip,
Let that be aye your border.
— Burns : Epistle to a Young Friend.
I like the Scotch ; they have more gHp
than any people I know. — Sam Slick.
Grog^, a mixture of spirits and
water; usually applied to hot
gin and water, as distinguished
from rum-punch and whisky-
toddy. The word is now com-
mon in England, and is sup-
posed by careless philologists,
who follow blindly where their
predecessors lead them, to have
been first used by the sailors in
a ship of war commanded by
Captain, afterwards Admiral
Vernon, commonly called *' Old
Grog," from the grogram jacket
or coat which he usually wore.
But (jrog was known and named
long before the days of Admiral
Vernon, and was in common
use in Scotland, as well as in
England, as croc, afterwards
corrupted into grog. The word
croc in Gaelic signifies a horn,
used in districts and in houses
where glass was too expensive
for purchase. A horn or croc of
liquor was synonymous with a
glass of liquor, and to offer a
guest a croc or grog of spirit
of any kind was the same as
to invite him to take a social
glass ; and in time croc came to
signify the liquor in the horn,
as well as the horn itself. To
invite a man to take a friendly
glass is not to invite him to
take the glass itself, but the
drink that is in it. Hence the
word grog, which has no more
connection with the grogram
suit of Admiral Vernon than it
has with ** the man in the
moon." The French have the
phrase "eric et croc''' in the
slang vernacular.
Groof, the belly, so called from its
rumbling when deprived of food ;
from the Gaelic gromhan {grovan),
to growl.
Rowin' yoursel' on the floor on your
groof, wi' your hair on end and your e'en
on fire. — Noctes Ambrosiance.
Gnie or grew, a greyhound.
I dreamed a weary dream yestre'en,
I wish it may come to gude ;
I dreamed that ye slew my best grew-
hound,
And gied me his lapper'd blude.
— Ballad of Sir Roland.
What has come ower ye, Muirland Tam ?
Your leg's now grown like a wheelbarrow
tram ;
Ye'd the strength o' a stot, the weight o' a
cow.
Now, Tammy, my man, ye have grown
like a gre^v.
— Hew Ainslie : Tam d the Balloch.
A grew is a female greyhound in
the South of England, according
to Mr. Halliwell Phillips, while
in the eastern counties the word
is a grewin, and in Shropshire
groun. In old French grous
signifies any kind of hunting-
dog — a greyhound among the
rest.
The modern French do not
Gruesome — Gruntle.
77
call the animal a ** chien gris"
but a limier, which means a dog
which leaps or springs, from the
Celtic leum, to leap, or a levrier,
because it courses the lUvre
or hare. In "Anglo-Saxon,"
which is merely Teutonic with
a large substratum of Gaelic, it
appears that this word is grig-
hound. The pure Teutonic calls
it a windd spiel, a grotesque
term, for which it is difficult
to account. The Dutch and
Flemish call it a speurhond, or
tracking-hound. The Italians
call the animal a veltro. It is
evident from aU these examples
that the dog was not named
from grey, which is not its in-
variable colour. Grey is not
adopted as its designation by any
other nation than the English.
Philology is thus justified in seek-
ing elsewhere for the root oigrue,
which the Teutonic nations do
not afford. The old grammarian
Minshew thought he had found
it in grcecus, and that the hound
was so called because the Greeks
hunted with it ; but this deriva-
tion is manifestly inadmissible,
as is that from grip, the hound
which grips or snatches. Pos-
sibly the Scottish hound came
from the Highlands and not
from the Lowlands, or may be
derived from gaoth, wind or
breath, and gaothar (pronounced
gao-ar), long-winded, strong-
winded, provided with wind for
rapid motion. Gaothar is ren-
dered in the Gaelic dictionaries
as a lurcher, half foxhound and
half greyhound, and anciently
as greyhound only. As gaor is
easy of corruption, first into
grao, and afterwards into grew
or grue, it is extremely probable
that this is the true derivation
of a word that has long been
the despair of all lexicographers
who were not so confident as
Minshew and Dr. Johnson.
Gruesome, highly ill-favoured,
disagreeable, horrible, cruel.
Grue, to shudder, to be horrified.
From the Teutonic grau, horror ;
grausam, horrible, cruel; and
grausamkeit, cruelty. This word
has been recently used by some
of the best English writers,
though not yet admitted to the
honours of the dictionaries.
Ae day as Death, that gruesome carle.
Was driving to the ither warl (world).
— Burns : Verses to J. Rankine.
And now, let us change the discourse.
These stories make one's very \)\ooA grew.
— Scott : Fortunes of Nigel.
" They're the Hieland hills," said the
Bailie; "ye '11 see and hear eneuch about
them before ye see Glasgow Green again.
I downa look at them, I never see them,
but they gar me grew. " — Scott : Rod Roy.
Grugous or allagru^ous, grim,
ghastly, disagreeable, morose,
ill-natured; from the GaeUc
grug, morose, ill-conditioned and
surly, and uiJle, all.
Whilk added horror to his mien,
A grugous sight he was, I ween,
— George Beattie : John o
Amha.
An allagrugous, gruesome spectre,
A' gored and bored like Trojan Hector.
—Ibid.
Gruntle, a word of contempt for
a snub nose or snout ; erro-
78
Grunzie — Gumlie.
neously rendered by "counten-
ance " in some of the glos-
saries to Burns ; gruntle-thrawn,
crooked in the nose.
May gouts torment him, inch by inch,
Wha twists his gruntle wi' a glunch
O' sour disdain,
Out owre a glass o' whisky -punch
Wi' honest men.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Akin to the Gaelic graineif,
ugly, loathsome ; graineUachd,
ugliness.
Grunzie, a ludicrous name for the
nose or mouth ; possibly applied
originally to the snout of a hog,
in reference to the grunting of
the animal. {See Geuntle.)
But Willie's wife is nae sae trig,
She dights her grunzie wi' a hushon
{i.e., she wipes her nose with a cushion).
— Burns : Sic a Wife as Willie had.
Grushie, of rapid growth, thickly
sown.
The dearest comfort o' their lives,
Their grushie weans and faithful wives.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Gryce, a young pig.
A yeld (barren) sow was ne'er good to
gryces. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
My bairn has tocher o' her ain,
Although her friends do nane her len',
A stirk, a staig, an acre sawn,
A goose, a gryce, a clocking-hen.
—The Wooing o' Jenny and Jock.
Gryme, to sprinkle; gryming, a
sprinkling. The English word
grimy signifies foul with dirt.
The Scottish gryme has a wider
meaning, and is applied both
to pure and impure substances
when out of place.
The sun wasna up, but the moon was
down.
It was the griming of new fa'n snaw.
— Border Minstrelsy : Jamie Telfer.
Guller, an indistinct noise in the
throat. {See Gowl.)
Between a grunt, a groan, and a guller
— Noctes A mbrosiame.
Gullie or gully (sometimes written
goolie), a large pocket-knife ;
gullie-gaw, a broil in which
knives are likely to be drawn
and used. GuUie-wUlie, accord-
ing to Jamieson, is a noisy,
blustering fool — possibly from
his threatening the knife, but
not using it.
I rede ye weel, tak' care o' skaith —
See, there's a gullie. — Burns.
The carles of Kilmarnock had spits and
had spears,
And lang-hafted gullies to kill Cavaliers.
—Sir Walter Scott : Bonnie Dundee.
Stickin' gangs nae by strength, but by
right guidin' o' the gully.— K\.\.KH Ram-
say's Scots Proverbs.
" To guide the gullie," is a
proverbial phrase, signifying to
have the management of an
affair. The derivation is un-
certain, but is perhaps from the
Gaelic guaillich, to go hand in
hand, to accompany; applied
to the weapon from its ready
conveniency to the hand in case
of need.
Gumlie, muddy, turbid, synony-
mous with drumZie {q.v.). Ety-
mology obscure.
O ye wha leave the springs o' Calvin,
For gumlie dubs [pools] o' your ain delvin'.
—Burns : To Gavin Hamilton.
Gump — Gurr,
79
Gump, a stupid old woman, of
the kind so well portrayed in
the Mrs. Gamp of Dickens, and
which possibly may have sug-
gested the name to the brilliant
novelist, who married a Scots-
woman, the grand-daughter of
George Thompson,the celebrated
. correspondent of Robert Burns.
Gumphie, a fool ; gommeril, a
foolish or stupid person ; gomf
or gomph, an idiot. The root
is possibly the Gaelic geum, to
low or bellow like a cow or a
bull, and which finds its equi-
valent in the English slang,
" Give us none of your gum.^'
Gump not only signifies an
old woman not over-wise, but a
fat and chubby infant, so that
the Gaelic etymology for geum,
if correct, can only be accepted
in the case of the child, on the
supposition that the child is a
noisy one, and bellows or lows
in expression of its wants or
its ill-temper. To take the
gumps is to indulge in a fit
of ill-temper. Jamieson defines
gamer il or gomrell as a stupid
fellow, so called, he intimates,
from the French goimpre, " one
who minds nothing but his
belly." The word, however, is
not to be found in the " Dic-
tionnaire Etymologique " of Noel
and Carpentier (1857), nor in
the comprehensive dictionary
of *' argot," or French slang,
by the erudite and industrious
Professor Barr^re, published in
1887, nor in that of M. Brachet,
published by the Clarendon
Press in 1882, or in the volumi-
nous work of M. Littrd, the
last recognised exponent of the
French language. Professor
Barr^re, however, has goinfre —
slang of thieves — from a pie-
eater, * ' an allusion to his open-
ing his mouth like a glutton,"
which may possibly be the
word which Jamieson adopts
as goimfre. But neither goinfre
nor goimfre throws any light
upon gump or the closely-related
words that spring out of it,
unless it be in support of the
Gaelic derivation from geum, to
low or bellow, and consequently
to open the mouth widely.
Gumption, wit, sense, knowledge.
This word is akin to the Gaelic
cuimse (cumshe), moderation, ad-
aptation, and cuimsiehte, well-
aimed, that hits the mark.
Nor a' the quacks with all their gumption
Will ever mend her.
— Burns : Letter to John Goudie.
Gurl, to growl ; gurly, boister-
ous, stormy, savage, growly ;
from the German and Flemish
grollen, the English growl, to
express displeasure or anger by
murmurs, and low, inarticulate
sounds.
The lift grew dark and the wind blew sair,
And gurly grew the sea.
— Sir Patrick Spens.
Waesome wailed the snow-white sprites,
Upon the gurly sea.
— Laidlaw : The Demon Lover.
There's a strong gurly blast blawing
snell frae the south. — James Ballan-
TINE : The Spunk Splitters.
Gurr, to snarl, to growl like
an angry dog ; gurrie, a loud
and angry disputation, and
8o
Gurthie — Gyte,
also the growling, yelping, and
barking of dogs in a fight.
Allied in meaning and deriva-
tion, though spelled with % in-
stead of u, are girnie, peevish;
girnigoe and gimigoe-gibhie, a
snarling and ill-natured person ;
and girnin' gyte, a fractious child.
Gurthie, corpulent, obese, large
round the waist or girth.
Applied especially to what burdens the
stomach. Roquefort renders it pesant,
ponderous, burdensome. — Jamieson.
Gutcher, a grandfather. This un-
gainly word seems to be a cor-
ruption of gude-sire, gnde-sir,
gudsir, or good sir, a title of
reverence for a grandfather.
God bless auld lang syne, when our
gutchers ate their trenchers. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
This was a reproach directed
against over-dainty people who
objected to their food.
Gae 'wa wi' your plaidie, auld Donald,
gae 'wa;
I fear na the cauld blast, the drift, nor
the sna',
Gae 'wa wi' your plaidie — I'll no sit be-
side ye ;
Ye might be my gutcher 1 auld Donald,
gae 'wa !
— Hector Macneil : Cotne under
jny Plaidie.
The derivation from good-sire
is rendered the more probable
by the common use of the word
good in Scotland to express de-
grees of relationship, as good-
mother, a mother-in-law ; good-
brother, a brother-in-law ; good-
sister, a sister-in-law ; good-son,
a son-in-law, &c., as also in the
familiarly affectionate phrases
of good-wite for wife, and good-
man for husband. The French
use beau or belle in a similar
sense, as fteaw-pere, a father-in-
law ; belle-Glle, a daughter-in-
law ; belle-mhTe, a mother-in-
law. Possibly the English words
^rorf-father and ^'od-mother, ap-
plied to the sponsors at the
baptism of a child, were ori-
ginally good, and not god.
Gyre-carline. This is in some
parts of Scotland the name given
to a woman suspected of witch-
craft, and is from gyre, the
Teutonic geier, a vulture, and
carline, an old woman. The
harpies in Grecian mythology
are represented as having the
beaks and claws of vultures, and
are fabled to devour the bodies
of warriors left unburied on
the battle-field. The name of
" Harpy," given in the ancient
mythology to these supposed
malevolent creatures, has been
conclusively shown to be de-
rived from the Gaelic, and to
be traceable to ar, a battle-
field, and pighe (pronounced
pee), a bird, whence ar pighe, a
harpy, the bird of the battlefield,
the great carrion hawk or vulture.
I wad like ill to see a secret house
haunted wi' ghaists and gyre-carlines. —
Scott : The Monastery.
Gyte, deranged, mad; from
the Flemish guit, mischievous,
roguish ; guitenstuJc, a piece of
mischief.
Surprised at once out of decorum, philo-
sophy, and phlegm, he skimmed his cocked-
hat in the air. " Lord sake," said Edie,
" he's gaun ^/^."— ScoTT : The Anti-
quary.
Hadden — Haggis.
8l
Hadden and dung:, a phrase
that signifies *' held down and
beaten," i.e., held in bondage
and ill-used ; from hadden, pre-
terite of hold, and dung, the
preterite of ding, to beat or
strike. (5'ceDiNG.)
Haddin, furniture, plenishment,
household stujff.
Oh, Sandie has owsen an' siller an' kye,
A house an' a haddin, an' a' things forbye ;
But I'd rather ha'e Jamie wi 's bonnet in
hand.
Than I wad ha'e Sandie wi' houses an' land.
— Logie o' Buchan.
Haet, a whit, an iota ; deH a haet,
the devil a bit.
But gentlemen, an' ladies warst,
Wi' evendoun want o' wark are curst ;
They loiter, lounging, lank and lazy,
Hhou^ de'il haet ails them, yet uneasy.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
In Bartlett's "Dictionary of
Americanisms" the word occurs
as hate.
I don't care a hate — I didn't eat a hate.
HafTets or haffits, the long hair
of men, also applied to the long
hair of women when old, but
never when they are young.
Jamieson says that haffits
means the cheeks, but as used
by Burns in " The Cotter's
Saturday Night " it clearly signi-
fies the front hair on the vene-
rable cotter—" His lyart haffits
wearin' thin an' bare." His
lyart (grey) haffits are evidently
not meant for grey cheeks, and
cheeks, though they may grow
thin, do not necessarily grow
hare. The etymology of haffits
as long hair is unknown; but
supposing it to be cheeks, Jamie-
son derives it from the Anglo-
Saxon healf heafod, half head, a
semi-cranium.
His lyart haffits wearin' thin an' bare.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Lyart signifies grey, from the
Gaelic liath, grey, and liathach,
grey-headed.
Hafflins, almost or nearly one-
half, formed from half and tins,
pertaining to or approaching to-
wards half, as in aiblins (which
see).
While Jeanie hajfflins is afraid to speak,
Weel pleased the mother hears he's nae
wild worthless rake.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
When it's cardit, row'd and spun,
Then the work is hafflins done.
—Tea-Table Miscellany : Tarry Woo.
Haggis, the national dish -par
excellence of Scotland, which
shares with cock-a-leekie and
hotch-potch the particular fa-
vour of Scotsmen all over the
world. Sir Walter Scott de-
scribes it in the introduction to
"Johnnie Armstrong," in the
"Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border," as "an olio composed
of the liver, head, &c., of a
sheep, minced down with oat-
82
Haimert — Hain.
meal, onions, and spices, and
boiled in the stomach of the
animal by way of bag." In
Tim Bobbin's Glossary hag and
haggus are defined as meaning
the helly.
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin' race ;
Aboon them a' you tak' your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm ;
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.
— Burns : To a Haggis.
Even a haggis, God bless her ! could
charge down the hill. — Scott : Rob Roy.
An illustrious American, travelling in
Scotland, was entertained at a public
dinner, when towards the end of the repast
a very large haggis was brought in on a
gigantic dish, carried by four waiters, to
the tune of "See the Conquering Hero
Comes," played by the band. He was very
much amused at the incident, and having
heard much of the national dish, but
never having tasted it, was easily induced
to partake of it. He did not appear to
ike its flavour very much, and being asked
his opinion of it, replied that "the haggis
must have been invented to give Scotsmen
an excuse for a dram of whisky after it, to
take the taste out of the mouth," adding,
" But if I were a Scotsman, I should make
it a patriotic duty to love it, with or with-
out the dram — but especially with it ! "
— C. M.
The word, formerly spelled
haggass, is usually derived from
the French hachis, a hash of
viands cut into small pieces,
from hacher, to mince, the Eng-
lish hack, to cut. The dish is
quite unknown to the French,
though the etymology is pos-
sibly correct. The allusion of
Burns to the "sonsie face" of
the pudding which he praised
so highly, renders it possible
that he knew the Gaelic words
aogas, a face, and aogasach,
seemly, comely, sonsie. Any-
how, the coincidence is curious.
Haimert, homely, homerlike, or
tending homewards, of which
latter word it is a variety or
corruption.
Quoth John, They're late ; but, by jingo,
Ye'se get the rest in haimert lingo.
— George Beattie : John o' AmhcC.
Haiti, to preserve, to economise,
so as to prevent waste and ex-
travagance ; to protect with a
hedge or fence ; to spare for
future use. Uain seems to be
derived from the German ha-
gen, to enclose with a hedge or
fence; the Danish hegne, with
the same meaning ; and the
Dutch and Flemish heenen;
omheenen, to fence around, and
onheining, an enclosure. From
the practical idea of enclosing
anything to protect it came
the metaphorical use of this
word in Scotland, in the sense
of preservation of a thing by
means of care, economy, and
frugality.
The weel-hained kebbock (cheese).
— Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Wha waste your v/ee\-hained gear on
damned new brigs and harbours.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Kail hains bread. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
We've won to crazy years thegither,
We'll toyte about wi' ane anither ;
Wi* tentie care 111 flit thy tether
To some haind rig.
— Burns; The Auld Farmer.
Hain, to preserve, does not seem to me
J
Haiver — Hams.
83
to be a correct synonym ; the word rather
means to use economically. " Her weel-
hain'd kebbuck " does not mean that the
cheese had been preserved from danger,
from mites, or the cheese-fly and maggots,
but that it had not been used wastefuUy ;
haining clothes, means a second goodish
suit to save your best one. The English
expression "eke it out" comes very near
the meaning of hain. In Fifeshire the
word used instead of hain is tape — tape it,
make it last a good while, don't gobble up
a nice thing all at once ; in fact, hain it.—
R. Drennan.
Haiver, to talk in a desultory
manner, foolishly, or idly, to
drivel.
Wi' clavers and haivers
Wearin' the day awa'.
—Burns.
flaiver or haver seems to be
a corruption of the Gaelic dbair,
to talk, to say.
Hale-scart, without scratch or
damage ; from scart, to scratch,
and hale, well or intact.
Hale-scart frae the wars without skaith-
ing,
Gaed bannin' the French awa' hame.
— Andrew Scott : Sytnon and Janet.
Hallan-shaker, a sturdy, impor-
tunate beggar. Jamieson de-
rives the word from haUan, a
partition in a cottage between
the "but" and the "ben;"
and shaker, one who shakes the
hallan by the noise he makes.
If he had sought in the Gaelic,
he might have found a better
derivation in alia, allan, allanta,
wild, ferocious, savage ; and
seachran (the Irish shaughraun),
a vagrant, a wanderer, a beggar.
Right scornfully she answered him,
Begone, you hallan-shaker I
Jog on your gate, you bladderskate.
My name is Maggie Lauder.
— Francis Semple.
Hantle, a good deal, a quantity ;
from the Flemish hand, a hand,
and tel, to count or number ; a
quantity that may be reckoned
by the handful.
A Scottish clergyman related as his ex-
perience after killing his first pig, that
" nae doot there was a hantle o' miscel-
laneous eating about a swine." — Dean
Ramsay.
Some hae a hantle o" fauts ; ye are only
a ne'er-do-weel.— Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Are we better now than before? In a
few things better; in a hantle waur. —
Nodes Ambrosiame.
Hap, to cover, to wrap up.
I digged a grave and laid him in.
And happ'd him wi' the sod sae green.
— Lament of the Border Widow.
Hap and rowe, hap and rowe the feetie o't,
It is a wee bit ourie thing,
I downa bide the greetie o't.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Happer, thin, lank, shrunken ;
haip-per-Yv^^^^, having thin lips ;
Aajjper-hipped, having small or
shrunken hips.
An' there'll be ^a://^r-hipped Nannie,
An' fairy-faced Flora by name ;
Muck Maudie, and fat-luggit Girzie,
The lass wi' the gowden wame.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Harns, brains ; from the German
him or gehirn, the brain ; hirn-
schale, the brain-pan; Dutch
and Flemish, her sens.
A wheen midden-cocks pike ilk others'
hams out (a lot of dunghill cocks pick each
others' brains out).— Scott : Rob Roy.
H
Hatter — Havins.
Lastly, Bailie, because if I saw a sign o'
your betraying me, I would plaster that
wa' wi' your harns, ere the hand o' man
could rescue ye. — Scott : Rob Roy.
Hatter (sometimes written hotter)
signifies, according to Jamieson,
to bubble, to boil up and also a
crowd in motion or in confusion.
The English slang expression
" Mad as a hatter " does not
apply — though commonly sup-
posed to do so — to a hat-maker,
any more than it does to a tailor
or a shoemaker. It seems to
have been borrowed by the Low-
land Scotch from the Gaelic
at, to swell like boiling water,
and ataircachd, the swelling
and foaming of waters as in
a cataract, and, by extension
of the image, to the tumul-
tuous action of a noisy crowd.
In Tim Bobbin's Lancashire
Glossary hotter signifies to vex,
and hottering, mad, very mad,
very vexed.
Haugh, low ground or meadows
by the river-side ; from the
Gaelic ac, ach, and auch ; the
Teutonic aue, a meadow. Holm
and hagg have the same mean-
ing. The word acre is from the
same etymological root.
By Leader haughs and Yarrow.
Let husky wheat the haughs adorn,
And aits set up their awnie horn.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Haur, an easterly wind ; and hoar,
frost produced by an easterly
wind.
The sleet and the ^«r— misty, easterly
kaur. — Nodes Ambrosiana, .
Hause-bane, the neck -bone ; from
the Flemish and German hah,
the neck.
Ye shall sit on his white hatise-bane.
And I'll pike out his bonny blue een ;
Wi' ae lock o' his yellow hair
We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.
— The Tiva Corbies.
To hauze or haU signifies to
embrace, i.e., to put the arms
round the neck.
Haveril, a half-witted person, a
silly talker ; from haiver, to talk
nonsense ; the Gaelic abair, to
talk.
Poor haveril Will fell afF the drift.
And wandered through the bow-kail,
And pu'd, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail.
— Burns : Halloween.
Havers, oats; haver-meal, oat-
meal ; from the French avoine.
Oh, where did ye get that haver-meal
bannock ?
Oh, silly auld body, dinna ye see ?
I got it frae a sodger laddie
Betwixt St. Johnstoun and Bonnie
Dundee.
— Herd's Collection : altered and
amended by Burns.
Havins, good manners and beha-
viour, courteous and kindly de-
meanour, personal accomplish-
ments which one has; thence
havings or acquirements.
Awa, ye selfish warldly race,
Wha think that havifis, sense, and grace.
E'en love and friendship, should give place
To catch-the-plack (the money) ;
I dinna like to see your face
Or hear you crack (talk).
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraikt
Hawkie — Heckle.
85
Hawkie, a pet name for a
favourite cow or one who is a
good milker.
Dawtit twal-pint Hawkie s gaen
As yell's the bull.
— Burns : Address to the De'il.
I'd rather sell my petticoat,
Though it were made o' silk,
Than sell my bonnie broun Hawkie.,
That gies the sup o' milk.
—Chambers's Scottish Songs.
** Brown hawkie," says Jamie-
son, "is a cant name for a
barrel of ale" — i.e., the milk
of drunkards' and topers. The
word is traceable to the Gaelic
adhach (pronounced awk or
hawk), lucky, fortunate.
Heartsome, cordial, hearty; full
of heartiness.
Farewell to Lochaber, fareweel to my Jean,
Where heartsome wi' her I ha'e mony a
day been. — Lochaber no More.
Hech, an exclamation of surprise,
of joy, or of pain; softened
from the Gaelic oich. On the
shore of Loch Ness, near the
waterfall of Ahriadian, where
the road is steep and difficult,
the rock near the summit of the
ascent has received from the
shepherds and drovers the name
of " Craig Oich," from their
stopping to draw breath and
exclaiming, ''Oich! oich!" (in
the Lowland Scottish, hech). The
English heigho is a kindred
exclamation, and is possibly of
the same etymology. Ilech-howe
signifies heigh-ho 1 "In the auld
hech-howe," i.e., as in the old
heigho condition, a mode of com-
plaining that one is in the cus-
tomary state of ill-health.
Hecht, to offer, to promise. This
verb seems to have no present
tense, no future, and no de-
clensions or infiexions, and to
be only used in the past, as : —
Willie's rare, Willie's fair,
And Willie's wondrous bonny, ]
And Willie hecht to marry me,
Gin e'er he married ony.
— Tea-Table Miscellany.
The miller he hecht her a heart leal and
loving,
The laird did address her wi' matter mair
moving. — Burns : Meg d the Mill.
He hecht me baith rings and mony braw
things.
And were na my heart light I wad die.
— Lady Grizzel Baillie. 1
The word is of doubtful ety-
mology : perhaps from the Teu-
tonic echt, sincere, true, genuine
— which a promise ought to be.
Heckle, a sort of rough comb
used by hemp and flax dressers.
Metaphorically the word signi-
fies to worry a person by cross -
questioning or impertinence.
To heckle a parliamentary can-
didate at election time is a
favourite amusement of voters,
who think themselves much
wiser than any candidate can
possibly be ; and of insolent
barristers in a court of law,
who cross-examine a hostile
witness with undue severity —
an operation which is some-
times called "badgering." There
was a well - known butcher in
Tiverton who always made it
a point to hecMe the late Lord
86
Heership — Her nain sel\
Palmerston when he stood as
candidate for that borough.
Lord Palmerston bore the in-
fliction with great good-humour,
and always vanquished the im-
pudent butcher in the wordy
warfare.
Adown my beard the slavers trickle,
I throw the wee stools o'er the mickle,
As round the fire the giglets keckle
To see me loup ;
While raving mad I wish a heckle
Were in their doup !
— Burns : Address to the Toothache.
He was a hedge unto his friends,
A heckle to his foes, lads,
And every one that did him wrang,
He took him by the nose, lads.
— Chambers's Scottish Ballads:
Rob Roy.
This was the son of the fam-
ous Rob Roy, and was called
Robin Og. Chambers translates
Robin Og, " Robin the Little."
Og, in Gaelic, signifies not little,
but young.
Heership, plunder ; from \eTry or
harry, to rob, to pillage.
But wi' some hope he travels on while he
The way the heership had been driven
could see. — Ross's Helenore.
Heft, the haft or handle of a
knife. The heft of a sword
is called the hilt. To give a
thing " heft and blade," is to
give it wholly and without re-
striction, " stock, lock, and
barrel."
A knife, a father's thrpat had mangled,
■ Whom his ain son o' life bereft —
The grey hairs yet stuck to the heft;
Wi' mair o' horrible and awfu'.
Which e'en to name would be unlawfu'.
— Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Hein-shinn'd, having large ankles.
Ain or an, the augmentative
prefix in Gaelic to nouns and
adjectives, signifying size, or
excess, is probably the root of
hein in this word.
She's bough-houghed and hein-shinn'd.
— Burns.
Her nain sel', " his own self," and
"■ my own self." This phrase is
supposed by the Lowland Scotch
to be the usual mode of ex-
pression employed by the High-
landers, on account of the pau-
city of pronouns in the Gaelic
language.
Oh, fie for shame, ye're three for ane,
Her nain sefs won the day, man.
— Battle of Killiecrankie.
Mr. Robert Chambers, in a
note on this passage, says: "T/te
Highlanders have only one 'pro-
noun, and as it happens to re-
semble the English word her, it
has caused the Lowlanders to
have a general impression that
they mistake the masculine for
the feminine gender." Mr.
Chambers, knowing nothing of
Gaelic, was utterly wrong in
this matter of the pronouns.
The Gaelic has the same num-
ber of personal pronouns as the
English, namely — mi, I ; do,
thou ; e, he ; i, she ; sinn^ we ;
sihh, you or yours ; iad, they or
theirs. They have also the pos-
sessive pronouns— wo, mine; ar,
ours ; hhur and ur, yours ; and
all the rest of the series. It
was doubtless the ur or the ar
of the Gaelic which, by its re-
Herryment — Hinnie.
87
semblance to ^er, suggested to
Mr. Chambers the error into
which he fell.
Herryment, plague, devastation,
ruin ; from Jierry or harry, to
plunder and lay waste.
The herryment and ruin of the country.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Heuchs and haughs, bands, legs,
or thigh. Heuchs is probably a
corruption of hooks, as applied to
the hands, or, as Shakespeare
calls them, " pickers and
stealers." Haughs is the Scottish
form of the English hocks, the
hind part of the knee.
The kelpie grinned an eldrich laugh,
And rubbed his hetichs upon his haughs.
— George Beattie : John d Arnha.
Hiddil, a hiding-place, the hole or
refuge of a shy or wild animal
The otter yap his prey let drap,
And to his hiddil flew.
— Water Kelpie : Border Minstrelsy.
Hinnie or honey, a term of en-
dearment among the Scottish
Highlanders, and more particu-
larly among the Irish.
Oh, open the door, my hinnie, my heart,
Oh, open the door, my ain true love.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs :
Legend 0/ the Padda.
Honey, in the sense of hinnie,
occurs in the nursery-rhymes of
England : —
There was a lady loved a swine ;
" Honey I my dear," quoth she,
" My darling pig, wilt thou be mine ? "
*' Hoogh, hoogh 1 " grunted he.
The word hinnie is supposed
to be a corruption of honey,
though honey in the English
may be a corruption of hinnie.
They both express the idea of
fondness ; and those who be-
lieve honey to be the correct
term explain it by assuming that
the beloved object is as " sweet
as honey." But if this be really
the fundamental idea, the Gaelic-
speaking population of Ireland
and the Highlands might be sup-
posed to have used the native
word mil, rather than the Teu-
tonic honey or honig, which does
not exist in their language.
However this may be, it is at
all events suggestive that the
Gaelic ion signifies fitting ; and
the compound ion-amhuil means
like, equal, well-matched; and
ion-mhuin, dear, beloved, kind,
loving. The Irish Gaelic has
ionadh (pronounced hinna), ad-
miration, or an object of ad-
miration ; whence ionadh-rhuigte^
adorable. The Scotch and old
English marroiv is a term of
endearment to a lover, and sig-
nifies mate, one of a pair, as in
the ballad : —
Busk ye, busk ye ! my bonnie bride,
Busk ye, busk ye ! my winsome marrow.
— Hamilton of Bangour.
In Scotland hinnie and joe
(Jamieson) signify a lass and
her lover who are very fond of
each other. This phrase is equi-
valent to the English "Darby
and Joan," and describes a
greatly-attached wedded pair.
The opinions of philologists will
doubtless differ between the
Teutonic and the possible Gaelic
88
Hirple — Hodden- Grey.
derivation of honey or hinnie ;
but the fact that the Teutonic
nations do not draw the similar
expression of fondness, as ap-
plied to a woman, from honey,
is worthy of consideration in
attempting to decide the doubt-
ful point.
Hirple, to limp, to run with a
limping motion.
The hares were hi-rplin doun the furs.
—Burns: The Holy Fair.
And when wi' age we're worn doun,
An' hirpliti at the door.
— The Boatie Rmvs.
I'm a pair silly auld man,
An' hirplin at the door.
— Gin Kirk wad Let vie he.
Hirsel, a flock, a multitude ; de-
rived by Jamieson from the
Teutonic heer, an army ; but
more probably from the Gaelic
earras, wealth (in flocks and
herds), and earrasail, wealthy.
Hirsel, among shepherds, means
to arrange or dispose the sheep
in separate flocks, and hirseling,
the separating into flocks or
herds ; sometimes written and
pronounced hissel.
Ac scabbed sheep will smit the hale
hirsel. — AhLAti Ramsay's Scois Pro-
verbs.
"Jock, man," said he, " ye're just tell-
ing a hirsel d e'endown [downright] lies."
— Hogg : Brownie of Bodsbeck.
The herds and hissels were alarmed.
— Burns : Epistle to W. Simpson.
Hirsel or hersel. The primary
idea of this word is to remove
the body, when in a sitting
position, to another or conti-
guous seat without absolutely
rising. Jamieson suggests the
derivation from the coarse word
applied to the posteriors in all
the Teutonic languages, includ-
ing English. He is probably
correct ; though, as a verb,
aerselen, which he cites, is not
to be found in the Swedish,
Danish, Dutch, Flemish, or
German dictionaries.
An English gentleman once boasted to
the Duchess of Gordon of his familiarity
with the Scottish language. " Hirsel
yont, my braw birkie," said she. To her
great amusement, as well as triumph, he
could not understand one word except
"my." — Dean Ramsay.
Hizzie, a lass, a huzzy ; a term of
jocular endearment. Supposed
to be a corruption of housewife.
Buirdly chiels and clever hizzies
Are bred in sic a way as this is.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Hoast, a cough, or to cough.
Jamie Fraser, a poor half-witted person,
who was accustomed to make inconvenient
or unseemly noises in the kirk, was one
day cautioned not to make fidgety move-
ments during divine service, under the
penalty of being turned out. The poor
creature sat quite still and silent, till in a
very important part of the sermon he felt
an irresistible inclination to cough. Un-
able to restrain himself, he rose in his seat,
and shouted out, " Minister, may not a
pair body like me gie a hoast?" — Dean
Ramsay.
Hodden-grey. In the glossary
to the first edition of Allan
Kamsay's "Tea -Table Miscel-
lany," 1724, ''hodden" is de-
scribed as a coarse cloth. Hod-
den appears to be a corruption
of the Gaelic adhan, warm : so
Hogmanay — Hoodock.
89
that hodden-grej would signify
warm grey. It was usually
home - made by the Scottish
peasantry of the Lowlands, and
formed the material of their
working-day clothes.
What though on homely fare we dine.
Wear hodden-grey, and a' that ;
Gi'e fools their silks an' knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that. — Burns.
If a man did his best to murder me, I
should not rest comfortably until I knew
that he was safe in a well-ventilated cell,
with the hodden-grey garment of the gaol
upon him. — Trial of Prince Pierre Bona-
parte, Daily Telegraph, March 26, 1870.
Hogmanay or Hogmenay. This
is a peculiarly Scottish name
for a festival by no means pe-
culiar to Scotland — that of New
Year's Day, or the last hours
of the old year and the first of
the new. On these occasions,
before the world grew as prosaic
as it is with regard to old
customs and observances, the
young men, and sometimes the
old, paid visits of congratulation
to the girls and women of their
acquaintance, with words of
goodwill or affection, and very
commonly bore with them gifts
of more or less value according
to their means. It was a time
of good-fellowship, conviviality,
and kindly offices. Many at-
tempts have been made to trace
the word. Some have held it to
be from the Greek hagia (ayta),
holy, and ix.'f\v€, a month. But
as the festival lasted for a few
hours only, the etymology is
unsatisfactory. Others have
thought to find its source in
the French gui, the mistletoe,
and TJiener, to lead — au gui mener,
to lead to the mistletoe ; and
others, again, to the Gaelic oige,
youth ; and madhuin, the morn-
ing, because the celebration
took place in the earliest hours
of the daylight. It cannot be
admitted that any one of these
derivations is wholly satisfac-
tory. Nobody has ever thought
of looking to the Flemish —
which has supplied so many
words to the vocabulary of the
Lowland Scotch— for a solu-
tion of the difiiculty. In
that language we find hoog,
high or great ; min, love, affec-
tion, and dag, a day — hoog-min-
dag, the high or great day of
affection. The transition from
hoog-min-dag to hog-man-ay,
with the corruption of dag into
ay, is easily accomplished. This
etymology is offered with diffi-
dence, not with dogmatic asser-
tion, and solely with this plea
on its behalf — that it meets the
meaning better perhaps than
any other, or, if not better, at
least as well as the Greek,
French, or Gaelic.
Holme, holm, sometimes written
houm, a meadow.
Doun in a glen he spied nine armed men,
On the dowie holms o' Yarrow.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Dowie Dens
d Yarrow.
Hoodock, the hooded owl.
The harpy, hoodock, purse-proud race
Wha count a' poortith as disgrace.
They've tuneless hearts.
—Burns : Epistle to Major Logan.
90
Hool — Hoolie.
The glossaries to Burns ex-
plain this word as meaning
"miserly," which is a mere con-
jecture from the context, to fit
it into " purse-proud; " whereas
it is but a continuation of the
ornithological idea of harpy, a
vulture. The origin is the
French due, an owl, of which
in that language there are three
varieties — grand diic, or great
owl ; petit due, or little owl ;
and haut due, large, great owl.
Possibly, however, the first
syllable in Aoorfock is the Eng-
lish hood. The idea in Burns
is that of a greedy bird or
harpy. Jamieson has '' hoodit
craw " for carrion crow ; and
hoody, the hooded crow.
HooI, the husk of grain, the in-
tegument, the case or covering.
Ilk kind o' corn has its ain hool;
I think the world is a' gane wrang
When ilka wife her man wad rule.
— Tak' your A uld Cloak about ye.
Poor Leezie's heart maist lap the hool,
Near laverock height she loupit.
— Burns : Halloween.
In Dutch, tivlU, cover, in-
tegument, veil ; Swedish, holja,
cover, envelope, case, or hull;
whence also the English liolster,
the case of a pistol ; and uphol-
ster, to make cases or coverings
for furniture, and upholsterer, one
who upholsters. The unneces-
sary and corrupt prefix of up to
this word has led philologists
to derive it erroneously from
uphold.
The English hoils, applied to
the beard and husks of barley,
and hull, a husk or shell of peas
and beans, seems to be from
the same source as the Scottish
hool, and in like manner the hull
or outer case of a ship.
Sad was the chase that they ha'e gi'en to
me,
My heart's near out o* hoolhy getting free.
—Ross's Helenore.
Hoolie or hooly. This word is
commonly used in conjunction
with " fairly," as in the phrase
''hooly and fairly." Jamieson
renders it " slowly and cau-
tiously." It is derived from
the Gaelic uigheil, ui-eil, heed-
ful, cautious. The glossaries to
Burns render it " stop 1 " There
is an old Scottish song — " Oh,
that my wife would drink hooly
and fairly." In the glossary
to Mr. Alexander Smith's edi-
tion of Bums, where "stop"
would not convey the meaning,
the explanation that the word
means " stop " is a mere guess
from the context, which proves
that the editor did not really
understand th^ word.
Still the mair I'm that way bent,
Something cries " Hoolie I "
I rede you, honest man, tak' tent.
You'll show your folly.
— Burns : Epistle to James Smith.
Sin' every pastime is a pleasure,
I counsel you to sport with measure ;
And, namely now, May, June, and July,
Delight not long in Lorea's leisure,
But weit your lipps and labour hooly.
—On May : Alex. Scott in the
Evergreen,
Oh, hooly, hooly, rose she up
To the place where he was lyin',
Hootie — Horn-mad.
91
And when she drew the curtain bye —
" Young man, I think ye're dyin'."
— Ballad of Barbara Allan.
Hooly and fair gangs far in a day. —
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
In the North of England hooly means
tenderly, gently. — Halliwell.
Hootie, a ludicrous but expres-
sive word, applied to a man
like Pococurante in Voltaire's
romance, who impresses the
ingenuous Candide with an
idea of the immensity of his
wisdom, because nothing could
please him. The word is de-
rivable from lioot ! or liooU ! an
interjection expressive of con-
tempt, or of more or less angry
dissent. Hoot! toot I is an in-
tensification of the same idea.
The English have pshaw / pish /
and tut ! The word in the form
of ut ! ut ! is very common
among Highlanders.
Horn. Drinking vessels, before
glass was much used for the
purpose, were made of horn,
and are still to be found both
among the poor and the rich.
" To take a horn " ultimately
came to signify to take a drink
— just as the modern phrase,
** Take a glass," does not mean
to take the glass itself, but the
liquor contained in it. {See
Grog, ante.)
By the gods of the ancients ! Glenriddel
replies,
Before I surrender so glorious a prize,
I'll conjure the ghost of the great Rorie
More,
And bumper his horn with him twenty
times o'er. — Burns : The Whistle.
Horn-dry, according to Jamieson,
means " dry as a horn ; eager
for drink ; an expression fre-
quently used by reapers when
exhausted by the labours of the
harvest." But the obvious ety-
mology — viewed in the light of
the other words that have been
cited — is not dry as a horn, but
dry for want of a hoi^ of liquor.
(For further reference to horn
as signifying a drink, see Grog,
ante.) To take a croc, or grog
(the same as to take a horn or a
glass), meant simply to take a
drink. The French have eric
and croc for a glass of spirits, as
in the chorus of the old song : —
Cric, croc ! a ta sante !
Horn-mad is defined in the Dic-
tionary of Lowland Scotch
(1 81 8) as signifying quite mad;
though the compiler did not
seem to be aware that the mad-
ness was that which came from
• intoxication or the too frequent
emptying of the horn. Horn-
daft is of similar meaning and
origin, though expressive of a
minor degree of intoxication.
Jamieson renders it *' outrage-
ous," and imagines it may be
an allusion to an animal that
pushes with its horns. Horn-
idle is defined by Jamieson to
mean " having nothing to do,
completely unemployed." He
derives the first syllable from
the Saxon, and the second from
the Gaelic. Horn is certainly
Teutonic or Flemish, but idle is as
certainly not Gaelic. The allu-
sion in this case is obviously to
92
Hornie — Houghmagandie.
the sloth or drowsiness that in
lethargic persons often results
from intoxication.
Hornie is a word used in Ayr-
shire, according to Jamieson,
to signify amorous, lecherous,
libidinous. Still, with the notion
in his head that horn is to be taken
literally, and not metaphorically,
he suggests that a hornie person
is one who is apt to reduce an-
other to the state of cuckoldom,
or a cornutus ; and to confer
upon him the imaginary horns
that are supposed to grace the
forehead of those ill-used and
unfortunate persons. It is evi-
dent, however, that hornie meant
nothing more than intoxicated
to such an extent as to excite
the intoxicated person to take
improper liberties with women.
Burns employs the word as one
of the names popularly and
jocularly bestowed upon the
devil.
Host, to cough with effort or diffi-
culty. The colloquial phrase,
*' It didna cost him a hoast to
do it," signifies that the thing
was done easily and without
effort. From the German husten,
the Flemish hosten, to cough.
{See Hoast, ante. )
Joyless Eild (old age),
Wi' wrinkled face,
Comes hosiin', hirplin' ow'r the field
Wi' creepin' pace.
— Burns ; Epistle to James Smith.
Houghmagandie, child-bearing ;
wrongly supposed to mean the
illicit intercourse of the sexes.
This word has not been found
in any author before Burns, and
is considered by some to have
been coined by that poet. But
this is not likely. It is usually
translated by " fornication." No
etymology of the word has
hitherto been suggested. Never-
theless, its component parts seem
to exist in the Flemish. In that
language hoog signifies high or
great, and maag, the stomach or
belly ; maagen, bellies ; and je, a
diminutive particle commonly
added to Flemish and Dutch
words, and equivalent to the
Scottish ie in bairnie, wijie,
laddie, lassie, &c. These words
would form hoog-maagan-je — a
very near approach to the hough-
magandie of Burns. If this be
the derivation, it would make
better sense of the passage in
which it occurs than that
usually attributed to it. The
context shows that it is not
fornication which is meant —
for that has already been com-
mitted — but the possible result
of the sin which may appear
*' some other day," in the en-
larged circumference of the
female sinner.
There's some are fu' o' love divine,
And some are fu' o' brandy ;
And mony a job that day begun
May end in houghmagandie
Some other day.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Ayrshire and Dumfriesshire
retained for a longer time than
the eastern counties of Scot-
land the words and phrases of
the Gaelic language, though
often greatly corrupted ; and in
Howdie.
93
■ the poems and songs of Bums
words from the Gaelic are of
frequent occurrence. It is not
likely that Bums ever took it
upon himself to invent a word ;
and if he did, it is even more
than unlikely that it should
find acceptance. Whatever it
may mean, houghmagandie does
not mean fornication, for the
whole spirit and contents of
the ''Holy Fair" show that
fornication is what he stigma-
tises as the practice of the
gatherings which he satirises ;
and that which he calls hough-
magandie is, or is likely to be,
the future result of the too
promiscuous intercourse of the
sexes, against which he jocosely
declaims. The Gaelic og and
macan, a little son, may possibly
afford a clue to the word ; but
this is a suggestion merely.
I don't remember to have met with this
word anywhere except in the "Holy
Fair." It may have been a word in use in
Burns's day, or it may have been a coinage
of Bums, that would readily convey to the
minds of his readers what he meant. It
may have conveyed the idea of a " dyke-
louper " appearing before the Session, the
"snoovin* awa afore the Session" for a
fault, the doing penance for "jobbing."
Gangdays were the three days In Rogation
week, on which priest and parishioners
were accustomed to walk in procession
about the parish ; a remnant of the custom
is still to be seen in London in the peram-
bulations of boys about the bounds of the
parish. Gandie would not be a very violent
alteration oi gandeye, the more especially
that the spelling of Scotch words partook
a good deal of the phonetic, and gangday
was very probably pronounced gandie.
Now, we know as a fact that, in the lapse
of time, many of the ceremonies of the
Church became corrupted from their origi-
nal intention, and processions became in
time a sort of penance for faults, and in
this way it is just possible that gandie
came itself to mean a penance, and hough-
magandie conveyed the idea of doing
penance for some wrong action that the
hough or leg had something to do with. —
R. Drennan.
Howdie or howdie-wife, a mid-
wife, an accoucheuse. This
word is preferable to the Eng-
lish and the foreign term
borrowed from the French.
Howdie-fee, the payment given
to a midwife.
When skirlin' weanies see the light.
Thou makes the gossips clatter bright,
How funkin' cuifs their dearies slight —
Wae worth the name !
Nae howdie gets a social night
Or plack frae them.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
No satisfactory clue to the
etymology of this word has been
made known. In Gaelic the
midwife is called the "knee-
woman," heart gloinne ; in French,
the sage femme, or wise woman ;
in Teutonic, the weh mutter ; in
Spanish, partera, and in Italian,
comare, the latter word signify-
ing the French comm^re — the
old English and Scotch cummer
— or gossip. Possibly the true
origin of the Scottish word is
to be found in houd or haud, to
hold, to sustain ; and the mid-
wife was the holder, helper, sus-
tainer, and comforter of the
woman who suffered the pains
of labour ; the sage femme of the
French, who was wise and
skilful enough to perform her
delicate function.
94
Howff — Hunkers,
HowfF, a favourite public-house,
where friends and acquaint-
ances were accustomed to re-
sort ; from the Gaelic wawi A (■wa/),
a cave. " Caves of harmony," as
they were called, were formerly
known in Paris, and one long
existed in London under the
name of the Coalhole. They
were small places of convivial
resort, which, in London, have
grown into music-halls. Jamie-
son traces liovaff to the Teutonic
hof, a court-yard, and gast-hof, an
inn or yard. It is possible that
he is right, though it is equally
possible that the German hof
is but a form of the Gaelic
uamh.
This will be delivered to you* by a Mrs.
Hyslop, landlady of the Globe Tavern
here, which for many years has been my
h(nvff, and where our friend Clarke and I
have had many a merry squeeze.— Burns :
Letter to George Thompson.
Burns's ^^TTt^at Dumfries. — Chambers.
Where was't that Robertson and you
were used to howff thegither ? — Scott :
Heart of Midlothian.
Howk, formerly spelled hoik, to
dig, to grub up, to root up, to
form a hole in the ground.
Whiles mice and moudieworts (moles)
they howkit.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
And in kirkyards renew their leagues
Owre howkit dead.
— Burns : Address to the De'il.
He has howkit a grave that was lang and
was deep,
And he has iDuried his sister wi' her baby
at her feet.
— Motherwell : The Broom
Blooms Bonnie.
Howk the tow out o' your lug an' hear
till a sang. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
How-towdies, barndoor fowls ;
origin of the word unknown,
though it has been suggested
that it may be a corruption of
the Gaelic eun-doide, a fowl to
the hand, or a fowl ready to
the hand if wanted.
Hunting the fox prevents him from
growing ower fat on how-towdies. — Noctes
A tnbrosiancB.
Hungers, stockings or hose with-
out feet.
But a' her skill lies in her buskin.
And oh, if her braws were awa.
She soon would wear out o' the fashion,
And knit up her huggers wi' straw.
— Woo'd and Married and a.
Hummel-corn, mean, shabby, of
small account ; a term applied
to the lighter grain which falls
from the rest when it is win-
nowed.
A lady returning from church ex-
pressed her low opinion of the sermon she
had heard by calling it a hummel-corn
discourse. — Dean Ramsay.
The derivation is unknown,
though humble-corn has been
suggested.
Hummel-doddie, dowdy, ill-fit-
ting, in bad taste.
Whatna hummel-doddie o' a mutch
[cap] hae ye gotten? — Dean Ramsay's
Reminiscences.
Humple, to walk lamely and
painfully, to hobble.
Then humpled he out in a hurry,
While Janet his courage bewails.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Hunkers, the loins ; to hunker
dovm, to squat on the ground.
Hurdles — Hynde.
95
The word seems to be allied to
the English hunk^ a lump ;
whence to squat down on the
earth in a lumpish fashion.
Wi' ghastly ee, poor Tweedle Dee
Upon his hunkers bended,
And prayed for grace wi' cuthless face
To see the quarrel ended.
—Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
Hurdies, the hips, the 'podcx of
the Komans, the 'pyge of the
Greeks. From the Gaelic aird,
a rounded muscle or swelling ;
plural airde, also airdhe, a wave,
or of a wavy form.
His tail
Hung o'er his hurdies wi' a swirl.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Ye godly brethren o' the sacred gown,
Wha meekly gie your hurdies to the
smiters.— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Thir breeks o' mine, my only pair,
That ance were plush, o' guid blue hair,
I wad ha'e gi'en them aflf my hurdies^
\ For ae blink o' the bonnie burdies !
—Burns : Tarn O' Shunter.
Pendable ? ye may say that ; his craig
wad ken the weight of his hurdies if they
could get baud o' Rob. — Scott : Rob Roy.
The old French poet, Fran9ois
Villon, when condemned to be
hung, wrote a stanza in which
the above idea of Sir Walter
Scott occurs in language about
as forcible and not a whit more
elegant : —
Je suis Frangais (dont ce me poise),
N6 de Paris, empres Ponthoise,
Or d'une corde d'une toise
Sgaura mon col que mon cul poise.
Burns also uses the word in
the sense of *' rounded or swell-
ing," without reference to any
portion of the human frame, as
in the following : —
The groaning trencher there ye fill ;
Your hurdies like a distant hill.
— To a Haggis.
Hurkle, to yield obedience or
deference.
Grant, an' Mackenzie, an' Murray,
An' Cameron will hurkle to nane.
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.
Hurl, to wheel; hurl -harrow,
wheel-barrow ; a corruption of
whirl, to turn round ; hurlcy-
hacJcet, a contemptuous name
for an ill-hung carriage or other
vehicle.
It's kittle for the cheeks when the hurl-
barrow gangs o'er the brig o* the nose.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
" I never thought to have entered ane
o' these hurley-hackets," she said, as she
seated herself, " and sic a thing as it is —
scarce room for twa folk." — Scott : St.
Ronan's JVell.
Hynde, gentle, courteous. An illi-
terate member of Parliament in
the unruly session of 1887 ob-
jected to the use of this word
as applied to an agricultural
labourer, believing that it signi-
fied a deer or other quadruped,
and never having suspected that
it was a term of courtesy. The
member himself, called honour-
able by the courtesy of Parlia-
ment, was ignorant of the fact
that courtesy was extended even
to farm-labourers by all gentle-
men and men of good heart and
good manners.
§6
Hyte — Ingine.
Then she is to yon hynde squire's yetts,
And tirled at the pin,
And wha sae busy as the hynde squire
To let the lady in.
— Bvchan's Ancigat Bal/ads : Hynd
Horn.
Hyte, joyous; excited unduly or
overmuch.
Ochone for poor Castalian drinkers !
The witchin', cursed, delicious blinkers
Ha'e put me hyte.
— Burns : Epistle to Major Logan.
This word is derived from the
Gaelic aite, joy, gladness, fun,
and appears to be related to
the English hoity-toity.
ler-oe, agreat grandchild; errone-
ously spelled jeroy in the new
editions of Jamieson, and cited
as a " Shetland word."
May health and peace with mutual rays
I Shine on the evening o' his days,
Till his wee curlie John's ieroe,
When ebbing life nae mair shall flow,
The last sad mournful rites bestow.
— Burns : A Dedication to Gavin
Hamilton.
The word is from the Gaelic
oghe, a grandchild, and iar,
after; whence an after grand-
child, or great grandchild.
Igo and ago, iram, coram, dago.
The chorus of ancient Gaelic
boat-songs, or Ramh-rans, intro-
duced by Burns in his song,
•' Ken ye aught o' Captain
Grose?" The words resolve
themselves into the Gaelic
aighe, aghach, iorram, corruig-
heartih dachaidh, which signify
" Joyous and brave is the song
of the boat that is rowing
homewards."
Ilka, each, as " ilka ane," each
one ; Uk, that same. Uk is used
for the designation of a person
whose patronymic is the same
as the name of his estate — such
as Mackintosh of Mackintosh —
i.e., Mackintosh of that Ilk.
This Scottish word has crept
into English, though with a
strange perversion of its mean-
ing, as in the following : —
We know, however, that many bar-
barians of their ilk, and even of later
times, knowingly destroyed many a gold
and silver vessel that fell into their
hands. — vS"^. James s Gazette.
Matilda lived in St. John's Villas,
Twickenham ; Mr. Passmore in King
Street of the same ilk. — Daily Telegraph.
Ingine, genius, "the fire of
genius" or "poetic fire," are
common expressions. Burns, in
an "Epistle to John Lapraik,"
whose poetry he greatly ad-
mired, and thought equal to
that of Alexander Pope or
James Beattie, made inquiries
concerning him, and was told
that he was " an odd kind o'
chiel about Muirkirk."
Ingle,
97
An' sae about him there I spier't,
Then a' that ken'd him round declar't
He had ingine.
That nane excelled it — few cam near't,
It was sae fine.
It would seem on first con-
sideration that this peculiarly
Scottish word was of the same
Latin derivation as genius, in-
genious, ingenuity, and the
archaic English word cited in
Halliwell, "ingene," which is
translated " genius or wit." It
is open to inquiry, however,
whether the idea of fire does
not underlie the word, and
whether it is not in the form
in which Burns employs it,
traceable to the Gaelic am, an
intransitive prefix or particle
signifying great, very, or in-
tense ; and teine^ fire.
The late Samuel Rogers, author of the
*' Pleasures of Memory," in a controversy
with me on the character of Lord Byron,
spoke very unfavourably of his poetical
genius, which I praised and defended to
the best of my ability. Mr. Rogers, how-
ever, always returned to the attack with re-
newed vigour. Driven at last to extremity,
I thought to clench all argument by saying
— "At least you will admit, Mr. Rogers,
that there was Jire in Byron's poetry?"
" Yes," he answered, '^^ hell-fire I" — C M.
Ingle, the fire; ingle- side, the
fireside, the hearth ; ingle-neuk,
the chimney corner ; ingle-hred,
home-bred, or bred at the
domestic hearth ; inglin, fuel.
Better a wee zn^^le to warm you, than a
muckle fire to burn you.— Allan Ram-
say's Scots Proverbs.
His wee bit ingle blinkin' bonnille.
— Burns.
It's an auld story now, and everybody
tells it, as we were doing, in thtir ain
way by the ingle-side.— Scott : Guy Man-
nering.
The derivation of ingle, in the
Scottish sense of the word, is
either from the Gaelic aingeal,
the Kymric engyl, heat, fire, or
from ion, fit, becoming, com-
fortable ; and cuil, a corner.
That of the English ingle, mean-
ing a favourite, a friend, or
lover, is not easy to discover.
The word occurs in a passage
from an Elizabethan play, with
a detestable title, quoted by
Nares : —
Call me your love, your ingle, your
cousin, or so ; but sister at no hand.
Also in Massinger's " City
Madam" : —
His quondam patrons, his dear ingils now.
Ingle, from one signifying a
lover in the legitimate use of
that word, was corrupted into
an epithet for the male lover
of a male, in the most odious
sense. In " Donne's Elegies,"
it is used as signifying amorous
endearment of a child to its
father : —
Thy little brother, which like fairy spirits,
Oft skipped into our chamber those sweet
nights
And kissed and ingled on thy father's knee.
No satisfactory etymology for
the English word has ever been
suggested, and that from the
Spanish yngle, the groin, which
finds favour with Nares and
other philologists, is manifestly
inadmissible. It is possible,
however, that the English ingle
was originally the same as the
Scottish, and that its first
G
98
Inttll — / Wish Ye were in Heckie-burnie.
meaning as "love" was derived
from the idea still current, that
calls a beloved object a flame.
Hotten's Slang Dictionary has
*'flame, a sweetheart." Ingle
was sometimes written enghle,
which latter word, according
to Mr. Halliwell, signifies, as
used by Ben Jonson, a gull —
also, to coax or to wheedle.
Intill, into ; till, to. What's in-
tiWt .? What's in it ?
An English traveller, staying at a great
hotel in Edinburgh, was much pleased
with the excellence of the hotch-potch at
dinner, and asked the head-waiter how
it was made, and of what it was made?
The waiter replied that there were peas
intiirt, and beans intilCt, and onions
intill't. " But what's intiU't ? " asked the
Englishman. " I'm just tellin' you that
there's beans intilTt, and peas intiirt, and
neeps intiirt, and carrots intilft "
" Yes ! yes ! I know — beans, peas,
onions, turnips, and carrots," said the
Englishman ; " but what's intiirt ? Is
it salt, pepper, or what? Please tell me
what's intill't ? "
"Eh, man!" replied the impatient
waiter, "ye maun be unco' slow o' com-
prehension. I was tellin' ye owre and
owre again that there are beans intiirt,
and peas intiltt "
"And tult! What the devil is tult, or
intiirt, or whatever the name is? Can
you not give a plain answer to a plain
question? Does tult mean barley, or
mutton, or mustard, or some nameless in-
gredient that is a trade secret, or that you
are afraid to mention ? "
" Oh, man ! " said the waiter, with a
groan, " if I had your head in my keeping,
I'd gie it sic a thumpin' as wad put some
smeddum intiltt."
Tradition records that the Englishman
has never yet ascertained what intiltt
means, but wanders through Scotland
vainly seeking enlightenment. — Knife and
Fork, edited by B^anchard Jerrold.
I wish ye were in Heckie-burnie.
"This," says Jamieson, "is a
strange form of imprecation.
The only account given of this
place is that it is three miles
beyond lieU. In Aberdeen, if
one says, ' go to the devil ! '
the other often replies, ' go you
to Heckie-hiimie ! ^' No etymo-
logy is given. Possibly it
originated in the pulpit, when
some Gaelic preacher had taken
the story of Dives and Lazarus
for his text ; and the rich Dives,
amid his torments in hell, asked
in vain for a drop of water
to cool his parched tongue.
The intolerable thirst was his
greatest punishment ; and in
Gaelic Aicheadh is refusal, and
buirne, water from the burn
or stream, whence the phrase
would signify the refusal or
denial of water. This is oilered
as a suggestion only, to account
for an expression that has
been hitherto given up as in-
explicable.
Jamph — Jimp.
^ or THE X
UNIVERSITY j
99
A\
f
Jamph, to trudge, to plod, to
make way laboriously, to grow
weary with toil; also, to en-
deavour to take liberties with
an unwilling or angry woman ;
to pursue her under difficulty
and obstruction.
" Oh bonnie lass ! " says he, " ye'U gie's a
kiss,
And I shall set you right on, hit or miss."
"A hit or miss, I want na help of you, —
Kiss ye sklate stanes, they winna wat your
mou."
And off she goes ; — the fellow loot a rin,
As gin he ween'd with speed to tak her in ;
But as luck was, a knibbloch took his tae.
And o'er fa's he, and tumbles down the
brae ;
His neebor leugh, and said it was well
wair'd —
" Let never j'am^kers yet be better sair'd."
— Ross's Helenore.
The etymology of jamph —
whether it means to plod or
flirt, or both — is obscure. It is
possibly, but not certainly, from
the Gaelic deanamh {de pro-
nounced as je), doing, acting,
performing. Jamieson thinks
that, in the sense of flirting, it
may come from the Teutonic
schimpfen, to mock ; and in the
sense of plod or trudge, from
schampfen, to slip aside.
Jauner, idle talk ; to wander list-
lessly about without any par-
ticular object.
Oh, baud your tongue now, Luckie Laing,
Oh, baud your tongue and jauner.
— Burns : The Lass of Ecclefechan.
We'se had a good jauner this forenoon.
— Jamieson.
In the sense of wandering
idly, this word seems to be
but a variety or corruption of
dauner.
Jawp, to bespatter with mud or
water. To ''jatop the water"
is a metaphor for spending time
in any negotiation or transac-
tion without coming to a definite
conclusion, " I'U no jau-p water
wi' ye" — "I'll not enter into
further discussions or wrangles
with you." "To jatop waters
with one," to play fast and loose,
to strive to be off a bargain once
made.
Then down ye'll hurl, deil nor ye never rise,
And dash the gumly j'awps up to the skies.
— Burns : TAe Brigs of Ayr.
Jawthers, quasi synonymous
with the English slang " to
jaw," to dispute or argue abu-
sively, as in the phrase " let me
have none of your yaw." Jaw-
thers, idle wranglings, and also
any frivolous discourse.
Jee, to move. This word survives
in English as a command to a
horse, in the phrase jee-up and
jee-ico.
I am sick an' very love sick,
Ae foot I cannay^^.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Jimp, slender in the waist.
She is as jimp i the middle sae fou*
As is a willow wand.
— The Laird d Warriston.
100
Jink — Jock.
Jink, to play, to sport, to dodge
in and out, from whence the
phrase "high- jinks," sometimes
. used in England to describe the
. merriment and sport of servants
in the kitchen when their mas-
ters and mistresses are out ; a
quick or sudden movement ;
also to escape, to trick, " to gie
the jink" to give the slip, to
elude.
And now, auld Cloots, I ken ye're thinkin'
A certain bardie, rantin', drinkin',
Some luckless hour will send him linkin'
To your black pit ;
But faith hell turn a comex Jinkin ,
And cheat ye yet !
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
\ Lang may your elbucky/«/t and diddle.
— Burns : Second Epistle to Davie.
Oh, thou, my muse ! guid auld Scotch
drink.
Whether through wimplin' worms thou
jink.
Or, richly brown, ream o'er the brink
In glorious faem.
—Burns : Scotch Drink.
Jamieson derives the word
from the Swedish dwink-a, and
the German schwinken, to move
quickly, but no such word ap-
pears in the German diction-
aries, and the etymology is
otherwise unsatisfactory. The
Gaelic dian (pronounced jian)
and dianach signifies brisk,
nimble, which is probably the
root of jink as used by Burns.
Jirble, jirgle. Both of these
words signify to spill any liquid
by making it move from side to
side in the vessel that contains
it ; to empty any liquid from
one vessel to another ; also, the
small quantity left in a glass or
tea -cup.
The waur for themselves and for the
country baith, St. Ronan's ; it's the junket-
ing and Xhejirbling in tea and sic trumpery
that brings our nobles to ninepence, and
mony a het ha' house to a hired lodging in
the Abbey.— Scott : St. Ronan's Well.
Jock in Scottish, and in English
Jack, are used as familiar sub-
stitutes for the Christian name
John, and are supposed to be de-
rived from the French Jacques.
This word, however, means
James, and not John. The use
of the prefixes Jack and Jock
in many English and Scottish
compounds that have no obvious
reference to the Christian names
either of James or John, sug-
gests that there may possibly
be a different origin for the
word. Among others that may
be cited, are Jack-i&r, Jack-
priest, /acA;-of-all-trades, and
such implements in common
use as hoot-jack, roasting-^'ac/t,
yac^-knife, the jacks or hammers
of a pianoforte, the jack or
clapper of a bell, jcuik-hoois,
jack-chaAn, the Union-^acA; or
flag, jack-stdiS., jack-tovroi, jack-
block, and many others which
are duly set forth in the dic-
tionaries, without suggestion of
any other etymology than that
from John. Shakspeare in his
sonnets uses the word jack for
the hammers of the virginal,
and in Richard II. employs it to
signify a working-man : —
Since t.vt.ry jack became a gentleman.
There's many a gentle person made z.jack.
Jock.
lOI
Besides the Scottish term of
familiarity or affection for a
man, the word Jock occurs in
two singular words cited by
Jamieson — Jock-te-leer, which he
says is a cant term for a pocket
almanack, "derived from Jock
the liar," from the loose or false
predictions with regard to the
weather which are contained in
such publications ; and Jock-te-
leg, a folding or clasp-knife.
It is diflacult to connect either
the Scottish Jock or the English
Jack in these words with the
name of John, unless upon the
supposition that John and Jack
are synonymous with man, and
that the terms are transferable
to any and every implement
that aids or serves the purpose
of a man's work. Is it not pos-
sible that Jock and Jack are
mere varieties of the Gaelic
dcagh (the de pronounced as j),
which signifies good, excellent,
useful, befitting ? or the Kymric
iach, whole, useful ? and deach,
a movement for a purpose ?
This derivation would meet the
sense of all the compound words
and phrases in which jock and
jack enter, other than those in
which it indubitably signifies a
Christian name.
The word jocteleer — an alman-
ack, in Jamieson— tried by this
test, would signify, good to
examine, to learn ; from deayh,
good, and leir, perception.
In like manner, the English
words and phrases, /acA:-tar,
/acA;-priest, /oc^-of -all-trades,
might signify good, able-bodied
sailor, good priest, and good
at all trades. Even jockey, a
good rider, may be derivable
from the same source. Thus,
too, in Shakspeare's phrase,
Jack may signify, not a John,
as a generic name, but deagk
{jeack), as applied in the com-
mon phrase " my good man,"
and in French bon homme —
epithets which, although in
one sense respectful, are only
employed by superiors to infe-
riors, and infer somewhat of
social depreciation.
In reference to Jocteleg or
Jocktelag, it should be men-
tioned that Burns spells the
word in the first manner, and
Allan Ramsay in the second.
Jamieson says that there was
once a famous cutler of Liege,
in Belgium, named Jacques, and
that his cutlery being in repute,
any article of his make was
called a Jacques de Liege. As
no mention of this man or his
business has been found any-
where except in the pages of
Jamieson, it has been suspected
that the name was evolved from
the imagination of that philo-
logist. Whether that be so or
not, it is curious that the Gaelic
dioghail signifies to avenge, and
dioghail taiche (pronounced jog-
al taiche), an avenger. In early
times it was customary to be-
stow names of affection upon
swords, such as Excalibur, the
sword of King Arthur, Duran-
darte, and many others, the
swords of renowned knights of
romance and chivalry ; and if
102
Joe — -Jowler,
upon swords, probably upon
daggers and knives ; and no epi-
thet in a barbarous age — when
every man had to depend upon
his own prowess for self-defence
or revenge for injuries — could be
more appropriate for a strong
knife than the " avenger."
Joe or Jo, a lover, a friend, a dear
companion; derived not from
Joseph, as has been asserted,
nor from the French ^'oie or
English joy, as Jamieson sup-
poses, but more probably from
the Gaelic deo (the d pronounced
as 3), the soul, the vital spark,
the life ; Greek ^CyT\.
John Anderson my Jo, John.
— Burns.
Kind sir, for your courtesy,
As ye gae by the Bass, then,
For the love ye bear to me.
Buy me a keeking-glass, then.
Keek into the clear draw-well,
Janet, Janet,
There ye'll see your bonnie sel',
My Jo, Janet.
— Old Song: retnodelled by "BxiRiiS.
J Oram, a boat song ; a rowing
song, in which the singers keep
time with their voices to the
motion of the oars ; from the
modern Gaelic iorram. This
word is often erroneously used
in the phrase "push about the
jorum,'" as if jorum signified a
bowl of liquor which had to be
passed round the table. An in-
stance of this mistake occurs in
Burns : —
And here's to them that, like oursel',
Can push about the. Jorujn ;
And here's to them that wish us weel —
May a' that s guid watch o'er 'em.
—Oh May, thy Mom.
The ancient and correct Gaelic
for a boat song is oran iomraidh
or iomramh ; from oran, a song ;
torn, many, and ramh, an oar, of
which iorram, or the song of many
oars, is a corruption. The con-
nection between iorram, a boat
song, siud jorum, a drinking ves-
sel, is probably due to the cir-
cumstance that the chorus of
the boat song was often sung by
the guests at a convivial party,
when the bottle or bowl was put
in circulation.
Jouk, to stoop down ; in the Eng-
lish vernacular to duck the
head, or duck down; also to
evade a question. Jouker, a
dissembler, a deceiver.
Neath the brae the hurnie Jouks.
— Tannahill : Gloomy Winter.
Jouk and let the jaw go by {ProzierU) —
i.e., evade replying to intemperate or
abusive language.
Jow, the swing or boom of a large
bell.
Now Clinkumbell
Began to Jow.
— Burns : The Holy Fair,
And every JoTV the kirk bell gied.
Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Jow means to swing, and not the " clang
or boom of a large bell."
Now Clinkumbell, wi' rattling tone
Began to Jow and croon.
The bell-rope began to shake, — the bell
began to swing (Jow) and (croon) ring out.
— R. Drennan.
Jowler. This word is used by
Burns in the " Address of Beel-
zebub to the President of the
Highland Society," in which,
speaking of gipsies, he says : —
Jundie — Kail-runt.
103
An' if the wives an' dirty brats
E'en thigger at your doors an' yetts,
Get out a horsewhip or s.jowler.
An' gar the tattered gipsies pack
Wi' a' their bastards on their back.
Jamieson does not include the
word in his Dictionary, nor do
the glossaries to Allan Kamsay
or Burns contain it. By the con-
text, it would seem to mean a
cudgel. In this sense the word
has support in the northern
counties of England. JoUe, ac-
cording to Mr. Halliwell Phillips,
. signifies to beat ; and jowler
means thick and clumsy — epi-
thets which describe a bludgeon
and a cudgel.
" Did you give him a good drubbing?"
"I gave him a good uAy jowling." —
Wright's Archaic Dictionary.
In the sense of thick and
clumsy, ^olle and ^owl are ap-
parently the roots of English
joUer-head, a thick-headed fel-
low. Jowler, as the name of
an instrument of punishment,
whether a cudgel or not, is pro-
bably from the Gaelic diol {jole,
d pronounced as j), to punish,
to avenge, to requite, to pay ;
diolair, an avenger. In collo-
quial English the threat, '• I'll
pay you out," has a similar
meaning.
Jundie, to jostle, to struggle, to
contend and push in a crowd ;
to hog-shouther, or push with
the shoulders in order to force
a way.
If a man's gaun down the brae, ilk ane
gi'es him a jundie. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
The warldly race may drudge and drive,
Hog-shouther, y««^zV, stretch, and strive.
— Burns : To William Simpson.
Jute, a term of reproach applied
to a weak, worthless, spiritless
person, especially to a woman.
It is also used in reference to
sour or stale liquor, and to weak
broth or tea. It seems to be
derived from the Gaelic diiiid
{diu pronounced as /w), sneak-
ing, mean-spirited, silly, weak ;
and diu, the worst, the refuse
of things.
Kail, cabbage, the German Icohl ;
a word that survives in English
in the first syllable of cauliflower.
By an extension of meaning Tcail
sometimes signifies dinner, as
in the familiar invitation once
common, "Come an' tak' your
Tcail wi' me," i.e., come and dine
with me.
Kail -runt, a cabbage stalk ; kail-
blade, a cabbage leaf.
When I lookit to my dart,
It was sae blunt,
Fient haet it wad hae pierced the heart
O' a kail-runt.
—Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Just in a kail-blade and send it, —
Baith the disease and what '11 mend it,
At ance he'll i&W'i.— Idem.
I04
Kain — Keek.
Kain, tribute, tax, tithe ; from
the Gaelic cain, tribute ; cain-
cach, tributary.
Our laird gets in his racked rents,
His coal, his kaz'n.
— Burns : TAe Twa Dogs.
Kain to the King.
— Jacobite Song (17 15).
Kain-bairns, says a note in Sir
Walter Scott's "Minstrelsy of
the Scottish Border," were in-
fants, according to Scottish
superstition, that were seized
in their cradles by warlocks
and witches, and paid as a kain,
or tax, to their master the devlL
Jamieson is in error in deriving
kain from the Gaelic cean, the
head.
Kaur-handit, left-handed. In
this combination, haur does not
signify the left as distinguished
from the right, but is from the
Gaelic car, signifying a twist or
turn. The hand so designated
implies that it is twisted or
turned into a function that
ought to be performed by the
other.
Kaury-maury is used in the
"Vision of Piers Ploughman."
Clothed in a kaury-maury
I couthe it nought descryve.
In the glossary to Mr. Thomas
- Wright's edition of this ancient
poem, he suggests that kaury-
maury only means care and
trouble ; a conjecture that is
supported by the Gaelic car,
and mearachd, an error, a mis-
take, a wrong, an injustice.
Kebar, a rafter, a beam in the
roof of a house ; from the Gaelic
cubar, a pole, the trunk of a
tree. "Putting" or throwing
the cabar is a gymnastic feat
still popular at Highland games
in Scotland.
He ended, and the kebars shook
Above the chorus roar.
— Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
Kebbuck, a cheese ; kebbuck heel,
a remnant or hunk of cheese.
From the Gaelic cabag, a cheese.
The weel-hained kebbuck.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
In comes a gaucie, gash, gude wife,
An' sits down by the fire ;
Syne draws her kebbuck and her knife —
The lasses they are shyer.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Keck or keckle, to draw back
from a bargain, to change one's
mind, to flinch ; from the Gaelic
caochail, to change.
"I have keck'd"—! decline adhering to
the offer.— Jamieson.
Keckle is also a form of the
English cackle, and has no
affinity or synonymity with
keck.
Keek, to peep, to pry, to look
cautiously about ; possibly from
the Gaelic cldh, pronounced
kidh or kee, to see ; a cidhis, a
mask to cover the face all but
the eyes, a vizor.
The robin came to the wren's nest
And keekit in. — Nursery Rhyme.
Stars dinna keek in.
And see me wi' Mary.— Burns.
When the tod [fox] is in the wood, he
cares na how many folk keek at his tail.—
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Keeking-glass — Keltie.
105
A clergyman in the West of Scotland
once concluded a prayer as follows : — " O
Lord ! Thou art like a mouse in a drystane
dyke, aye keekiti out at us frae holes
and crannies, but we canna see Thee." —
Rogers' Illustrations of Scottish Life.
Keeking-glass, a looking-glass,
a mirror.
She. Kind sir, for your courtesy.
As ye gang by the Bass, then»
For the love ye bear to me,
Buy me a keeking-glass, then.
He. Keek into the draw-well,
Janet, Janet !
There ye'll see your bonnie sel',
My jo, Janet. — Burns.
Keel or keill, a small vessel or
skiff, a lighter, and not merely
the Tceel of any ship or boat as
in English. It is synonymous
with coracle, or the Gaelic cur-
ach, and is probably derived
from the Gaelic caol, narrow,
from its length as distinguished
from its breadth.
Oh, merry may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row ;
Oh, merry may the keel row.
The ship that my love's in.
— Northern Ballad.
Keelivine, a crayon pencil. Ori-
gin unknown.
Kell, a woman's cap ; from the
Gaelic ceil, a covering.
Then up and gat her seven sisters,
And served to her a kell,
And every steek that they put in
Sewed to a silver bell.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Gay
Goss-hawk.
Kelpie, a water-sprite. Etymo-
logy unknown; that suggested
by Jamieson from caZ/ is not
probable.
What is it ails my good bay mare ?
What is it makes her start and shiver ?
She sees a kelpie in the stream.
Or fears the rushing of the river.
— Legends of the Isles.
The kelpie gallop'd o'er the green.
He seemed a knight of noble mien ;
And old and young stood up to see.
And wondered who this knight could be.
— Idem.
The side was steep, the bottom deep,
Frae bank to bank the water pouring ;
And the bonnie lass did quake for fear.
She heard the -woX&r-kelpie roaring.
— Ballad of Annan Water.
Keltie, a large glass or bumper,
to drain which was imposed as
a punishment upon those who
were suspected of not drinking
fairly. *' Cleared Iceltie aff," ac-
cording to Jamieson, was a
phrase that signified that the
glass was quite empty. The
word seems to be derived from
kelter, to tilt up, to tip up, to
turn upside down, and to have
been applied to the glasses
used in the hard-drinking days
of our great-grandfathers, that
were made without stems, and
rounded at the bottom like the
Dutch dolls that roll from side
to side, from inability to stand
upright. With a glass of this
kind in his hand, the toper had
to empty it before he could re-
place it on the table. Jamieson
was probably ignorant of this
etymology, though he refers to
the German kelter, which signi-
fies a wine-press. Keltem, in the
same language, is to tread the
grapes. But these words do not
apply to either the Scottish
keltie or kelter.
io6
Kemmin — Kidney.
Kemmin, a champion, a corrup-
tion of ^emp (g-.v.)'
He works like a kemmin.
He fechts like a kemmin.
— Jamieson.
The Kymric has ceimmyn, a
striver in games ; the Flemish
kampen; and German Tcdmpfen,
to fight, to struggle, to contend.
Kemp, a warrior, a hero, a cham-
pion ; also to fight, to strive, to
contend for the superiority or
the mastery. Kemper is one who
kcmps or contends ; used in the
harvest field to signify a reaper
who excels his comrades in
the quantity and quality of his
work. Kempion, or Kemp Owain,
is the name of the champion
in two old Scottish ballads who
"borrows," or ransoms, a fair
lady from the spells cast upon
her by demoniacal agency, by
which she was turned into the
shape of a wild beast. Kempion,
or Kemp Owain, kisses her thrice,
notwithstanding her hideousness
and loathsomeness, and so re-
stores her to her original beauty.
Kempion is printed in Scott's
" Border Minstrelsy," and Kemp
Owain in Motherwell's "Min-
strelsy, Ancient and Modern."
Kennawhat, a nondescript, a "je
ne sais quoi," or know-not -what.
Kenspeckle, noticeable, conspi-
cuous, noteworthy.
Kep, to catch, to receive ; from
the Gaelic ceap, to intercept, to
stop, to receive.
Ilka blade o' grass ke^s its ain drap o' dew.
—James Ballantine.
Ilk cowslip cup shall ke/ a tear.
— Burns.
Ker haund or ker-handed, left-
handed, awkward; from the
Gaelic, cer, a twist ; and cearr,
wrong, awkward. See Kaur-
HANDIT, ante.
It maun be his left foot foremost, unless
he was ker-haund. — Nodes Atnbrosiatice.
Ket, a fleece ; tawted ket, a matted
or ropy fleece. From the Gaelic
ceath, a sheep or sheep-skin.
She was nae get o' moorland tips,
Wi' tawted ket an' hairy hips.
— Burns.
Kevil, a lot ; to cast kevils, to draw
lots.
Let every man be content with his ain
kevil. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
And they coost kevils them amang
Wha should to the greenwood gang.
— CosPATRiCK : Border Minstrelsy.
Kidney. " Of the same kidney,''
of a like sort. The Slang Dic-
tionary has, " Two of a kidney,
or two of a sort — as like as two
pears, or two kidneys in a bunch."
Sir Kichard Ayscough says that
Shakspeare's phrase, which he
put into the mouth of Falstaff,
means "a man whose kidneys
are as fat as mine — i.e., a man
as fat as I am." A little know-
ledge of the original language
of the British people would show
the true root of the word to be
the Gaelic ceudna — pronounced
keudna, sort, or of the same sort ;
ceudnachd, identity, similarity.
Think of that ! a man of my kidney, that
am as subject to heat as butter. — Merry
Wives of Windsor.
Kill-cow — Kinnen,
107
Your poets, spendthrifts, and other fools
of that /t/^«<y.— Burns : Letter to Mr.
Robert A itislie.
Kill-cow, an expressive collo-
quialism which signifies a diffi-
culty that maybe surmounted by
resolution and energy. Jamie-
son translates it "a matter of
consequence, a serious affair ;
as in the phrase, *Ye needna
mind ; I'm sure it's nae sic great
kill-cow ; ' " and adds, " in refer-
ence, most probably, to a blow-
that is sufficient to knock down
or kill a cow ! " Jamieson forgot
the reference in his own Dic-
tionary to cow, in which the
word signifies a ghost, spectre,
or goblin. The phrase might
be rendered, "a ghost that
might be laid without much
difficulty."
Killicoup, a somersault, head-
over-heels.
That gang tried to keep violent lease-
hold o' your ain fields, an' your ain ha',
till ye gied them a killicoup. — Hogg's
Brownie of Bodsbeck.
Kilt, a garment worn by High-
landers, descending from the
waist to the middle of the knee ;
to lift the petticoats up to the
knee, or wear them no lower
than the knee ; to raise the
clothes in fording a stream.
"High kilted" is a metaphor
applied to conversation or
writing that savours of immo-
desty. From the Gaelic ceil, to
cover ; cdlte, covered.
Her tartan petticoat she'll kilt.
—Burns : Cry and Prayer.
She's kilted her coats o' green satin,
She's kilted them up to the knee,
And she's off wi' Lord Ronald M' Donald,
His bride and his darling to be.
— Old Song: Lizzie Lindsay.
Kimmer, a female friend, gossip,
or companion ; from the French
commere ; synonymous with the
English gammer.
My kimmer and I gaed to the fair
Wi' twal punds Scots on sarkin' to wear ;
But we drank the gude braw hawkie dry,
And sarkless cam hame, my kimmer and I.
— Cromek's Remains.
Kink, a knot, an entanglement,
an involution ; the same in
Flemish ; whence kink-host, or
kink-cough, the hooping-cough,
or generally a violent fit of
coughing, in which the paroxysm
seems to twist knots into each
other. The word kink is some-
times applied to a fit of irre-
pressible laughter. Kink-cough
has been corrupted in English
into king-cough. Mr. Robert
Chambers, on a note on kink,
which occurs in the "Ballad of
the Laird o' Logic," explains it
as meaning to wring the fingers
till the joints crack, which he
says is a very striking though a
simple delineation of grief.
And sae she tore her yellow hair,
Kinking her fingers ane by ane,
And cursed the day that she was born.
Kinnen, rabbits ; corruption of
the English coney.
Make kinnen and caper ready, then.
And venison in greit plentie,
We'll welcome here our royal King.
— Ballad 0/ Johnnie Armstrong.
io8
Kinsh — Kipper.
Kinsh. According to Jamieson,
this word signifies kindred.
The man may eithly tine a stot that
canna count h.\s kinsh. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
" The man may easily lose a
young ox that cannot count
his kinsh." The meaning of
Jcinsh in this passage is not
clear. It has been suggested
that it is a misprint for either
Icine or kindred. Perhaps, how-
ever, the true meaning is to
be sought in the Gaelic cin-
neas {kinneash), which means
growth or natural increase.
This interpretation renders the
proverb intelligible — a man may
afford to lose one stot who can-
not count the increase of his
flocks and herds.
Kintra cooser, one who runs
about the country ; a term
sometimes applied to an entire
horse, which is taken from place
to place for the service of mares.
If that daft buckie, Geordie Wales,
Was threshin' still at hizzie's tails.
Or if he was grown oughtlins douser.
And no a perfect kintra cooser.
— Burns : To one who had sent him
a newspaper.
The word cooser appears in
Shakspeare as cosier or cozier,
and has puzzled all the com-
mentators to explain it. Cosier'' s
catches were songs sung by work-
ing men over their libations in
roadside ale-houses. Johnson
thought that cosier must mean
a tailor, from coudre, to sew ;
and cousue, that which is sewed ;
while others equally erudite
were of opinion that costers were
cobblers or tinkers. The cosiers
who sang catches might have
belonged to all or any of these
trades ; but the word, now ob-
solete in English, and almost
obsolete in Scotch, is the Gaelic
cosaire, a pedestrian, a way-
farer, a tramp. Up to the time
of Dr. Johnson's visit to the
Hebrides, Highland gentlemen
of wealth or importance used
to keep servants or gillies to
run before them, who were
known as cosiers — misprinted by
Bos well as coshirs. Jamieson,
unaware of the simple origin
of the word, as applied to a
horse made to perambulate the
country, states that cooser is a
stallion, and derives it from the
French coursier, a courser. But
courser itself is from the same
root, from course, a journey. The
coarse allusion of Burns to the
Prince of Wales expressed a
hope that he had ceased to run
about the country after women.
Kipper, to split, dry, and cure
fish by salting them. Kippered
herrings, haddocks, and salmon
are largely prepared and con-
sumed in Scotland, and to a
much smaller extent in the large
cities of England. The mode
of kippering is scarcely known
to the south of the Tweed, and
where known, is not so success-
fully practised, or with such
delicate and satisfactory results,
as in Scotland. The derivation
of the word is uncertain.
Kirk — Kittle.
109
Kirk, is the original form of the
word, which has been Anglicised
into church. It is derived from
the idea of, and is identical
with, circle or kirkle, the form
in which, in the primitive ages
of the world, and still later, in
the Druidical era, all places
of worship — whether of the
supreme God or of the Sun,
supposed to be His visible re-
presentative — were always con-
structed. The great stone circle,
or kirkle, of Stonehenge was
one of the earliest kirks, or
churches, erected in these is-
lands. The traces of many-
smaller stone circles are still to
be found in Scotland. The word
is derived feom the Gaelic coir,
a circle ; whence also court, and
the French cour.
Kimie, a forward boy who gives
himself prematurely and offen-
sively the airs and habits of
a man. Shakspeare speaks of
"kerns and gallowglasses,"
kern being a contraction of the
Gaelicc eathairneach [kearneach],
an armed peasant serving in the
army, also a boor or sturdy
fellow. Jamieson derives kimie
from the Kymric coryn or cor,
a dwarf or pigmy ; but as the
Lowland Scottish people were
more conversant with their
neighbours of the Highlands
than with the distant Welsh,
it is probable that the Gaelic
and not the Kymric derivation
of the word is the correct one.
Kist, a chest, a trunk, a box ;
from the French caisse.
Steele the awmrie, shut the h'st,
Or else some gear will soon be mist.
— Sir Walter Scott : Donald Caird.
A man who had had four wives, and who
meditated a fifth time entering the mar-
riage state, was conversing with a friend
on the subject, who was rather disposed to
barter upon his past matrimonial experi-
ence, as having made a good deal of money
by his wives. " Na ! na ! " said he, " they
came to me wi' auld kzsis, an' I sent them
hame (to the grave) wi' new anes." — Dean
Ramsay.
Kith, known to or acquainted
with ; from kythe, to show, and
the old English couth, to know
or see ; a word that survives in
concouth, with a somewhat diffe-
rent meaning, as strange, odd,
or unfamiliar. Kith is generally
in modern English used in com-
bination with kin, as kith and
kin, whence the word is errone-
ously supposed to mean relation-
ship in blood and ancestry, and
to be synonymous with kin and
kinship.
Whether thousands of our own h'ik shall
be sacrificed to an obsolete shibboleth and
the bloodthirsty operations of an artificial
competition. — Letter on Large Weights,
by Arnold White — Times, November 2,0,
1887.
Kittle, difficult, ticklish, danger-
ous. From the Dutch and
Flemish kittelen, to tickle.
It's kittle shooting at corbies and clergy.
It's kittle for the cheeks when the hurl-
barrow gangs o'er the brig o' the nose.
Cats and maidens are kittle ware.
It's kittle to waken sleeping dogs.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
As for your priesthood I shall say but
little.
Corbies and clergy are a shot right kittle.
—Burns : The Brigs of Ayr,
no
Kivan — Kneef.
Kivan, kivin. These words
signify a covey, a bevy, a troop,
a company, a flock, a crowd, or
an assemblage. They are evi-
dently from the Gaelic coimh
{coiv), equivalent to the prefix
CO or con, and feadhain {d silent),
a troop or band of people, or of
living animals of any description.
Klem or clem. In Lancashire
and other parts of England,
clem signifies to become stupefied
or worn out with hunger, to
starve. In Scotland, klem some-
times means perverse, obstinate,
insensible to reason and to argu-
ment ; and, according to Jamie-
son, "means low, paltry, un-
trustworthy, unprincipled ; and,
as used by the boys of the High
School of Edinburgh, curious,
singular, odd, queer." He de-
rives it from the Icelandic
Jcleima, macula, a blot or stain —
i.e., having a character that lies
under a stain. But the Ice-
landic does not convey either
the Scottish or the English
meaning of the word, which is
in reality the Flemish Tdeum,
lethargic, stupefied either from
cold, hunger, or by defect of
original vitality and force of
mind or body. The Flemish
verkleumte is translated in the
French dictionaries as engourdi,
benumbed, stupefied, stiffened.
By a metaphorical extension of
meaning, all these physical
senses of the word apply to
mental conditions, and thus
account for all the varieties of
the Scottish meaning.
The English clem may be
possibly traced to the German
Memmen, to pinch, to squeeze;
from klemme, a narrow place,
a strait, a diflSculty, whence
clemmed, pinched with hunger.
Knack, to taunt, to make a sharp
answer; the same apparently
as the English " nag," as applied
to the nagging of a disagreeable
woman. Knacky, or knacksy,
quick at repartee.
Knappin-hammer. A ham-
mer with a long handle used
for breaking stones on the road,
or in houses of detention for
vagrants or criminals. From
the English knap or nap, a
smart blow on the head, as in
the colloquial threat to an un-
ruly boy, "you'll nap it."
What's a' your jargon o' the schools—
Your Latin names for books or stools ;
If honest Nature made you fools,
What sairs your grammars ?
Ye'd better ta'en up spades or shools
Or knappin hammers.
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Kneef, active, alert; " o-wei: kneef"
or over active suggests, accord-
ing to Jamieson, the charge of
illicit intercourse. The deriva-
tion is probably from the Gaelic
gniomh (gniof), a doer, to do, or
a deed. The word is sometimes
pronounced griomh, whence
grieve, a factor, bailiff, or agent.
Jenny sat jouking like a mouse,
But Jock was kneef ^is ony cock,
Says he to her, Haud up your brows,
And fa' to your meet.
— The Wooing o Jenny and Jock.
Knowe — Kute.
Ill
Knowe, a hillock, a knoll.
Ca' the yowes [ewes] to the knowes.
— Allan Ramsay.
Upon a knowe they sat them down,
And there began a long digression, '
About the lords of the creation.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Knowe-head, the hill top.
Yon sunny knowe-head clad wi' bonnie
wild flowers. — James Ballantine.
Knurl, a dwarf ; Tcnurlin, a dwarf-
ling, or very little dwarf.
The miller was strappin', the miller was
ruddy —
A heart like a lord, and a hue like a lady,
The laird was a widdiefu' fleerit knurl —
She's left the good fellow, and taken the
churl. — Burns : Meg d the Mill.
Wee Pope, the knurlin, rives Horatian
fame. — Burns : On Pastoral Poetry.
These words are apparently
derived from the English gnarl,
twisted, knotted, as in the
phrase, "the gnarled oak," and
the Teutonic hioiren, a knot,
a wart, a protuberance. They
were probably first applied in
derision to hunch -backed people ,
not so much for their littleness
as for their deformity. Burns,
when speaking of Pope as a
knurlin, seems to have had in
memory the ill-natured com-
parison of that poet to a note
of interrogation, because "he
was a little crooked thing that
asked questions."
Through an English miscon-
ception of the meaning of "a
knurl " (pronounced exactly like
* ' an earl " ), arose the vulgar slang
of the London streets used to
insult a hunchback.
"My Lord" is a nickname given with
mock humility to a hunchback.— Hot-
ten's Slang Dictionary .
Koff or coflf, to buy; from the
Teutonic kaufen, Flemish koopen,
to buy ; whence by corruption
horse-kooper, a dealer in horses.
Kindness comes wi' will ; it canna be
ko_^t. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Kute, coot, or queete, the ankle.
Cutes or kutes, according to
Wright and Halliwell, is a
Northern word for the feet.
" To let one cool his cutes at the
door (or in the lobby)," is a
proverbial expression for letting
a man wait unduly long in ex-
pectation of an interview. Cootie
or kutie is a fowl whose legs are
feathered. Cootikins, spatter-
dashes or gaiters that go over
the shoe and cover the ankle.
Your stockings shall be
Narrow, narrow at the kutes,
And braid, braid at the braune
[the brawn or calf].
— Chambers' Scottish Ballads.
The firsten step that she steppit in [the
water],
She steppit to the kute.
The neisten step that she wade in, ,
She waded to the knee ;
Said she, " I wad wade further in,
Gin my true love I could see."
— Willie and May Margaret.
It is difficult to trace the
origin of this peculiarly Scottish
word. The French call the
ankle the '' cheville du pied."
Bescherelle defines chevUle as
" part of the two bones of the
leg which rise in a boss or hump
on each side of the foot." The
112
Kyle — Kythe.
Germans call the ankle the
" knuckle of the foot." Jamie -
son derives cute from the Teu-
tonic kyte, "sura;" but the Latin
sura means the calf of the leg
and not the ankle ; and kyte is
not to be found in any German
or Teutonic dictionary. Kyte,
in the Scottish vernacular, has
nothing to do with kute, and
signifies a part of the body far
removed from the ankle, viz.,
the belly. Possibly the Swedish
kut, a round boss or rising, as
suggested in the extract from
Bescherelle, may be the root
of cute. The Gaelic affords
no assistance to the discovery
of the etymology. The word
does not appear in the glossaries
to Ramsay or Burns.
Kyle, a narrow strait of water
between islands, or between an
island and the mainland, as the
Kyles of Bute, and Kyle Akin, be-
tween Skye and the continent
of Scotland. The word is de-
rived from the Gaelic caol, a
narrow passage, a strait, whence
Calais, the French town on the
straits of Dover.
Kyte, the belly. Kytie, corpulent,
big-bellied. The Gaelic cuid,
victuals, food, has been sug-
gested as the origin of the word,
on the principle that to *' have
a long purse," signifies to have
money, or much money, so that
to have a kyte is to have food to
put into it. But this etymology
is not satisfactory, nor is that
given by Jamieson from the
Icelandic.
Then horn for horn, they stretch and
strive —
Deil tak' the hindmost— on they drive,
Till a' their well-filled kytes belyve
Are stretched like drums.
—Burns : To a Haggis.
But while the wifie flate and gloom'd,
The tither cake wi' butter thoomb'd.
She forced us still to eat,
Till our wee kites were straughtit fou,
When wi' our hearties at our mou',
We felt maist like to greet.
—James Ballantine : TJte Pentland
Hills.
Kythe, to show or appear ; and
kythesome, of pleasant and prepos-
sessing appearance. Jamieson
has the phrase ' ' blythsome and
kythsome," used in Perthshire,
and signifying, as he thinks,
" happy in consequence of hav-
ing abundance of property in
cows." If he had remembered
his own correct definition of
kythe, "show, to be manifest,"
he would not in this instance
have connected it with cows
or kye, but would have tran-
slated the phrase, "blytheand
pleasant of appearance."
ITyiAe is your ain colours, that folk may
ken ye.— Allan Ramsay.
Laigh — Landlord.
"3
Laigh, low, or low-down, short.
The higher the hill, the laigher the grass.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Dance aye laigh and late at e'en.
— Burns : My Jo, Janet.
Laired, overthrown, cast to the
ground. From the Gaelic lar,
the ground; the English lair,
as applied to the retreat of a
wild animal ; or possibly from
lure, to entice or inveigle.
Laired by spunkies i' the mire.
— George Beattie : John o Amha\
Lammas, the first day of August ;
supposed to be derived from the
Anglo-Saxon Klaf, a loaf, but
more probably from lamh, the
Lamb of God. All the ancient
festivals appropriated to par-
ticular days had an ecclesias-
tical origin — such as Mary-mass
(now called Lady Day), from the
Virgin Mary ; Michaelmas, Hal-
lowmas, Candlemas, Christmas,
&c.
Landart, rural, in the country;
from landward.
There was a jolly beggar,
And a begging he was boun',
And he took up his quarters
Into a landart town.
— Song : Well Gang nae mair a Roving.
Then come away, and dinna stay,
What gars ye look sae landart ?
I'd have ye run, and not delay,
To join my father's standard.
— CocKBURN : Chambers's Scottish
Songs.
Landlash, a great fall of rain,
accompanied by a high wind.
Jamieson is of opinion that this
word is suggested by the idea
that such a storm lashes the
land. It is more probably from
the Gaelic Ian, full ; and laiste,
ixnj ; whence lanlaiste (pro-
nounced lanLashte, and abbrevi-
ated into lardash), the storm in
full fury. A lash of water sig-
nifies a great, heavy, or furious
fall of rain-
Landlord and landlady. These
words, commonly pronounced
lanlord and lanlady, do not
solely imply the proprietor-
ship of land, as their constant
application to the owners of
public - houses, and to house-
owners generally, as well as to
women who merely let lodgings,
are sufficient to show. The
Scottish laird, without the pre-
fix land, conveys the idea of
proprietorship. Landlord and
landlady, in one of the senses in
which the words are continually
used, both in English and Scot-
tish parlance, are traceable not
to land in the Teutonic sense of
the word, but to Ian, the Gaelic
for full, or an enclosure, and
all that it contains or is full
of. Thus the keeper of a
public, or the owner of a private
house, is lord or master of the
Ian or enclosure which he occu-
pies or possesses.
H
114
Land-louper — Law.
Land-Iouper, a vagabond, a wan-
derer from place to place with-
out settled habitation ; some-
times called a forloupin or
forlopin, as in Allan Kamsay's
"Evergreen."
Lane, alone, lone, or lonely ; this
word, which in the English lone
or lonely is an adjective, is a
noun in the Scottish lane. "I
was all alone," or *' we were all
alone," are in Scottish, "I was
a' my lane," and "we were a'
our lane." " I canna lie my
lane," is, " Icannot sleep alone."
I waited lang beside the wood,
Sae wae and weary a' my lane,
Och hey ! Johnnie lad,
Ye'reno so kind's ye should hae been.
— Tannahill.
" But oh, my master dear," he cried,
" In a green wood, ye're gude your lane."
—Ballad of Gil Morrice.
I wander my lane like a night-troubled
ghaist. — Burns.
Lanrien (sometimes written land-
rien). Jamieson defines this
word as meaning " in a straight
course ; a direct, as opposed to
a circuitous course," and quotes
a phrase used in Selkirkshire —
"He cam rinnin' landrien,'" or
straight forward. It seems to
be a corruption of the Gaelic
Ian, full, <;omplete ; and rian,
order, method, arrangement, re-
gularity.
Laroch or lerroch, the site of a
building which has been de-
molished, but of which there
are remains to prove what it
once was. From the Gaelic lar,
the ground or earth ; and larach,
the ground on which an edifice
once stood.
Lave, the residue, the remainder,
that which is left, or, as the
Americans say in commercial
fashion, the "balance."
We'll get a blessing wi' the lave.
And never miss't.
— Burns : To a Mouse.
First when Maggie was my care.
Whistle o'er the lave o't. — Burns.
Laverock, the lark. This word,
so pleasant to the Scottish ear,
and so entirely obsolete in Eng-
lish speech and literature, was
used by Gower and Chaucer : —
She made many a wondrous soun',
Sometimes like unto the cock,
Sometimes like the laverock.
— Gower : Quoted in Halliwell's
Archaic Dictionary.
Why should I sit and sigh,
When the wild woods bloom sae briery,
The laverocks sing, the flowerets spring,
And a' but me are cheery.
— Buchan's Songs of the North of
Scotland.
Thou laverock that springs frae the dews
o' the lawn. — Burns.
Lark and the Teutonic lerche
are doubtless abbreviations of
the primitive word laverock, but
whence laverock ? Possibly from
the ancient Gaelic lahhra (lavra),
and labhraich, eloquent, loud —
two epithets that are highly ap-
propriate to the skylark.
Law. This word is often used
in Scotland to signify a hill or
rock, especially to one stand-
ing alone, as Berwick Law, so
Lawin — Lee-lang.
"5
familiar by sight to the Mid-
Lothian people. It is derived
from the Gaelic leach, a stone ;
and Zmc7^acA, the bare summit
of a hill. It sometimes signi-
fies the stony or shingly ground
by the side of a river, as in the
Broomie-^w in Glasgow. Pos-
sibly in this case also the word
is of the same derivation as
leach, and means not only a high
stone, but a flat stone, a flag
stone, whence leachaig, to pave
or lay with flat stones.
Lawin. This eminently Scottish
word is from the Gaelic lachan,
the expense of an entertain-
ment ; the price of the drink
consumed at a tavern ; lachag,
a very small reckoning, " Ye're
lawin-free," i.e., you are not to
pay your share of the bill. The
root of the word seems to be
lagh, law, order, method — the
law of the tavern, that the
guests should pay before they
go. It was formerly written
lauch.
Aye as the gudewife brought in,
Ane scorit upon the wauch [wall],
Ane bade pay, anither said " Nay,
Bide while we reckon our lauch. "
—Peblis to the Play.
Then, gudewife, count the lawin.
The lawin ! the lawin !
Then, gudewife, count the lawin,
And bring a cogie mair.
—Burns : Old Chorus.
Lawin, the reckoning at an inn. Isn't
reckoning a Scotticism? I doubt very
much if you would be understood if you
asked an English landlord for the reckon-
ing, meaning an account of what you have
had at his inn. I don't think reckoning
is specially associated with ao inn bill iu
this country. In Scotland reckoning has
almost entirely superseded the word lawin.
In Sweden the regular word for a hotel
bill is the "reckoning." — R. Drennan.
Leal, loyal, true, true-hearted.
" The land o' the leal," i.e..
Heaven.
A leal heart never lied. — Scots Proverbs.
I'm wearin' awa', Jean,
Like snaw when it's thaw, Jean,
I'm wearin' awa'
To the Land o' the Leal.
— Lady Nairne. .
Robin of Rothesay, bend thy bow,
Thy arrows shoot so leal.
— Hardykn ute.
Lear or leer, learning; from the
German lehren.
When Sandie, Jock, and Jeanitie,
Are up and gotten lear,
They'll help to gar the boatie row
An' lighten a' our care.
— The Boatie Rows.
Lea-rig", a ridge in a corn or
other field, left fallow between
two ridges that are bearing
grain.
Will ye gang o'er the lea-rig,
My ain kind dearie O.
— Fergusson.
Corn rigs and barley rigs.
And corn rigs are bonnie ;
I'll ne'er forget that happy night,
Among the rigs wi' Annie.— Burns.
Leed, a song or incantation,
from the German lied, a lay or
song.
Thrice backward round about she tottered.
While to hersel the leed she muttered.
—George Beattie : John o' Arfiha\
Lee-lang, as long as it is light,
as in the phrase "the lee-lang
ii6
Leeshin — Leister.
day," which has hitherto been
supposed to mean the "life-
long day." It is more probably
from the Gaelic U, a colour,
and especially a bright colour,
the colour of daylight, and
from the allied word liath {lia),
pale grey, as distinguished from
dark or black.
The thresher's weary flingin' tree
The he-lang day had tired me.
Burns: The Vision.
Leeshin, lazily, in a dilatory
manner. From the Gaelic lem,
lazy.
And cam' leeshin up behind her.
—George Beattie : John d Arnha.
Leesome, agreeable, pleasant,
like the light. {See Lee-lang.)
Oh, gear will buy me rigs o' land,
And gear will buy me sheep and kye ;
But the tender heart o' leesome luve
The gowd and siller canna buy.
— Burns : The Countrie Lassie.
Fair and leesome blew the wind,
Ships did sail and boats did row.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
A fairy ballad in Buchan's
collection is entitled ' ' Leesome
Brand." Jamieson derives lee-
some from the German liehe,
love ; perhaps, however, the root
of the word is the Gaelic leus,
light ; li, colour ; and leusach,
bright, shining.
Leeze or leeze me on (a reflective
verb), to be satisfied with, to
be pleased or delighted with.
A Gaelic periphrase for " I
love." The Highlanders do not
say "I love you," but "love is
on me for you." Hence the
Scottish phrase — "loes (or lees)
me " or "love is on me."
Leeze me on my spinning-wheel. — Burns.
Leeze me on thee, John Barleycorn,
Thou king o' grain.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Leeze me on drink, it gies us mair,
Than school or college.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Leglin or leglan, a milking-pail.
At buchts, in the mornin', nae blithe lads
are scomin'.
The lasses are lanely, and dowie and
wae,
Nae daiBn', nae gabbin', but sighin' and
sabbin', —
Ilk ane lifts her leglin and hies her
away.
— Elliot : The Flowers of the Forest.
Donald Caird can lilt and sing,
Blithely dance the Highland fling,
Hoop a leglan, clout a pan,
Or crack a pow wi' ony man.
—Sir Walter Scott : Donald Caird.
Jamieson traces leglin to the
Teutonic leghel. This word
however, has no place in Ger
man, Dutch, or Flemish die
tionaries. The Gaelic has leig,
to milk a cow, which, with lion,
a receptacle (also a net), or lion
to fill, becomes Uglin in Lowland
Scotch.
Leister, a three-pronged instru-
ment, or trident, for killing fish
in the water ; commonly applied
to illegal salmon fishing in the
rivers of Scotland.
I there wi' something did forgather
That pat me in an eerie swither,
An awfu' scythe out owre ae shouther
Clear dangling hang,
A three-taed leister on the ither
Lay large and lang.
—Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Lemanry — Levin.
117
Donald Caird can wire a maukin (a hare),
Leisters kipper, makes a shift
To shoot a moor-fowl i' the lift.
Water-bailiffs, rangers, keepers,
He can wake when they're sleepers ;
Not for bountitt or reward.
Dare they mell wi' Donald Caird.
—Sir Walter Scott.
Jamieson traces the word to
the Swedish liustra, to strike fish
with a trident. But the deriva-
tion may be doubted. " To
leister" says the Gaelic Etymo-
logy of the Languages of Western
Europe, " is a mode of taking
salmon at night, by attracting
them towards the surface by
torches held near the water,
and then driving a spear, trident,
or large fork into them. The
word is derived from the light
that is employed to lure the fish,
rather than from the spear that
impales them, and is traceable
to the Gaelic leasdair, a light,
or a lustre." It seems probable
that the word is of home origin,
rather than of Swedish. Halli-
well and Wright claim it as a
common word in the North of
England. Burns evidently uses
it in the sense of a trident,
without any reference to the
illegal practice of fishing.
Lemanry ; from leman, a concu-
bine ; a poetical word for har-
lotry.
Oh, wed and marry, the knight did say,
For your credit and fame.
Lay not your love on lemanry.
Nor bring a good woman to shame.
—BvcHAu's Ana'ent Bal/ads : Hynd
Horn.
Let on, to let appear ; loot, ap-
peared; lutten, the past-parti-
ciple of let.
"Weel, Margaret," said a minister to
an auld wife, who expressed her dissatis-
faction with him for leaving the parish,
" ye ken I'm the Lord's servant. If He
have work for me in Stirling, ye'll admit
that it's my duty to perform it." "Hech !"
replied Margaret, " I've heard that Stirling
has a great muckle stipend, and I'm think-
ing if the Lord had gi'en ye a ca' to Auchter-
tool [a very poor parish], ye wad ne'er hae
lutten on that ye heard Him. " — Rogers :
Anecdotes of Scottish Wit aTid Humour.
Leure, a ray of light, a gleam ;
from the French Iv^eur, a shining
light ; and the anterior Gaelic
root lur, brightness, splendour,
treasure. The Gipsy slang has
lowre, money ; and gammy [or
crooked] lowre, bad money.
The ideas of brightness and
beauty go together in most
languages. Lurach, in Gaelic,
is a term of endearment for a
beautiful — that is, a bright —
young woman.
Levin, the lightning. This word,
that has long been obsolete in
English literature, is not yet
obsolete in the Scottish verna-
cular. It was employed with
fine effect, centuries ago, by
Dunbar, the Scottish, and by
Chaucer, the English poet.
Attempts have recently been
made to revive it, by Sir Walter
Scott and others, not altogether
ineffectually. Chaucer makes
splendid use of it when he
denounces one who habitually
speaks ill of women :
ii8
Lewder — Liddisdale Drow.
With wild thunder-bolt and fiery levin
May his walked [wicked] neck be broke.
—Wife of Bath's Prologue.
To him as to the burning levin,
Short, resistless course was given.
— Scott : Martnion.
The clouds grew dark and the wind grew
loud,
And th^ levin filled her e'e.
And waesome wailed the snow-white sprites
Upon the gurly sea.
— Laidlaw : The Demon Lover.
The etymology is obscure,
There is no trace of it in the
Teutonic or Latin sources of
the language. Spencer, in the
"Faerie Queene," has —
His burning levin-hraxid in hand he took.
The etymology is probably to
be found in the Gaelic liath
(pronounced lia, lee-a) meaning
white or grey, and sometimes
vivid white, which may perhaps
account for the first syllable.
Buin, to shoot, to dart ; buinne,
or hkuinne {vuin), signifies a
rapid motion, which may ac-
count for the second — a deriva-
tion which is not insisted upon,
but which may lead philologists
to inquire further.
Lewder, lewdering", to flounder
through bog and mire, to plod
wearily and heavily on.
Thus lewdering on
Through scrubs and crags wi' mony a
heavy groan.
— Ross's Helenore.
Jamieson derives the word
from the Teutonic leuteren,
morari, a word which is not to
be found in the Teutonic Dic-
tionaries. It is probable that
the root is the Gaelic laidir,
strong, heavy. The English
slang, "To give one a good
leathering," is to give him a
strong or heavy beating.
Lib, to castrate, geld, Lihhet, an
animal on which that operation
has been performed ; a eunuch.
This word still remains current
in the Northern Counties. In
Flemish luhhing signifies cas-
tration ; and lubber, he who
performs the operation. Burns
speaks contemptuously of Italian
singers as libbet :—
How cut-throat Prussian blades were
hinging,
How liddet Italy was singing.
Lichtly or lightly, to treat with
neglect or scorn, or speak lightly
of anybody.
I leaned my back unto an aik,
And thought it was a trusty tree,
But first it bowed, and syne it brak,
Sae my true love did lichtly me.
— Ballad of tJie Marchioness of Douglas.
Oh is my helmet a widow's cuid [cap],
Or my lance a wand of the willow tree,
Or my arm a lady's lily hand
That an English Lord should lichtly me.
— Kininont Willie.
Aye vow and protest that ye care na for me.
And whiles ye may lichtly my beauty a
wee;
But court na anither tho' daffin' ye be,
For fear that she wyle your fancy frae me.
—Burns : Whistle and I'll come to
you, my Lad.
Liddisdale drow, Liddisdale dew ;
the fine rain that is said not
to wet a Scotsman, but that
drenches an Englishman to the
skin. Jamieson defines drow to
Lift — Link.
119
mean a cold mist heavy with
rain, also a squall or severe gust ;
and derives the word from
the Gaelic drog, the motion of
the sea, which, however, is not
to be found in Gaelic diction-
aries. Brow is from the Gaelic
druchd, with the elision of the
guttural, signifying dew, hence
the Liddisdale joke.
Lift, the sky ; from the Teutonic
luft.
When lightnings fire the stormy li/i.
— Burns : Epistle to Robert Graham.
Is yon the moon, I ken her horn,
She's glintin' i' the lift sae heigh.
She smiles sae sweet to wile us hame.
But by my troth she'll bide a wee.
— Burns.
Lil for lal, an ancient Scottish
synonym for the English tit for
tat, that appears in Wynton, who
wrote in the sixteenth century.
It is supposed by Jamieson to
be from the Anglo-Saxon " lael
with laele,'" or stripe for stripe,
though it may be of Gaelic
origin ; from li, light or colour ;
and Id, day, and lathail {la-ail)
daily ; or li-la, for day, or one
light for another.
Lilt, to sing cheerfully, or in a
lively manner. Also, according
to Jamieson, a large pull in
drinking frequently repeated.
Nae mair liltin' at the ewe-milkin',
The flowers of the forest are a' wede awa*.
— Lament for the Battle of Flodden.
Mak' haste an' turn King David owre.
An* //// wi' holy clangour.
— Burns : The Ordination.
The origin of this word seems
to be the Gaelic luailte, speed,
haste, rapid motion, and luail-
tich, to accelerate, to move
merrily and rapidly forward.
This derivation would explain
the most common acceptation
of the word, as applied to sing-
ing, as well as the secondary
meaning attributed to it by
Jamieson.
Limmer, a depreciatory epithet
for a woman ; from the Gaelic
leum, to leap — one who leaps
over the bounds of propriety or
moderation, or breaks through
the bounds of the seventh com-
mandment.
Linder, a short linen jacket or
vest worn next to the skin by
both sexes, though Jamieson
says only by old women and
children.
He'll sell his jerkin for a groat.
His linder for another o't,
And ere he want to pay his shot
His sark will pay the t'other o't.
— Alexander Ross : The Bridal o't.
Link, to trip, to leap, to skip, to
jump; linkin', tripping; from
the Gaelic leum, to leap, leuni-
nach, skipping, jumping, whence
leumanach, a frog, a creature
that jumps. The glossaries to
Burns render this word by
" trip." Jamieson says it means
to walk smartly, or to do any-
thing with cleverness and expe-
dition.
And coost her duddies to the wark,
And linkit at it in her sark.
—Burns : Tarn O'Shanter.
120
Lin — Lippen.
And now, auld Cloots, I ken ye're thinkin'
A certain Bardie's rantin', drinkin',
Some luckless hour will send him linkin'
To your black pit,
But faith ! he'll turn a corner jinkin'
[dodging].
And cheat you yet.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Lin or lins. This termination to
many Scottish words supplies
a shade of meaning not to be
expressed in English but by a
periphrasis, as westlins, inclining
towards the west. Aiblins —
perhaps, for able-lins — inclining
towards being able, or about to
become possible (see Aiblins,
ante). BacUins, inclining to-
wards a retrograde movement.
The westlin winds blaw loud and shrill.
— Burns : My Nannie, O.
Now frae the east neuk o' Fife the dawn
Speel'd westlins up the lift.
— Allan Ramsay : Christ's Kirk on
the Green.
And if awakened tiercelins, aff night flee.
— Ross's Helenore.
This termination properly is lings, and
is a very common termination in several
Teutonic dialects, such as the Dutch, and
still more, the German, though not com-
mon in English. See Grimm's Grammar.
— Lord Neaves.
Lins corresponds nearly to the English
affix ly, though not exactly. In Pitscottie's
account of the apparition that appeared
to James IV. in St. Catherine's Aisle of the
Church at Linlithgow, the word Grofflins
occurs. This has been interpreted to mean
grufily. " He leaned down grofflins on
the desk before him (the king) and said,"
&c. Grufe or groff is a common Scotch
word, meaning the belly, or rather the
front of the body, as distinguished from
the back ; and Pitscottie's expression means
nothing more than that the apparition
leaned the fore part of his body, say his
breast, upon the back of the desk at which
the king was kneeling. — R. Drennan.
Linn, a waterfall; Cora Linn, the
falls of the Clyde ; properly, the
pool at the bottom of a cataract,
worn deep by the falling water ;
from the Gaelic linne, a pool.
Grat his e'en baith bleer't and blin',
Spak o' lowpin' o'er a linn.
— Burns : Duncan Gray.
Ye bumies, wimplin' down your glens,
Or foaming Strang frae linn to linn.
— Burns : Elegy on Captain Matthew
Henderson.
Whiles owre a linn the bumie plays.
—Burns: Halloween.
Lintie, a linnet.
Nae Unties lilt on hedge or bush,
Poor things, they suffer sairly.
Up in the mornin's no for me,
Up in the mornin' early ;
When a' the hills are covered wi' snaw,
I'm sure it's winter fairly.
— Old Song, tnodemisedby John
Hamilton.
Dr. Norman Macleod mentioned a con-
versation he had with a Scottish emigrant
in Canada, who in general terms spoke
favourably of his position in his adopted
country. " But oh ! sir," he said, "there
are no Unties in the woods, and no braes
like Yarrow." The word Untie conveys to
my mind more of tenderness and endear-
ment towards the little bird than linnet. —
Dean Ramsay.
Lippen, to incline towards, to be
favourable to any one, to rely
upon, to trust. Apparently
from the Flemish liefde^ and the
German lichen, love.
Lippen to me, but look to yoursell.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
An ancient lady, when told by the
minister that he had a call from his Lord
and Master to go to another parish, re-
plied, "Deed, sir, the Lord might ha' ca'd
and ca'd to you lang eneuch, and ye'd
Lippin* fu — Loe-some.
121
ne'er hae lippened till Him if the steepen
[stipend] had na been better." — Dean
Ramsay.
Lippin* fu', full up to the lip or
brim of a glass or goblet, brim-
ful ; owrelvpfin ylvXS. to overflow.
A' the laughin' valleys round
Are nursed and fed by me,
And I'm aye lippin fu\
— James Ballantine : Song of the
Four Elements— the Water.
See ye, wha hae aught in your bicker to
spare,
And gie your poor neighbours your owre-
■lippin share.
—James Ballantine : Winter
Promptings.
Lire, sometimes written lyre, the
complexion. Jamieson defines
lire as "the part of the skin
which is colourless," and " as
the flesh or muscles as distin-
guished from the bones " — " the
lean part of butchers' meat."
He derives the word from the
Anglo-Saxon lire, the fleshy
part of the body. The word
is traceable to the Gaelic Hath
(pronounced lia), pale grey, and
liathaich {lia-aich), to become
grey.
As ony rose her rude was red,
Her fyre was like the lilies.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Lirk, a crease, a plait, a fold, a
hollow in a hill ; from the Gaelic
laraich (see lar, ante, p. 114).
The hills were high on ilka side,
An' the bricht i' the lirk.
— Border Minstrelsy — The Broom o' the
Covtdenknowes.
Lith, a joint, a hinge; and me-
taphorically, the point of an
argument on which the whole
question turns. To lith, to sepa-
rate the joints ; from the Gaelic
luth, a joint ; luthach, well-
jointed, or having large joints.
' * Fye, thief, for shame ! " cries little Sym,
" Wilt thou not fecht wi' me ;
Thou art mair large of lith and limb
Nor I am "
— Allan Ramsay's Evergreen : Question-
ing and Debate betwixt Adamson
and Sym.
And to the road again wi' a' her pith.
And souple was she ilka limb and lith.
— Ross's Helenore.
Dr. Johnson and Lord Auchinleck were
quarrelling over the character of the great
Protector, and the sturdy old English Tory
pressed the no less sturdy old Scottish
Whig to say what good Cromwell had ever
done to his country. His lordship replied,
" He gart kings ken that they had a lith
in their necks." — Boswell.
Ye'll tak a lith o my little fingerbane.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads — The
Bonnie Bows 0' London.
Littit, coloured ; from the Gaelic
liath, grey.
Weel dyed and littit through and through.
— George Beattie : John 0' Amhd.
Loaning^, a meadow, a pasture ; a
green lane.
I've heard them lilting at the ewe-milking —
Lasses a' lilting before dawn of day ;
But now they are moaning in ilka green
loaning.
The flowers o' the forest are a' wede
away.
— The Flowers the Forest.
Joy gaed down the loaning wi' her,
Joy gaed down the loaning wi' her,
She wadnahae me — but has ta'en another —
And a' men's joy but mine ga'ed wi her !
— Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Loe-some, or love-some, pleasant
and amiable, is sometimes
122
Loof- — Loup- hunting.
wrongly written leesome, as in
Burns's song of "The Countrie
Lassie " : —
The tender heart o' leesome luve
Gowd and siller canna buy.
Loof, the palm of the hand ; from
the Gaelic lamh {lav), the hand.
Gie's yer loo/, I'll ne'er beguile you.
— Scots Proverbs.
Wi' arm reposed on her chair back,
He sweetly does compose him.
Which by degrees slips round her neck,
An's ^^upon her bosom,
Unkenned that day.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Lofa is used by Ulphilas for the open
hand ; slaps lofa, a. slap of the hand.
The Gaelic lam, when the m gets aspir-
ate, becomes lamA — lav or la/". — Lord
N EAVES,
Losh, a ludicrous objurgation
that does duty as a paltry oath ;
generally supposed to be a cor-
ruption of "Lordl"
LosA me ! hae mercy wi' your natch.
Your bodkin's bauld.
— Burns : Epistle to a Tailor.
Losh me ! that's beautiful. — Noctes A in-
brosiaiue.
The English corruptions of
" Lord ! " becomes O Lor' !
Lawks ! and La' ! The name
of the Supreme Being, in like
manner, is vulgarised into Go&h,
as "By Gosh!" "Gosh guide
us ! " is a common expression
in Scotland, with the object
apparently of avoiding the
breach of the Third Command-
ment in the letter, though not
in the spirit.
Loup, to leap; to *'loup the
dyke," a proverbial expression,
to leap over the dyke (of re-
straint), applied to unchaste
unmarried women ; land-louper,
a vagrant.
Spak o' loupiri o'er a linn.
— Burns : Duncan Gray.
He's loupen on the bonnie black.
He steer'd him wi' the spur right sairly ;
But ere he won to Gatehope slack
I think the steed was wae and weary.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border^
Annan Water.
I bade him loup, I bade him come,
I bade him loup to me,
An' I'd catch him in my armis twa.
— The Fire o Frendraught.
Loup-huntingf. "The odd
phrase, 'Hae ye been a lowp-
hunting V is a query," says
Jamieson, "addressed to one
who has been very early abroad,
and is an evident allusion to the
hunting of the wolf (the French
lowp in former days)." The
allusion is not so evident as
Jamieson imagined. A wolf was
not called loup either in the
Highlands or in the Lowlands.
In the Highlands the animal
was either called/aoZ, or {madadh
alluidh), a wild dog ; and in
the Lowlands by its English,
Flemish, and German name,
"wolf." It is far more likely
that "loup" in the phrase is
derived from the Gaelic lobhar,
the Irish Gaelic luhhar, a day's
work; a hunt more imperative
than that after an animal which
has not been known in Scotland
since 1680, when the last of the
race, according to tradition,
was killed by Sir Ewen Cameron
of Lochiel. Another tradition.
Lout — Luckie.
123
recorded in the third volume of
Chambers's "Annals of Scot-
land," fixes in 1743 the date of
the last wolf slain, and records
the name of the slayer as Mac-
queen, a noted deer-stalker in
the forest of Moray. Luh is an
obsolete Gaelic word for a youth
of either sex. It is therefore
possible that loup-hunting may
have had a still more familiar
meaning.
Lout or loute, to jump, or leap.
He has louted him o'er the dizzy crag
And gien the monster kisses ane.
— Border Minstrelsy.
Low, to stand still, to stop, to
rest ; lowden, to calm ; applied
to the cessation of a stormy
wind ; also, to silence, or cause
to be silent.
Lowan drouth, burning thirst.
With the cauld stream she quench'd her
lowan drouth. — Ross's Helenore.
Lowe, a flame ; lowin\ burning,
to burn, to blaze. Ld is the
ancient Gaelic word for day, or
daylight ; superseded partially
by the modern Id, or Idtka, with
the same meaning. The syllable
Id appears in the compound word
lo-inn, joy, gladness, beauty —
derived from the idea of light —
that which shines, as in the
Teutonic sehon or schoen, the old
English sheen, beautiful.
A vast unbottomed boundless pit,
Filled fou o' loivz'n' brunstane.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
The sacred lowe o' weel -placed love
Luxuriantly indulge it.
— Burns : Epistle to a Young
Friend.
The bonnie, bonnie bairn sits poking in
the ase,
Glowerin' in the fire wi' his wee round
face,
Laughin' at the fuffin' lowe — what sees
he there ?
Ha ! the young dreamer's biggin' castles
in the air.
—James Ballantine.
Lown, quiet, calm, sheltered from
the wind. The lown o' the dyke,
the sheltered side of the wall.
"Unbuckle your belt, Sir Roland," she
said,
" And sit you safely down."
" Oh, your bower is very dark, fair maid,
An' the nicht is wondrous lown."
— Ballad of Sir Roland.
Lown is used in relation to concealment,
as when any ill report is to be hushed up.
"Keep it lown" i.e., say nothing about it.
— Jamieson.
Blaw the wind ne'er sae fast.
It will loTim at the last.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Prozierhs.
Come wi' the young bloom o' morn on thy
brow.
Come wi' the lown star o' love in thine e'e.
— James Ballantine : Wifie, Come
Hame.
Lounder, to strike heavily right
and left.
I brak a branch off an ash, and ran in
among them lounderin awa' right and left.
— Noctes A tnbrosiance.
Luckie, a term of familiarity
applied to elderly women in
the lower and middle ranks of
society : —
Oh, hand your tongue, now, Luckie
Laing,
Oh, baud your tongue and jaumer ;
124
Lug.
I held the gate till you I met,
Syne I began to wander.
— Burns : The Lass of Ecclefechan.
Hear me, ye hills, and every glen,
And echo shrill, that a' may ken
The waefu' thud
O' reckless death wha came unseen
To Luckie Wood.
— Burns.
Mrs. Helen Carnegie of Montrose died
in 1818, at the advanced age of ninety-one.
She was a Jacobite, and very aristocratic,
but on social terms with many of the
burghers of the city. She preserved a very
nice distinction in her mode of addressing
people according to their rank and station.
She was fond of a game of quadrille (whist),
and sent out her servant every morning to
invite the ladies required to make up the
game. " Nelly, ye'U gang to Lady Car-
negie's, and mak' my compliments, and
ask the honour of her ladyship's company,
and that of the Miss Carnegies, to tea this
evening. If they canna come, ye'll gang
to the Miss Mudies, and ask the pleasure
of their company. If they canna come, ye
maun gang to Miss Hunter, and ask the
favour of her company. If she canna
come, ye maun gang to Luckie Spark,
and bid her come I " — Dean Ramsay's
Reminiscences.
It is probable that this word,
as a term of respect as well as
of familiarity, to a middle-aged
or elderly matron, is a corrup-
tion of the Gaelic laoch, brave.
The French say, " une hrave
femme," meaning a good wo-
man ; and the Lowland Scotch
use the adjective honest in the
same sense, as in the anecdote
recorded in Dean Ramsay's
" Reminiscences " of Lord Her-
mand, who, about to pass sen-
tence on a woman, began re-
. monstratively, " Honest woman,
what garred ye steal your neigh-
bour's tub ? "
Lug, the ear, a handle ; also to
pull, to drag or haul. Luggie,
a small wooden dish with
handles. Luggie, the horned
owl, so called from the length
of its ears.
His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs,
Showed he was nane o' Scotland's dogs.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Up they got and shook their lugs.
Rejoiced they were na men but dogs.
— Idem.
How would his Highland lug been nobler
fired,
— His matchless hand with finer touch
inspired.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Lug, to pull by the ear, or
otherwise to haul a load, is still
current in English ; but lug, the
ear, is obsolete, except in the
Northern Counties, though com-
mon in English literature in the
Elizabethan era. Two deriva-
tions have been suggested for
the word in its two divergences.
The Gaelic lag, genitive luig,
signifies a cavity, whence it is
supposed that lug signifies the
cavity of the ear. Coles, how-
ever, renders lug by the Latin,
" auris lobus, auricula infinia,"
not the interior cavity, but the
exterior substance of the ear.
The derivation of lug, to pull,
to drag a load, seems to be from
another source altogether ; from
the Gaelic luchd — the English
for a load, a burden, or a ship's
cargo, and for lugger, a kind of
barge used for the transference
of the cargo from the hold of a
larger vessel. In this case the
meaning is transferred from the
Lum — Machless,
125
load itself to the action of mov-
ing it.
Lum, the chimney, the vent by
which the smoke escapes from
the fireplace. The word is used
in the north of England as well
as in Scotland. The etymology
is uncertain. The Kymric has
Uumon, a beacon, a chimney ;
the Irish Gaelic has luaimh,
swift; and the Scottish Gaelic
luath {lua), swift ; and ceum,
aspirated into cheum or heum, a
way, a passage, whence lua-heum,
the swift passage by which the
smoke is carried off.
The most probable derivation
is from the Gaelic laom, a
blaze ; whence, by extension of
meaning, the place of the blaze
or fire.
Lunt, the smoke of tobacco, to
emit smoke ; from the Flemish
lord, a lighted wick.
The luntin pipe.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Lurder, an awkward, lazy, or
worthless person ; from the
French lourd, heavy ; lourdaud,
a heavy and stupid man.
Let alane males many a lurder (neglect
makes many a one worthless). — Dean
Ramsay.
Lyart, grey ; from the Gaelic liaih
(Ha), which has the same mean-
ing.
His fyari haffets [locks of thin grey hair].
— Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Twa had manteels o' doleful black,
But ane in lyari hung.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Lume, a tool, a spinning-machine,
a loom.
Lunch, a piece, a slice, whence
the modern English lunch, a
slight meal in the middle of the
day.
Cheese and bread frae women's laps
Was dealt about in lunches
And dawds that day.
—Burns: The Holy Fair.
Lyke-wake, the ceremonial of
the watching over a dead body.
Lyke is from the German leichc,
the Dutch and Flemish UjTc, a
corpse.
She has cut off her yellow locks
A little aboon her e'e.
And she's awa' to Willie's lyke.
As fast as gang could she.
— 'Q\:cHX^'s Ballads : Willies
Lyke- Wake.
M
Machless, lazy, sluggish, indolent.
Jamieson derives this word from
the Teutonic macht, power,
strength, might ; whence macht-
los, without might or strength ;
but the Scottish word is with-
out the t, which somewhat de-
tracts from the probability of
the etymology. The Gaelic has
macleisg, a lazy, indolent person,
literally a "son of laziness,"
which is a nearer, approach to
126
Mad as a Hatter — Matgs.
machless than machtlos. Machle
is defined by Jamieson as signi-
fying to busy one's self about
nothing, which would seem to
be an abbreviation of madeisg.
He says that machless is gener-
ally used in an unfavourable
sense, as in the phrase, " get up,
ye machless brute." This sup-
ports the Gaelic etymology.
Mad as a hatter. This is English
as well as Scottish slang, to
signify that a person is more or
less deranged in his intellect.
Why a hatter should be madder
than a shoemaker, a tailor, or
any other handicraftsman, has
never been explained. The phrase
most probably arises from a cor-
ruption and misconception of the
Gaelic word atadh, a swelling,
aitearachd, swelling, blustering,
foaming like a cataract in
motion, or the assembling of
a noisy crowd. Jamieson, un-
aware of the Gaelic origin, de-
fined the Scottish hatter as a
numerous and irregular assem-
blage of any kind, a hatter of
stanes, or a confused heap of
stones ; and hattering, as col-
lecting in crowds. So that mad
as a hatter merely signifies mad
as a cataract or a crowd. In
the old Langue Romane — the
precursor of modern French —
hativeau meant un fou, vn
etourdi, a madman.
Maggie-rab or Maggie-rob, an
ancient popular term for a vio-
lent, quarrelsome, and disagree-
able woman.
He's a very guid man, but I trow he's
gotten a Maggie-rob d a wife. — ^Jamieson.
This strange phrase, though
now so apparently inexplicable,
must originally have had a
meaning, or it would never have
acquired the currency of a pro-
verb. If the word Maggie for
Margaret be accepted as the
generic name for a woman, like
Jill in the nursery rhyme of
"Jack and Jill went up the
hill ; " or like Jenny in the old
song of "Jock and Jenny;"
and Roh or Rah be held to
signify a man, the phrase may
mean a virago, a woman with
the behaviour and masculine
manners of the other sex.
The rah or roh in the phrase
is susceptible of another inter-
pretation. The Gaelic rah, or
raba^h, means quarrelsome, liti-
gious, violent, exasperating —
while in the same language
roh means dirty and slovenly.
Either of these epithets would
very aptly describe the kind of
woman referred to in the ex-
tract from Jamieson.
But these are suggestions only
for students of language, and
are not offered as true deriva-
tions for the guidance of the
unlearned. Rahagas was the
name recently given by a popu-
lar French playwright to a very
quarrelsome and litigious char-
acter.
Maigs or mags, a ludicrous term
for the hands, from the Gaelic
mag or mog, a paw.
Haud aff yer maigs, man ! — Jamieson.
Mailin — Mare's Nest
127
Mailin*, a farm-yard and farm-
buildings ; a farm for which
rent is paid — from tna^l, a tax.
Gaelic mal, tax, tribute.
A weel-stockit mailin , himself o't the laird,
And marriage ofF-hand, were his proflFers.
— Burns : Last May a Braw Wooer.
Quoth she, my grandsire left me gowd,
A mailin plenished fairly.
—Burns : The Soldiers Return.
M airly, rather more.
Argyle has raised a hundred men,
A hundred men and mairly,
And he's awa by the back o' Dunkeld,
To plunder the house o' Airly.
The lady look't o'er her window sae hie.
She lookit lang and sairly,
Till she espied the great Argyle
Cam' to plunder the house o' Airly.
— The House of A irly.
Maks na, or it maks na, it does
not signify, it does not matter.
Away his wretched spirit flew,
It maks na where.
— Allan Ramsay : The Last Speech of a
Wretched Miser.
Tho' daft or wise, I'll ne'er demand,
Or black or fair, it maks na whether.
— Allan Ramsay : Gie me a Lass ivi a
Lump d Land.
Malison, a curse. The twin word,
benison, a blessing, has been
admitted into English dic-
tionaries, but malison is still
excluded ; although it was a
correct and recognised English
word in the time of Langland,
the author of Piers Ploughman,
and Chaucer.
Thus they serve Sathanas,
Marchands of malisons.
— Langland : Piers Ploughman.
And all-Hallowes, have ye. Sir Chanone,
Said this priest, and I her malison.
—Chaucer : The Chanones
Vemanne's Tale.
I've won my mother's malison,
Coming this night to thee.
— Border Minstrelsy.
That is a cuckold's malison,
John Anderson, my joe.
— John Anderson, old version.
Mansweir, to commit perjury.
This word is almost peculiar to
Scotland, though Halliwell has
mainsworn, perjured, long obso-
lete, but once used in England.
The first syllable can have no
relation to man, homo. The
Flemish meineed, and the Ger-
man meineid, signify perjury,
and one who perjures himself
is a meineidiger. The Scottish
word seems to be derived from
the Gaelic mionn, an oath, and
suarach, worthless, valueless,
mean, of no account — whence
mionn suarach, corrupted into
man sweir, signifying a valueless
or false oath. Jamieson thinks
it comes from the Anglo-Saxon
man, perverse, mischievous, and
swerian, to swear ; a derivation
which, as regards the syllable
man, he would have scarcely
hazarded if he had been aware
of the Gaelic mionn, or of the
German meineid.
Mare's Nest. This originally
Scottish phrase is no longer
peculiar to Scotland, but has
become part of the copious
vocabulary of English slang.
Hotten's Slang Dictionary de-
fines it to mean "a supposed
128
Mark and Burn — Marrow.
discovery of marvels, which
turn out to be no marvels at
all." The compiler accounts
for the expression by an anec-
dote of " three cockneys, who,
out ruralising, determined to
find out something about nests.
Ultimately, when they came
upon a dung-heap, they judged
by the signs that it must be a
mare's nest, especially as they
could see the mare close by."
This ridiculous story has hitherto
passed muster. The words are
a corruption of the Gaelic mear-
achd, an error, and nathaist (th
silent), a fool, whence a fool's
error, i.e., mare's nest. Some
Gaelic scholars are of opinion
that the word is compounded
of mearachd, an error, and sna-
saichte, or snasta, reduced into
order or system, i.e., systematic
error.
Mark and burn. To say of a
thing that it is lost, mark and
hum signifies that it is totally
lost, beyond trace and recogni-
tion; not that it is marked or
burned in the sense of the
English words, but in the sense
of the Gaelic marc, a horse —
from whence march, a boundary
traced by the perambulations
at stated periods of men on
horseback — and burn, a stream
of running water, the natural,
and often the common boundary,
between contiguous estates and
territories. March balk signifies
the narrow ridge which some-
times serves as the boundary
between lands of different pro-
prietors. Marche dyke, a wall
separating one farm or estate
from another.
When one loses anything and finds it
not again, he is said never to see mark nor
burn of it. — Jamieson.
Marmor, an ancient title of
nobility equivalent to an earl ;
from the Gaelic maor, an officer,
chieftain, and mor, great.
Lords of the Isles, and Thanes, and Jarls,
Barons and Manners grim.
With helm on head and glaive in hand,
In rusty armour dim.
Responsive to some powerful call.
Gathered obedient one and all.
— Legends of the Isles.
Marrow, one of a pair, a mate, a
companion, an equal, a sweet-
heart — from the Gaelic mar,
like, similar. This word is
beautifully applied to a lover
or wedded partner, as one whose
mind is the exact counterpart
of that of the object of his
affection. It appears in early
English literature, but now sur-
vives only in the poetry and
daily speech of the Scottish and
northern English people.
One glove or shoe is marrow to an-
other. — Lansdowne MS., quoted in Hal-
liwell's Archaic Dictionary.
And when we came to Clovenford,
Then said my winsome marrow,
Whate'er betide, we'll turn aside.
And see the braes o' Yarrow.
—Wordsworth : Yarrow Unvisited.
Thou took our sister to be thy wife,
But ne'er thought her thy marrow.
— The Dowie Dens d Yarrow.
Mons Meg and her marrow three vol-
leys let flee.
For love of the bonnets of bonnie
Dundee.— Sir Walter Scott.
Marschal — Maun,
129
Meddle with your marrow (i.e., with
your equa\).—ScoUzsk Proverb.
Your e'en are no marrows (i.e., you
squint).— Allan Ramsay.
Marschal, a steward, an upper
servant ; from the Gaelic maor,
an officer, a superintendent, and
sgctlag, a farm-servant, a serf, a
hired labourer.
Mart or mairt, cow-beef salted
for winter provision. So called,
says Jamieson, **from Martin-
mas, the term at which beeves
are usually killed for winter
store." Perhaps the future edi-
tors of Jamieson will take note
that mart in Gaelic signifies a
cow ; mart bainne, a milch cow ;
and m^rt fheoU, beef ; and that
consequently the word has no
relation to the Martinmas fes-
tival. In a note to '* Noctes
Ambrosianse," Professor Ferrier
says m^irt is an ox killed at
Martinmas. Mart originally sig-
nified a market, where kine and
horned cattle were sold, as dis-
tinguished from market, a horse
fair ; from mare, a horse.
Mashlum, mixed corn, or rye and
oats with the bran.
Twa mashlum bannocks (cakes).
— Burns : Cry and Prayer.
Mask, to infuse ; usually employed
in connection with the tea-table.
To mask the tea is, in Scottish
phrase, to make the tea, by
pouring the boiling water upon
it. The word is from the Gaelic
masg, to mix, to infuse. Jamie-
son erroneously derives it from
the Swedish mask^ a mash.
Maughts, power.
They had nae maughts for sic a toilsome
task,
The barefaced robbers had put off the
mask —
Among the herds that played a maughty
part.
—Ross's Helenore.
She starts to foot, but has nae maughts
to stand. — Idem.
Th/^ word is from the Teutonic
macfitl power, might, ability.
The root seems to be the Gaelic
maiih, powerful, able, strong,
and maithich or maithaich, to
make strong.
Maukin, a hare ; from the Gaelic
maigheach, and maoidheach, with
the same meaning.
God help the day when royal heads
Are hunted like a maukin.
— Burns : Our Thistles flourished
Fresh and Fair.
Mauks, maggots.
I saw the cook carefully wi' the knife
scrapin' out the mauks.— Noctes Am-
brosiana.
Maun, must. This Scottish verb,
like its English synonym, has
no inflections, no past or future
tense, and no infinitive. The pe-
culiarity of the Scottish word is
that it sometimes signifies rmy,
and sometimes must, as in the
line of D'Urfey's clumsy imita-
tion of a Scottish song, " Within
a Mile of Edinburgh Town " —
I canna, maunna, winna buckle to (I
cannot, may not [or must not], will
not, be married).
130
Mavis — Mellder.
Perhaps the use of may as
rwust, and vice versa, "was intro-
duced into the Lowland Scotch
by the Gaelic-speaking High-
landers. Feud in Gaelic signi-
fies may or can, and fheudar
domh, " obligation or necessity
is to me, or upon me," i.e., I
must.
Mavis, the singing thrush. This
word, once common in English
poetry, is now seldom employed.
Spenser, in the following pas-
sage from his " Epithalamium,"
seems to have considered the
mavis and the thrush to be diffe-
rent birds : —
The thrush replies ; the mavis descant
plays.
In Scottish poetry the word
is of constant occurrence.
In vain to me in glen or shaw
The mavis and the lintwhite sing.
— Burns.
Oh, tell sweet Willie to come doun,
And hear the mavis singing ;
And see the birds on ilka bush,
And green leaves round them hinging.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads,
An eccentric divine discours-
ing on a class of persons who
were obnoxious to him, con-
cluded with this singular perora-
tion, " Ma freens, it is as impos-
sible for a moderate to enter into
the kingdom of heaven as for a
soo (sow) to sit on the tap o' a
thistle, and sing like a. mavis." —
Rogers's Illustrations of Scottish
Life.
Mawmet, an idol. This word is
usually derived from Mahomet,
but as Mahomet was not an idol,
but asserted himself to be the
prophet of the true God, it is
possible that the philologists
of an earlier day accepted the
plausible etymology, without
caring to inquire further. It
is, nevertheless, worthy of con-
sideration whether the word
does not come from the Gaelic
maoim, horror, terror, fright ;
and maoimeadh, a state of terror
or awe, such as devotees feel
before an idol.
Mawsie, a large, dirty, slovenly,
unshapely woman ; a corruption
and abbreviation of the Gaelic
maosganach, a lump, a lumpish
person.
May, a lass, a maid, a young
girl.
There was a May an' a weel-fared May
Lived high up in yon glen.
— Border Minstrelsy : Katharine
Ganfarie.
Meggy Monyfeet, the popular
name for the centipede.
Mell, to be intimate with, to
mingle or associate ; from the
French meter, to mix. MeU also
signifies a company, and melting
an intermeddling.
Mellder, the quantity of grain
sent at one time to the miller
to be ground.
Ae market -day thou wast na sober ;
That ilka mellder, wi' the miller,
Thou sat as lang as thou hadst siller ;
That every naig was ca'd a shoe on
The smith and thee gat roarin' fou' on.
—Burns : Tarn dShanter.
Melvie — Merle.
i3r
Melvie, to soil with meal, as the
miller's clothes and hair are
soiled from the flying dust of
the mill. Erroneously explained
in the glossaries to Burns as "to
soil with mud" It is probably
a corruption of mealy.
Mealie was his sark,
Mealie was his siller,
Mealie was the kiss
That I gat frae the miller.
— Old Song.
To tnelvie his braw claithing.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Mense, mind, good manners, dig-
nity, decorum ; menseful, digni-
fied ; mensefully, in a proper and
respectable manner. From the
Latin mens, whence mental.
Auld Vandal, ye but show your little
mense,
Just much about it wi' your scanty sense.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
I wat she was a sheep of sense,
And could behave herself wi' mense ;
I'll say't, she never brak a fence
Thro' thievish greed.
Our Bardie lanely keeps the spence
Since Mailie's dead.
—Burns : Poor Mailie's Elegy.
To mense a board, is to do the
honoui's of the table.
She has a' the mense o the family. —
Jamieson.
Mensk, manly dignity ; menskful,
manly, becoming, dignified ;
mensJcly, worthily. Jamieson
traces the word to the Icelandic
menska, humanitas.
Merg or mergh, marrow pith;
from the Flemish.
There was merg in his fingers and fire in
his &y&.—Jock o' Amha'.
And the mergh o' his shin-bane,
Has run down on his spur leather whang.
— Border Minstrelsy : Fray
ofSuport.
Merle, the blackbird. The Scot-
tish, which is also the French,
name for this delightful songster
is far more poetical and distinc-
tive than the prosaic " black-
bird" of modern English — a
name which might with as much
propriety be applied to the rook,
the crow, the raven, and the
jackdaw. The merle is as much
noted for his clear, beautiful
notes, as for the tribute he
levies upon the fruits of the
summer and autumn — a tribute
which he well deserves to obtain,
and amply pays for by his music.
The name of merle, in Gaelic
meirle, signifies theft ; and meir-
leach, a thief. In the same
language meirneil, the English
merlin, signifies a hawk or other
predatory bird. As regards the
merle, it must be confessed that
he is, in the matter of currants
and strawberries, deserving of
his name. The depredations of
the merie have created several
proverbial phrases in the French
language, such as — C'est un fin
merle, applied to a clever and
unscrupulous man ; un beau
merle, a specious false pretender.
The French call the hen-black-
bird a merlette. The word merle
was good English in the days
of Chaucer, and considerably
later.
Where the sweet tnerle and warbling mavis
be.— Drayton.
132
Merry Scotland — Midden.
Merry Scotland. The epithet
"merry" was applied to Eng-
land as well as to Scotland, and
was a common mode of address
to a company or multitude of
soldiers, hunters, or boon com-
panions.
Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a -merry old soul was he,
And he called for his pipe, and he called
for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Of all the girls in merry Scotland,
There's none to compare to Marjorie.
—Old King Cole.
Few words have puzzled
philologists more completely
than mirth and merry. Johnson
suggested no etymology ; Skin-
ner derived merry from the
German mehren, to magnify ;
and Junius from the Greek
fjLvpi^Tjiv, to anoint, because the
Greeks anointed themselves
with oil when they made merry
in their public games ! The
word has no root in any of the
Teutonic languages, German,
Dutch, Flemish, Danish, or
Swedish; and cannot be traced to
either French, Latin, Italian, or
Spanish. The Gaelic yields mir,
sport ; mireach, festive, sportive ;
mear, cheerful, joyous. It thus
appears on the evidence of
etymology that the pleasant
epithet for these islands was
given by the Celtic inhabitants,
and not by the Saxon and other
Teutonic invaders, though it was
afterwards adopted by them.
Messan, or messin, a cur, a lap-
dog, a pet dog.
But tho' he was o' high degree.
The fient o' pride, nae pride had he,
But wad hae spent an hour caressin'
E'en wi' a tinker gipsy's messan.
— Burns : Tke Twa Dogs.
The glossaries to Burns, judg-
ing from the context, and the
gipsy, imagine messin to mean
a mongrel, a dog of mixed
breeds. Jamieson says it is a
small dog, a country cur, so
called from Messina, in Sicily,
whence this species was brought ;
or from the French maison, a
house, because such dogs were
kept in the house ! The word,
however, is the Gaelic measan,
a pet dog, a lap-dog; from
meas, fancy, kindness, regard.
We hounds slew the hare, quoth the
blind messan.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Mess John, the old epithet in
Scottish ballad poetry for a
priest, derived from the celebra-
tion of the mass, so that Mess
John signified in irreverent
phrase, John, who celebrated
the mass. The English has the
kindred phrase, Jack Priest.
The auld folk soon gied their consent.
Syne for Mess John they quickly sent,
Wha ty'd them to their heart's content,
And now she's Lady Gowrie.
— The Lass o' Gowrie.
Midden or midden hole, the dung-
hill or dungpit, a receptacle for
the refuse, filth, and manure of
a farm, situated in the centre
of the farmyard, an arrange-
ment not yet wholly super-
seded : —
Mint — Mint.
133
Ye glowered at the moon, and fell in the
tnidden.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The tither's something dour o' treadin',
But better stuff ne'er claw'd a midden.
—Burns : Elegy on the Year 1788.
The word is still used in the
Northern counties of England,
and was derived by Ray from
mud. The true derivation is
from the Gaelic meadhon, the
centre, the middle, or midst.
Therein lay three and thirty sows,
Trundlin' in a midden
Of draff.
—Peblis to the Play.
Mlm, meek, modest, prudish,
prim, reticent, affected and
shy of speech; applied only to
young women, or contemptu-
ously to effeminate young men.
This word is usually derived
from the English mum, which
means silent or speechless. The
Scottish mim means mealy
mouthed, only speaking when
spoken to, over-discreet^in con-
versation, assertion, or reply : —
See ! up he's got the Word o' God,
And meek and mim he's view'd it.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Maidens should be mim. till they're
married. — Allan Ramsay.
Some w/w-mou'd pouther'd priestie,
Fu' lifted up wi' Hebrew lore,
And hands upon his breastie.
—Burns : To Willie Chalmers.
Mim, as distinguished from
mum, is an evident rendering of
the Gaelic min, soft, delicate,
smooth, mild, meek ; min hheUl-
ach is from min and bevX, a
mouth, the same as the Scottish
mim-mouthed, used by Burns ;
min-hhriathar, a soft word or
expression, from min and h-ia-
thar, a word. Mim is provincial
and colloquial in England.
First go the ladies, mim, mim, mim.
Next come the gentlemen, prim, prim,
prim;
Then comes the country clown.
Gallop a-trot, trot, trot.
— Nursery Rhymes 0/ England.
Minikin, very small, applied in
derision to a little affected per-
son of either sex ; derived pos-
sibly from the Gaelic min, small ;
or from the Flemish mannikin, a
little man.
Minnie, a term of endearment for
a mother.
My daddie looks glum, and my minnie
looks sour,
They flyte me wi' Jamie because he is
poor. — Logie d Buchan.
From the Flemish min, love,
and the Gaelic min, sweet, soft,
pleasant, kind, musical ; also
little, used as a term of endear-
ment.
Mint, to attempt, to try, to essay,
to aim at. The resemblance in
the idea of the Scottish mint,
to attest, to try, to essay, and
the Mint, where the precious
metals are essayed, or tried as
to their purity before they are
coined into money, is curious,
especially when it is remembered
that the Mint was formerly and
is still sometimes called the
Assay Office. The English word
Mint, for the Assay Office, is
.134
Mird — Missie,
usually traced to the German
miinze, the Dutch munte, the
Latin moneta, money. The ety-
mology of the Scottish mint,
to essay, or try, is unknown ;
though it is possibly to be
found in the Allemanische or
German patois meinta, to intend,
to mean to do a thing.
Mintin's nae makin'.— Allan Ramsay's
Scois Proverbs.
A man may mint and no' hit the mark.
—Allan Ramsay.
Mird, to ogle, to leer, to make
amorous signs and advances to
a woman.
Donald was smerkit wi' mirds and
jnockery. — James Hogg: Donald Mac-
Gillvray.
Mird wi' your makes (equals). — Jamie-
son.
Mirk, dark. Of uncertain ety-
mology, but probably derivable
from the Gaelic murcach, sad,
sorrowful, gloomy.
A man's mind is s^mirk mirror. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Oh mirk ! tnirk ! is the midnight hour.
And loud the tempest's roar.
— Burns : Lord Gregory.
'Twixt the gloaming and the mirk,
When the kye come hame.
— James Hogg.
Mirklins, the gloaming, inclining
to be mirk or dark.
Mischant, a worthless person;
fromthe French mecAaw^, wicked.
Mischanter, a euphonistic name
for the devil, synonymous with
• the English " old mischief,"
sometimes applied to the same
personage. It is probable that
miscTiantcr, as applied to the
devil, means the mischief -maker,
or doer of mischief or wicked-
ness.
Mishanter, misfortune, which is
not of the same etymology as
mischanter, is probably a cor-
rupt abbreviation of misadven-
ture.
Gin Rab Roy hae heard o' this lady's
mishanter, he wadna be lang o' clearin'
the house — Lord Lovat an' a', and letting
her gang hame.— Macleay's Memoirs of
the Clan MacGregor.
Misleard, unmannerly, rude, mis-
chievous, ill-conditioned.
Lord Lovat's sae misleard a chap that
gin he ken't we were kind to her, he wad
mak' whangs o' our hides to mend his
Highland brogues wi'. — Macleay's Me-
ntoirs of the Clan MacGregor.
Missie, a fondling term for a very
young girl. The English word
miss, of which, at first sight,
wiWe would seem to be an affec-
tionate diminutive, is of very
uncertain derivation. It is com-
monly supposed to be the first
syllable of mistress, the French
maitresse (the feminine of maitre).
Miss and Missie are peculiar to
Scotch and English, and are un-
known in any of the Teutonic
and Komance languages. The
Teutonic languages use the word
jungfrau, and fraiilein ; the
French use demoiselle, or made-
moiselle ; the Italians signorina ;
and the Spanish senorita. Per-
haps the graceful miss and missie
Mister — Moop and MelL
135
in Scotch and English are from
the Gaelic maise, beauty, grace,
comeliness, or maiseach, pretty,
beautiful, elegant. These are
more appropriate as the desig-
nation of a young unmarried
lady than mistress would be,
implying, as that word does, a
sense of command and mastery.
Mister, want, need, great poverty ;
misterful, necessitous.
Unken'd and misterful in the deserts of
Libya.
— Gawin Douglas : Translation
of the /Rneid.
Misterfu folk should nae be mensfu'.
(Needy people should not be too parti-
cular). — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The original phrase of misterfu'
beggars, or needy beggars, was
afterwards corrupted into mas-
terful beggars, i.e., arrogant or
sturdy beggars, as they are
called in an edict of James VI.,
'* the whole class of maisterfull
andydiUbeggaris, sornaris (sor-
ners), fulis (fools), and bardis
(wandering minstrels or ballad-
singers)." It is diflScult to ac-
count for mister and misterful,
rmless they be derived from the
Scottish Gaelic misde, the Irish
Gaelic miste, the comparative of
olc, bad or evil. Mistear and
mistire signify a sly, cunning,
and mean person, as well as a
needy beggar. The corruption
to masterful in the sense of arro-
gant is easily accounted for.
Mool, to have carnal intercourse ;
sometimes corrupted into moio
or mowe.
An' there'll be Alaster Sibbie
That in wi' black Bessie did mool,
Wi' snivellin' Lillie an' Tibbie
The lass that sits aft on the stool,
(the cutty stool, q. v.)
— The Blythesome Bridal.
Jamieson's Dictionary con-
tains neither m/)ol nor mowe, in
the sense in which they are used
in the too libidinous vernacular ;
but has mool, to crumble, and
mowe or m/}w, dust or mould.
Moolins, refuse, grains of corn,
husks, or chaff ; sometimes
crumbs of bread ; from the
Gaelic muiUean, a husk or par-
ticle of chaff or grain ; the waste
of the meal at the miller's.
The pawky wee sparrow will peck aff your
floor,
The bauld little Robin hops in at your
door;
But the heaven-soaring lark 'mang the
cauld drift will dee,
Afore he'll come cowerin' your moolins to
pree.
—James Ballantine : Winter
Promptings.
Mools, from mould — earth, the
grave.
And Jeanie died. She had not lain i' the
mools
Three days ere Donald laid aside his tools,
And closed his forge, and took his passage
home.
But long ere forty days had run their
round,
Donald was back upon Canadian ground —
Donald the tender heart, the rough, the
brave,
With earth and gowans for his true love's
grave. — All the Year Round.
Moop and mell, to feed together ;
meil, to associate with; from
136
Morn — Mowes.
the French meler, to mingle.
Halliwell's Archaic Dictionary-
contains mouch — said to be a
Lincolnshire word, signifying to
eat greedily.
The auld West Bow sae steep and crookit,
Where bawbee pies wee callants vtoopit.
— James Ballantine.
But aye keep mind to inoop and mell
Wi' sheep o' credit like thysel.
— Burns : Poor Mailie.
Guid ale bauds me bare and busy,
Gars me inoop wi' the servant hizzie ;
Stand i' the stool when I hae done ;
Guid ale keeps my heart abune.
— Burns : Good Ale Comes.
Moop does not mean to keep company
with (mell does, meddle with, have to do
with), inoop really means to eat, or rather
to nibble, and, if I mistake not, is an old
English word, — the present form of the
word is mump. — R. Drennan.
Mom. The Scotch make a dis-
tinction between the morn, which
means to-morrow, and morn
(without the article), which
means morning — thus, *' the
morn's morn" is to-morrow
morning.
Mother-naked, stark-naked ,
utterly naked ; as naked as the
new-born babe at the moment
of birth. This word, though a
compound of two English ones,
has never been admitted into
modern English dictionaries,
and does not even appear in
Nares, Halliwell, or Wright. If
it were ever English, there re-
main no traces of it either in
literature or in the common
speech of the people. It is still
current in the Scottish vernacu-
lar, and in poetical composition.
They'll shape me in your arms, Janet,
A dove, but and a swan,
At last they'll shape me in your arms
A mother-naked man.
Cast your green mantle over me,
I'll be myself again.
— Ballad of the Young Tamlane,
Readers of the "Arabian
Nights' Entertainments " will
remember the counterpart of
the story of Young Tamlane, in
that marvellous compilation of
Eastern romance.
Mouter, fee paid to the miller for
grinding corn ; old English, tnul-
ture ; French, movdre, to grind.
It's good to be merry and wise,
Said the miller when he moutered iy>'\ct.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Prot>erbs.
The quaker's wife sat down to bake
Wi' a' her bairns about her,
Ilk ane gat a quarter cake
And the miller gat his mouter.
— Chambers's Old Song.
Mowes, jesting, mockery, grim-
aces ; to make mowes, to make
faces.
Affront your friend in mowes and tine
him in earnest.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
It has been supposed that
mowes, which in this sense
is only used in the plural, is
derived from mmC, a Scottish
abbreviation of mouth. It
would seem so at first blush ;
but as the French have *' faire
la moue," "grimace faite par
mecontentement, en allongeant
les levres," and as moue in that
language does not signify a
mouth, it is probable that the
source of mowes is to be sought
Muckle — Muslin-kail.
137
in the French and not in the
Teutonic. Possibly both the
Scottish mowe and the French
moue have a common origin in
the Celtic and Gaelic muig, a
discontented look, an ill-natured
frown. In English slang, mug
signifies the face; and "ugly
itiug'''^ is a common expression
for an ugly face.
Muckle, mickle, meikle, great,
large, big ; muclde-mou' d, big-
mouthed, wide-mouthed, clam-
orous, vociferous ; Muchle-mou'd
Meg, a name given to a cannon
of large calibre. This word is
akin to the English much, the
Spanish mucho, the Greek mega
and megala, and the Latin mag-
nus — all implying the sense of
greatness. The Gaelic has meud,
[in which the final d is often
pronounced ch], bulk, great size ;
and meudaich, to magnify.
Every little helps to mak a Tnuckle.
— Scots Proverb.
Far hae I travelled,
And muckle hae I seen.
But buttons upon blankets
Saw I never nane.
— Onr Gudetnan cam Haine at E'en.
Mull, a snuff or tobacco-box, as
used in the Highlands. The
Lowland Scotch sometimes call
a snuff-box "a sneeshin mill,''
mill being a corruption of mull ;
from the Gaelic mala, a bag,
the French malle, a trunk or
box.
The luntin' pipe and sneeshin mill
Are handed round wi' right guidwill.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Jamieson says, with a non-
comprehension of the origin of
the word mill and its connection
with mull, that the snuff-box
was formerly used in the country
as a mill for grinding the dried
tobacco leaves 1 If so, the box
must have contained some ma-
chinery for the purpose. But
neither Jamieson, nor anybody
else, ever saw a contrivance of
that kind in a snuff-box.
MurguUie, to spoil, to mangle, to
lacerate, to deform. Sometimes
written margulye.
He wadna murgullie the howlet on the
moudiewort either. — Macleav's Metnoirs
of the Clan MacGregor.
Muslin-kail, an epithet applied
by Burns to a purely vegetable
soup, without animal ingredients
of any kind, and compounded
of barley, greens, onions, &c.
I'll sit down o'er my scanty meal,
Be 't water-brose or muslin-kail,
Wi' cheerfu' face.
As lang's the Muses dinna fail
To say the grace.
— Epistle to James Smith.
It has been supposed that the
word muslin was applied to it
on account of its thinness. The
French call it soupe maigre ; but
as muslin was only introduced
-to Europe from Mosul in India
in 1670, and vegetable broth
was known for countless ages
before that time in every part
of the world, it is possible that
muslin is an erroneous phonetic
rendering of meslin, or mashlum.
Both meslin and mashlum ap-
138
Mutch — Mutchkin .
pear in Jamieson, who translates
the former as " mixed corn,"
and the latter as " a mixture of
edibles," but gives no etymology
for either. Me&s is a word that,
with slight variations, appears
in almost every language of
Europe, and which, in its Eng-
lish form, is derived by nearly all
philologists from mensa, a table.
But that this is an error will
appear on a little examination,
for mess originally signified, in
nearly every instance in which
it was used, a dish of vegetables.
The old translation of the Bible
speaks of a mess of pottage, a
purely vegetable compound.
Milton speaks of
Herbs and other country messes,
Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses.
The Dutch and Flemish moes
signifies a dish of herbs, or
herbs reduced to what the
French call a pur6e ; the Ameri-
cans call oatmeal porridge, or
any compound of mashed grain,
a mush. The Gaelic 7neas signi-
fies fruit or vegetables, and this,
combined with the word Ian,
full, is doubtless the true root
of meslin or masldum, rendered
muslin by Burns's printers. It
may be observed that mash, to
render into a pulp or puree, is
exclusively used for vegetables,
as mashed potatoes, mashed tur-
nips, &c. , and that hash or mince
is the word employed by cooks
for the reduction of beef, mut-
ton, and other flesh of animals
into smaller portions or particles.
Muslin-kail seems to be peculiar
to Burns.
Mutch, a woman's cap or bonnet ;
from the Flemish muts, the
German miitzen, which have
the same meaning.
Their toys and mutches were sae clean,
They glancit in our ladies' e'en.
— Allan Ramsay.
A' dressed out in aprons clean.
And braw white Sunday mutches.
— Sir Alexander Boswell : Jenny
Dang the Weaver.
Mutchkin, a pint ; from the
Flemish mudde, a hectolitre, a
large quart ; or muid, a quart.
An English traveller, who prided
himself on his knowledge of the
Scotch language, called at an
inn in Glasgow for a mutchkin
of whisky, under the idea that
mutchkin signified a gill, or a
small glass. "Mutchkin?" in-
quired the waiter, "and a' to
yoursel' ? " '* Yes, a mutchkin / "
said the Englishman. " I trow
ye'll be gey an' fou," said the
waiter, "an' ye drink it." "Never
you mind," said the English-
man, "bring it." And it was
brought. Great thereanent was
the Englishman's surprise. He
drank no more than a gill of it ;
but he added meanwhile a new
Scottish word to his vocabu-
lary.
Nae-thing — Neb.
139
N
Nae-thing. The English language,
or at least the rhymers who
write English, have lost many-
rhymes by not being able to
make nothing do duty for no-
thing ; whence they might have
claimed it as a rhyme for slow-
thing, low-thing, and many others
too obvious to be specified. The
Scottish language, in preserving
nae-thing, has emphasised the
etymology of the word. It is
impossible to find a rhyme for
the English nothing, but for the
Scottish nae - thing Burns has
found that there are many ;
among others, ae-thing, claithing,
graiihing, gaything, plaything, &c.
Napery, table-linen ; from the
French nappe, a tablecloth, or the
English napkin, a little cloth.
I thought a beetle or bittle had been the
thing that the women have when they are
washing towels and napery — things for
dadding them with. — Dean Ramsay : The
Diamond Beetle Case.
Nappy. This word was used by
a few English writers in the
eighteenth century, but was
never so common in England as
it was in Scotland. It always
signified strong drink, parti-
cularly ale or beer, and not wine
or spirits.
Two bottles of as nappy liquor
As ever reamed in horn or bicker.
—Allan Ramsay.
Care, mad to see a man sae happy, '
E'en drowned himsel' among the nappy.
Burns : Tarn 0' Shanter.
With nappy beer, I to the barn repaired.
— Gay's Fables.
The word is rendered in
French by " capiteux, qui monte
h, la tete " — that is to say, heady.
It seems derivable from the
English slang nob, the head, as
in the pugilistic phrase, "One
for his W06," "One (blow) for
his head;" whence also the
familiar nopper, the head. The
original word was the German
Jcnob, a round lump, or ball, in
allusion to the shape ; whence
knobby, rounded or lumpy. Nap-
pie, in the sense of strong drink
that mounts to the head, be-
comes, by extension of meaning,
strong and vigorous ; " a nappie
callant" is a strong, vigorous
youth, with a good head on his
shoulders.
Nappy. — Bailey's definition of this word
in his English Dictionary is " Nappy-ale,
such as will cause persons to take or knap
pleasant and strong ale."— R. Drennan.
Neb, the nose. Flemish sneb
(with the elision of the s), the
nose, the beak ; a point, as the
neb or nib of a pen.
She holds up the neb to him,
And arms her with the boldness of a wife.
— Shakspeare : Winters Tale.
Turn your neb northwards, and settle for
awhile at St. Andrews.
—Scott : Fortunes of Nigel,
I40
Neep — Nicky Auld Nicky Nickie-Ben.
Neep, a turnip ; from the French
navel,
A late Lord Justice-Clerk of the Court
of Session, who was fond of sport, was
shooting pheasants in a field of turnips,
when the farmer, whose consent had not
been asked, and who looked upon the
sportsman as an illegal trespasser, rushed
out of his house in a towering passion,
and called out in a loud voice, "Come
oot o' that you, sir! come oot o' that im-
mediately." The Lord Justice-Clerk, un-
accustomed to this style of address, con-
fronted the angry man, and asked him if
he knew to whom he was speaking? " I
dinna ken, and I dinna care ; ye'se come
oot o' that, or I'll mak it the waur for
ye." " I'm the Lord Justice-Clerk," said
the legal dignitary, thinking to over-
awe the irate agriculturist. " I dinna
care whose clerk ye are, but ye'se come
oot o' my neej>s." How the altercation
ended is not on record, though it is believed
that his lordship left the field quietly,
after enlightening the farmer as to his
high status and position, and cooling his
wrath by submission to an authority not to
be successfully contested, without greater
trouble than the contest was worth. — Scot-
tish Wit and Humour.
Neuk, a corner ; English a nook,
a small corner. Both words are
derived from the Gaelic uig, a
corner, which, with the in-
definite article an before it, was
corrupted from an ook, or an
uig, into a neuTc, or a nook. The
Flemish uig and hoek, and the
German eck, a corner, are trace-
able to the same Celtic root.
The deil sits girnin' in the neuk,
Rivin' sticks to roast the Deuk.
— Jacobite Ballad on the Victory of the
Duke of Cumberland at Culloden.
Nevermas, the time that never
comes. This word, equivalent
to the "Greek kalends," is
formed after the model of Mar-
tinmas, Michaelmas, and Christ-
mas. It does not occur in
Jamieson. It is found in Arm-
strong's Gaelic Dictionary as
the translation of lA buain na
lin, the "day of the cutting of
the flax," which has in the
Highlands the meaning of
"never," or "at no time," or
"at a very uncertain time."
Nicher, to neigh, to snort ; French,
nennir, sometimes written hen-
nir; Flemish, nenniker, or nin-
niker.
Little may an auld nag do that maunna
nicher.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Nick, Auld Nick, Nickie-Ben.
All these names are used in
Scotland to signify the devil ;
the third is peculiar to Scotland,
and finds no place in English
parlance.
But fare-you-weel, auld Nickie-Ben!
Oh, wad ye tak a thought an' men',
Ye aiblins might, I dinna ken,
Still hae a stake !
I'm wae to think upon yon den,
Even for your sake !
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Why Nick came to signify
Satan in the British Isles has
never been satisfactorily ex-
plained. Butler in Hudihras
supposes that he was so called
after Nicholas Macchiavelli.
Nick Macchiavel had no such trick.
Though he gave name to our Old Nick.
But the name was in use many
ages before Macchiavelli was
born ; and the passage must.
Nidder^ Nither — Nieve.
141
therefore, be considered as a
joke, rather than as a philolo-
gical assertion. It is remark-
able, too, that Nick and Old
NicJc, whatever be the deriva-
tion, is a phrase unknown to
any nation of Europe except
our own. The derivation from
Nicholas is clearly untenable;
that from Nikkr, a water- sprite
or goblin, in the Scandinavian
mythology, is equally so ; for
the Old Nick of British super-
stition is reputed to have more
to do with fire than water, and
has no attributes in common
with Satan, the prince of the
powers of evil. To derive the
word from niger, or nigger, black,
because the devil is reputed to
be black, is but perverted ingenu-
ity. All the epithets showered
upon the devil by Burns,
Oh thou, whatever title suit thee,
Auld Satan, Hornie, Nick, or Clootie,
are, with the exception of Satan,
titles of irreverence, familiarity,
and jocosity ; Hornie, from the
horns he is supposed to wear on
his forehead, and Clootie, from
his cloven hoofs, like those
of a goat. It is probable that
Nick and Old Nick are words
of a similarly derisive char-
acter, and that nick, which
appears in the glossaries to
Allan Ramsay and to Burns, as
cheat or to cheat, is the true origin,
and that Old Nick simply sig-
nifies the Old Cheat. It may be
mentioned, in connection with
the idea of cheat or nick, that
old gentleman is a name often
given to Satan by people who
object to the word devil, and
that the same name is descrip-
' tive, according to the Slang
Dictionary, of a card almost
imperceptibly longer than the
other cards of the pack, used
by card-sharpers for the purpose
of cheating. To be out on the
nick is, on the same authority,
to be out thieving. The etymo-
logy of nick in this sense is
doubtful. Dr. Adolphus Wagner,
the learned editor of the German
edition of Burns, derives it from
the Greek Ne/cw, and translates
it " to bite or to cheat." In
Wright's Dictionary of Obsolete
and Provincial English, nick is
** to deceive, to cheat, to deny';
also, to win at dice unfairly."
Nidder, Nither, to lower, to de-
press ; niddered, pinched with
cold or hunger, with the vital
energies depressed; also, stunted
or lowered in growth. From
the German nieder, low, or
down ; the Flemish neder, Eng-
lish nether, as in the Biblical
phrase, "the upper and the
nether millstone." Netherlands,
the low countries; the French
Pays Bas,
Nithered by the norlan' breeze.
The sweet wee flower aft dwines and
dees.
— ^James Ballantine.
Nieve, the fist, the closed hand ;
nevel, to strike with the fist, a
blow with the fist. From the
Teutonic knuffen, to beat with
the fist, to cuff, to fisticuff.
142
Nieve — Noyt,
Though here they scrape, and squeeze,
and growl,
Their worthless niex>e-fu o' a soul
May in some future carcass howl
The forest's fright.
— Burns : Ejnstle to John Lapraik.
Sir Alexander Ramsay of Fasque, show-
ing a fine stot to a butcher, said, " I was
offered twenty guineas for that beast."
" Indeed, Fasque ! " said the butcher, " ye
should hae steekit your nieve upon that."
— Dean Ramsay.
They partit manly with a nevel;
God wat gif hair was ruggit
Betwixt thame.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
He hasna as muckle sense as a cow could
had in her nieve. — Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Mark the rustic, haggis-fed.
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak' it whissle ;
And legs and arms and heads will sned
Like taps o' thrissle.
—Burns : To a Haggis.
Niflfer, to barter, to exchange.
Probably, according to Jamie-
son, from nieve, the fist or closed
hand — to exchange an article
that is in one hand for that
which is in the other. This ety-
mology is doubtful, although no
better one has been suggested.
Ye'll no be niffered but for a waur, and
that's no possible. — Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Ye see your state wi' theirs compared,
And shudder at the niffer;
But, cast a moment's fair regard.
What maks the mighty differ ?
—Burns : To the Unco Guid.
Nippit, miserly, mean, parsimoni-
ous, near ; from ni'p, to pinch.
The English 'pinch is often ap-
plied in the same sense.
Noo or the noo, at the present
time, now.
On one occasion a neighbour waited on
a small laird in Lanarkshire, named Ham-
ilton, and requested his signature to an
accommodation bill for twenty pounds at
three months' date, which led to the fol-
lowing characteristic colloquy : —
" Na ! na ! " said the laird, " I canna
do that."
" What for no, laird ? Ye hae done the
same thing for others."
" Aye, aye, Tammas ! but there's wheels
within wheels that ye ken naething about.
I canna do't."
" It's a sma' thing to refuse me, laird."
'' Weel, ye see, Tammas, if I was to pit
my name till't, ye wad get the siller frae
the bank, and when the time cam round,-
ye wadna be ready, an' I wad hae to pay't.
An' then me an' you wad quarrel. So we
may just as weel quarrel the noo, an' I' 11
keep the siller in my pouch."— Dean
Ramsay.
Nowte, homed cattle ; corrupted
in English into neat.
Mischief begins wi' needles and prins.
And ends wi' horned nowte.
— Allan Ramsay.
Or by Madrid he takes the route,
To thrum guitars and fecht wi' no^vte.
—Burns: The Twa Dogs.
Lord Seafield, who was ac-
cused by his brother of accept-
ing a bribe to vote for the union
betwixt England and Scotland,
endeavoured to retort upon him
by calling him a cattle-dealer.
" Ay, weel," replied his brother,
•' better sell nmiote than nations."
Noyt, noit, or nowt, to injure, to
hurt, to beat, to strike ; from
the French nuire, to injure.
The miller was of manly mak,
To meet him was na mowis,
Nugget — Olyte.
143
They durst not ten come him to tak,
Sae noytit he their powis.
—Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Nugget, a word scarcely known
to the English until the dis-
covery of gold in California and
Australia, when it was intro-
duced by the miners to sig-
nify a large piece of the metal
as distinguished from grains of
gold dust. Many attempts have
been made to trace its etymo-
logy, only one of which has
found a qualified acceptance —
that which affirms it to be a
corruption of ingot. This is
plausible, but not entirely satis-
factory. In some parts of Scot-
land, the word for a luncheon,
or a hasty repast taken at noon,
is noggit — sometimes written
Tcnockit — ^which means a piece.
In other parts of Scotland the
word used is piece, as, " Gie the
bairn its piece," and the word
lunch itself, from the Gaelic
lonach, hungry, signifies the
piece which is cut off a loaf or a
cheese to satisfy the appetite
during the interval that elapses
. before the regular meal.
When hungry thou stoodest, staring like
an oaf,
I sliced the luncheon from the barley loaf.
—Gay.
All these examples tend to
show that nugget simply means
a lump or piece. In Kent, ac-
cording to Wright's Archaic
Dictionary, a lump of food is
called a nuncheon.
Nyse, to beat, to pommel, a word
in use among the boys of the
High School of Edinburgh ;
from the Ga,elic naitheas{t silent),
a mischief. *'I'll nyse you,"
" I'll do you a mischief."
O
Ock, a diminutive particle ap-
pended to Scottish words, and
implying littleness combined
with the idea of tenderness and
affection, as in lass, lassoclc,
wife, wifoch This termination
is sometimes combined with ie,
thus making a double diminu-
tive, as lassockie, often spelled
lassieJcie, and wifockie, toijiekie.
Ock is probably derived from
the Gaelic og, young.
Olyte, diligent, industrious, active.
According to Mr. Halliwell, this
word appears in the Harleian
MS., and is still used in some
parts of England. Jamieson
spells it olight and olite, and de-
rives it from the Swedish offlaet^
"too light, fleet," but no such
word is to be found in the
Swedish dictionaries, nor in
those of the other Teutonic lan-
guages. Possibly the true origin
of the word is the Gaelic oil, to
rear, educate, instruct, and oilte,
instructed, oilcan, instruction,
good-breeding ; whence an olyte
mother, in the proverb quoted
144
Oo aye ! — Outlers.
below, may signify a woman in-
structed in the due performance
of all her household duties, and
performing them so zealously as
to leave nothing for her daughter
to do. Oileanta, more commonly
written ealanta, signifies quick,
nimble, active.
An olyte mother makes a sweer daughter.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Oo aye ! An emphatic assertion
of assent. The French out.
Orra, all sorts of odds and ends,
' occasional.
Where Donald Caird fand orra things.
— Scott.
She's a weel-educate woman, and if she
win to her English as I hae heard her do
at orra times, she may come to fickle us a'.
— Scott: The Antiquary.
Orra, — now and then, unusual, not fre-
quently met with, almost always associated
with time. — R. Drennan.
Orra man. A man employed to
do odd jobs on a farm, that are
not in the regular routine of
the work of the other farm
servants.
Oughtlins, pertaining to duty,
or to that which ought to be
done ; a word composed of
ought, a debt owing to duty,
honour and propriety, and lins
(see AiBLiNS, Westlins, &c.), in-
clining towards.
If that daft buckie, Geordie Wales,
Was grown oughtlins douser.
— Burns : On Receiving a Newspaper,
Ourie or oorie, cold, shivering.
This word, peculiar to Scotland,
is derived from the Gaelic fuar,
cold, which, with the aspirate,
becomes fhuar, and is pro-
nounced uar.
I thought me on the ourie cattle.
—Burns : A Winter Night.
The English hoar-frost, and
the hoary (white, snowy) hair
of old age, are traceable to the
same etymological root. Jamie-
son, however, derives oorie from
the Icelandic wr, rain, and the
Swedish ur, stormy weather,
though the origin of both is to
be found in the Gaelic uaire,
bad weather or storm.
Outthrough, entirely or com-
pletely through.
They dived in through the one burn bank,
Sae did they outthrough the other.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Out-cast, a quarrel, to "cast-out,"
to quarrel.
O dool to tell,
They've had a bitter black cast-out
Atween themsel.
—Burns : The Tiva Herds.
I didna ken they had casten-out.
— Dean Ramsay.
Outlers, cattle left out at night in
the fields, -for want of byres or
folds to shelter them.
Amang the brackens on the brae,
Between her an' the moon,
The Deil or else an outler quey
Gat up and gae a croon.
Poor Lizzie's heart maist lap the hool —
Near lav'rock height she jumpit,
But miss'd a foot, and in the pool
Out owre the lugs she plumpit.
—Burns: Halloween.
Outside of the Loof- — Ower-word.
145
Outside of the Loof, the back
of the hand. " The outside of
my loof to ye," is a phrase that
signifies a wish on the part of
the person who uses it to reject
the friendship or drop the ac-
quaintance of the person to
whom it is addressed.
" If ye 'II no join the Free Kirk," said a
■wealthy widow to her cousin, to whom
she had often conveyed the hint that he
might expect a handsome legacy at her
death (a hint that never ripened into a
fact), " ye'll hae the outside o my loof, and
never see the inside o't again." — C. M.
Outspeckle, a laughing - stock ;
and IcenspecTde, to be easily re-
cognised by some outer mark
of singularity. These words
have a common origin, and are
derived either from speck, or
speckle, a small mark or spot ;
or from spectacle, corrupted into
speckle ; but most probably from
the former.
" Wha drives thir kye," gan Willie to say,
" To mak' an outspeckle o' me ! "
— Border Ballads : Janiie Telfer.
Outwittens, unknowingly, with-
out the knowledge of.
Outwittens of my daddie \i.e., my father
not knowing it], — Jamieson.
Overlay or owerlay, the burden
or chorus of a song ; the refrain.
And aye the owerlay o' his sang
Was, wae's me for Prince Charlie.
— Jacobite Ballad.
The French refrain, recently
adopted into English, is of
Gaelic origin, from ramh or raf,
an oar, and rann, a song ; a sea
song or boat-song, formerly
chanted to the motion of the
oars by Celtic boatmen in Brit-
tany and the Scottish High-
lands.
Ower Bogie, a proverbial phrase
used in regard to a marriage
which has been celebrated by a
magistrate, and not by a clergy-
man. Synonymous in Aberdeen-
shire with the English Gretna
Green marriages, performed
under similar conditions. The
origin is unknown, though it is
supposed that some accommo-
dating magistrate, at some time
or other, resided on the opposite
side of the river Bogie from
that of the town or village
inhabited by the lovers who
desired to be joined in the
bonds of matrimony without
subjecting themselves to the
sometimes inconvenient inter-
rogations of the kirk. Jamieson
erroneously quotes the phrase
as ovyre ioggie.
I will awa wi' my love,
I will awa' wi' her.
Though a' my kin' had sorrow and said,
I'll ower Bogie wi' her.
— Allan R ams ay : Tea Table
Miscellany.
Owergang, to surpass, to exceed.
You're straight and tall and handsome
withal.
But your pride owergangs your wit.
—Ballad of Proud Lady Margaret.
Ower-word, a chorus or burden.
A phrase often repeated in a
song, the French bourdon, the
English burthen of a song.
K
146
Oxter — Pad.
And aye the ower-word of his song
Was, wae's me for Prince Charlie.
— Glen : A Jacobite Song.
The starling flew to the window stane,
It whistled and it sang,
And aye the ower-ivord o the tune
Was "Johnnie tarries lang."
— Johnnie of Breadislee.
Oxter, the armpit and the space
between the shoulder and the
bosom ; sometimes it is used in-
correctly for the lap ; and to em-
brace, to encircle with the arms
in fondness. From the Gaelic
uchd, the breast or bosom;
whence also the Latin uxor, a
wife, i.e., the wife of one's
bosom ; and uxorious, fondly at-
tached to a wife"; uchd mhac, an
adopted son, the son of one's
bosom. Jamieson derives oxter
from the Teutonic oxtel, but no
such word is to be found in the
German language. The Flemish
and Dutch have oksel, a gusset,
which Johnson defines as "an
angular piece of cloth, inserted
in a garment, particularly at
the upper end of the sleeve of
a shirt, or as a part of the neck."
This word has a clear but re-
mote connection with the Gaelic
uchd.
He did like ony mavis sing,
And as I in his ojrter sat
He ca'd me aye his bosome thing.
—Allan Ramsay: Tea Table
Miscellany.
Here the phrase "sitting in
his oxler " is equivalent to sitting
folded in his arms, or clasped
to his bosom.
Pack, familiar, intimate, closely
allied.
Nae doubt but they were fain o' ither,
And xxnco pack and thick thegither,
Wi' social nose whiles snufFd and howkit.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Pack is not only used as an
adjective, but is common as a
noun in colloquial English, as
in the phrase, a jpach of rascals,
and a pack of thieves. In this
sense it is derivable from the
Gaelicjpac orjpacca^troop,a mob.
Pad, to travel, to ride. Often in
Scotland when a lady is seen on
horseback in the rural districts,
the children of the villages fol-
low her, crying out, *' Lady jjo^i /
lady pad .! " Jamieson says that
on pad is to travel on foot, that
pad, the hoof, is a cant phrase,
signifying to walk, and that the
ground is paddit when it has
been hardened by frequent pass-
ing and repassing. He derives
the word from the Latin pes,
pedis, the foot. It seems, how-
ever, to be more immediately
derived from path; pad, to go
on the path, whether on foot
or on horseback; from the
German pfad, the Flemish pad,
and voet -pad, the foot - path.
The English dictionaries erro-
neously explain pad in the word
Padda — Paik,
147
f<jot-pad, a highway thief. But
pad by itself is never used in the
sense of steal. Grose's Classical
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
ha,s pad-borrotoers, horse-stealers,
as if pad signified a horse. The
phrase really means path-hor-
roicers, i.e., borrowers on the
path or journey.
Padda, Paddock, a frog or toad ;
paddock stool, a toad-stool, a wild
fungus or mushroom. Flemish
pad and padde, a frog.
Says the mother, " What noise is that at
the door, daughter ? " "Hoot," says the
lassie, "it's naething but a filthy padda."
"Open the door," says the mother, "to
the puir padda." Sae the lassie opened
the door, and the padda cam loup, loup,
loupin' in, and sat doun by the ingle side.
— Scottish Songs collected, by Robert
Chambers, 1829.
Gowks and fools,
Frae colleges and boarding schools,
May sprout like summer paddock-stools.
In glen or shaw.
— Burns : Verses written at Selkirk.
Old Lady Perth, offended with a French
gentleman for some disparaging remark
which he had made on Scottish cookery,
answered him curtly, " Weel ! weel ! some
folk like parritch, and some \C&& paddocks."
— Dean Ramsay.
Paidle. This eminently Scottish
word has no synonym in the
English language, nor in any
country where everybody, even
the poorest, wears shoes or
boots, and where, to go bare-
footed, would imply the lowest
social degradation. But in Scot-
land, a land of streams, rivulets,
and burns, that wimple down
the hills and cross the paths and
roads, to go barefooted is a
pleasure and luxury, and a con-
venience, especially to the chil-
dren of both sexes, and even to
young men and women verging
upon manhood and womanhood.
An Englishman may paddle his
boat and his canoe, but a Scots-
man paidles in the mountain
stream. How the young chil-
dren of England love to paidle,
may occasionally be seen at the
sea-side resorts of the southern
counties in the summer season,
but the Scottish child in the
rural districts paidles all the
year, and needs no holiday for
the purpose.
We twa hae paidled in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roared,
Sin' the days of auld lang syne.
— BURNS-
The remembrance of paidlirC
when stirred by the singing of
this immortal song by Scotsmen
in America, in India, in Africa,
or at the Antipodes, melts every
Scottish heart to tenderness, or
inspires it to patriotism, as every
Scotsman, who has travelled
much, very surely knows.
Paik, a beating, to beat, to thrash,
to fight, to drub, to strike.
Jamieson derives this word from
the German pauken, to beat ;
but there is no such word in that
language. Pauke in German,
pauk in Flemish, signifies a
kettle-drum ; and pauken, to
beat the kettle-drum, but not
to beat in any other sense. The
word is probably from the Gaelic
paigh, to pay ; and also, by an
148
Paihie — Pash.
extension of meaning, to pay"
one's deserts by a beating, as in
the proverb in Allan Eamsay —
" He's sairest dung that is -paid
with his own wand," i.e., he is
sorest hit who is beaten with
his own cudgel.
Paikie, a trull, a prostitute, B,Jille
dejoie, a euphemism from the
Gaelic peacadh (peaca), a sinner.
Faik, a sin ; the French pecker ;
and the Italian peccare.
In adulterie he was ta'en —
Made to be punisht for his paik.
— Jamieson.
Pang, to fill full, to cram ; pang-
fu\ as full as one can hold.
Etymology unknown; but pos-
sibly related to the French
pause, belly; pansu, large-bel-
lied ; English paunchy.
Leeze me on drink ; it gies us mair
Than either school or college,
It kindles wit, it waukens lair,
It j>angs us fu' o' knowledge.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Parle, a discourse ; from the
French parler, to speak ; the
Italian ^av'Zare. The Gaelic 6cwrZa
signifies language, and more par-
ticularly the English language.
A tocher's nae word in a true lover's
parle.
But gie me my love, and a fig for the
warl.— Burns : Meg o' tlie Mill.
Parritch or porridge. A formerly
favourite, if not essential, food of
the Scottish people of all classes,
composed of oatmeal boiled in
water to a thick consistency,
and seasoned with salt. This
healthful food is generally taken
with milk, but is equally palat-
able with butter, sugar, beer,
or wine. It is sometimes re-
tained in middle and upper class
families ; but among the very
poor has unfortunately been dis-
placed by the cheaper and less
nutritious potato.
The hailsome parritch, chief o' Scotia's
food.
— Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Partan, a crab, from the Gaelic ;
partanach, abounding in crabs ;
partan-handit, epithet applied
to one who is hard-fisted and
penurious, who grips his money
like a crab grips with its claw.
An' there'll be partans and buckies,
An' singit sheeps' heads and a haggis.
—The Blithesome Bridal.
Pash, the head, the brow, the
forehead. Allan Ramsay, bar-
ber and wig-maker, sang of his
trade : —
I theek [thatch] the out, and line the
inside,
Of mony a douce and witty /ojA,
And baithways gather in the cash.
A bare pash signifies a bald
head, and mad-^as/t is equiva-
lent to the English madcap.
Latham's Todd's Johnson has
pash, to push or butt like a ram
or bull, with the head. Pash
was current English in the time
of Shakspeare, who uses it in
the "Winter's Tale," in a pas-
sage which no commentator has
been able to explain. Leontes,
suspicious of the fidelity of his
wife Hermione, asks his child
Mamilius —
Paughty — Pawky,
149
Art thou my calf?
To which Mamilius replies —
Yes ! if you will, my Lord.
Leontes, still brooding on
his imaginary wrong, rejoins
moodily —
Thou wants a rough /«jA and the shoots
that I have to be full like me.
It is amusing to note into
what errors the English editors
of Shakspeare have fallen, in
their ignorance of this word.
Nares thought that ^as^ was
something belonging to a bull
— he did not know what — or a
calf, and Steevens thought that
it was the Spanish paz, a kiss.
Mr. Howard Staunton, the
editor of Shakspeare, had a
glimpse of the meaning, and
thought that 'pash meant a
^'tufted head." Jamieson ac-
knowledged the word, but at-
tempted no etymology. Pash is
clearly derivable from the Gaelic
6ai7iais (pronounced 6asA OYjpash),
and signifies the forehead. The
allusion of the unhappy Leontes
to the shoots on his rough pash
(wrinkled brow) is to the horns
that vulgar phraseology places
on the foreheads of deceived
and betrayed husbands. Kead
by this gloss, the much-mis-
understood passage in the
"Winter's Tale" becomes clear.
Paughty, proud, haughty, repul-
sive, but without having the
qualities of mind or person to
justify the assumption of supe-
riority over others. Probably
derived from the Flemish pochen,
to vaunt, to brag, and pocher, a
braggadocio, a fanfaron.
An askin', an askin', my father dear.
An askin' I beg of thee ;
Ask not th&t paughty Scottish lord,
For him ye ne'er shall see.
— Ballad 0/ the Gay Goss-Hawk.
Yon paughty dog
That bears the keys of Peter.
— Burns : A Dream.
Paumie and taws. All Scottish
school-boys, past and present,
have painful knowledge of the
meaning of these two words.
Paumie is a stroke over the
open hand, with a cane or the
taws. The taws is a thong of
leather cut into a fringe at the
end, and hardened in the fire.
It is, and was, the recognised
mode of punishment for slight
offences or breaches of dis-
cipline at school, when the
master was unwilling to resort
to the severer and more de-
grading punishment, inflicted a
posteriori, after the fashion of
Dr. Busby. Paumie is derived
from the palm of the hand, the
French peaume, and taws is the
plural form of the Gaelic taod,
a rope, a scourge.
Pawky, of a sly humour, wise,
witty, cautious, discreet, and
insinuating, — all in one. There
is no synonym for this word
in English. The etymology is
unknown.
The pawky auld carle cam owre the lea,
Wi' mony good e'ens and good days to
me.
Dear Smith, the slee'est, /aw^V thief.
—Burns: To James Smith.
ISO
Peat-Reek — Pedder- coffe.
Peat-Reek and Mountain Dew.
Peat-Reck is the smoke of peat
when dried and burned for fuel,
the flavour of which used to be
highly appreciated in Scottish
whiskey, when made by illicit
■ distillers in lonely glens among
the mountains, out of the usual
reach of the exciseman. From
the solitary places of its manu-
facture, whiskey received the
poetic name of Mountain Dew,
or the "Dew ofiE Ben Nevis,"
which it still retains.
Mountain Dew, clear as a Scot's under-
standing,
Pure as his conscience wherever he goes,
Warm as his heart to the friends he has
chosen,
Strong as his arm when he fights with
his foes !
In liquor Uke this should old Scotland be
toasted,
So fill up again, and the pledge we'll
renew ;
Unsullied in honour, our blessings upon
her—
Scotland for ever ! and old Mountain
Dew /— Mackay.
Pech, to pant, to blow, for want
of breath. Derived by Jamieson
from the Danish 'pikken, to pal-
pitate.
My Pegasus I gat astride.
And up Parnassus /^c,^/«'.
— Burns : To Willie Chalmers.
There comes young Monks of high com-
plexion.
Of mind devout, love and affection ;
And in his court their hot flesh dart (tame),
Fule father-like with ^ech and pant,
They are sa humble of intercession,
Their errand all kind women grant,
Sic tidings heard I at the session.
—Allan Ramsay : The Evergreen—
Frae the Session.
Pechan, the stomach.
Ev'n the ha' folk fill Xh€\r pechan
Wi' sauce, ragouts, and such like trashtrie.
That's little short o' downright wastrie.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
This word seems to be a cor-
ruption of the Gaelic ^oc, a bag,
a poke ; and pocan, a little bag f
and to be ludicrously applied
to the belly or stomach. The
English slang peckish, hungry, is
probably derived from the same
root, and not from the beak, or
peck of a bird.
Pedder-coffe, a pedlar. In Allan
Ramsay's " Evergreen," a poem
ascribed to Sir David Ljmdsay
is entitled a " Description of
Pedder-coffs, their having no
regard to honesty in their voca-
tion." Both pedder and coffe are
of Teutonic derivation ; ped,
sometimes written p>ad, from
the German pfad ; Flemish pad,
a path ; and coffe or koffe, from
kail fen, to buy ; whence a pedlar
signified a walking merchant
who carried his wares along
with him. But it should be
observed with regard to the
Teutonic derivation, that in the
Kymric, or ancient language of
Wales, more ancient than the
German, padd signifies one that
keeps a course. Attempts have
been made to trace pedlar to
ped, a local word in some parts
of England for a basket : but
this derivation would not ac-
count for pedder, a mounted
highwayman ; for ioot-pad, a
Mghway robber on foot, from
Peel — P eerie.
iji
the slang expression among
thieves and beggars to go on
the 'pad, i.e., on the tramp.
Jamieson derives the Scottish
pedder from the barbarous low
Latin pedariuSj i.e., nudis ambu-
lans pedibus. Sir David Lynd-
say in his poem was exceed-
ingly indignant, both with the
Pedders and the Coffes, who
seem to have been in their mode
of transacting business with
the country people, whom they
favoured with their visits on
their peregrinations through
districts afar from towns, the
exact counterparts of the tally-
men at the present day. He
recommends, in the interest of
the people, that wherever the
" pedder knaves appear in a
burgh or town where there is
a magistrate, that their lugs
should be cuttit off," as a warn-
ing to all cheats and regrators.
A similar outcry is sometimes
raised against the "tallymen,"
or travelling linen-drapers and
haberdashers, who tempt the
wives of working men, and poor
people generally, to buy their
goods at high prices, and accept
small weekly payments on ac-
count, until their extortionate
bills are liquidated.
Peel, a border tower, a small for-
tress, of which few specimens
are now left standing. A very
interesting one, however, still
remains in the town of Melrose.
Possibly a corruption of bield,
a shelter.
And black Joan, frae Creighton-/^^/,
O' gipsy kith an' kin'.
—Burns : T^e Five Carlins.
An' when they came to the fair Dodhead
Right hastily they clam (climbed) the
peel,
They loosened the kye out, ane and a',
An' ranshackled the house right weel.
—Border Minstrelsy : Jamie Telfer.
Peep, to utter a faint cry or sound,
like an infant or a young bird.
Peepie-weepie, a querulous and
tearful child ; peep-snia\ a feeble
voice, a weak person who has to
submit to the domination of one
stronger ; synonymous with the
English "sing small." "He
daurna play peep," he must not
utter a word in defence of him-
self. In Dutch and Flemish,
pirpen signifies to cry like an
infant ; and piep-yong is a word
for a very young or new-born
child. The etymology is that
of pipe, or the sound emitted
by a flute or pipe, when gently
blown upon.
Peesweep, a lapwing, or plover ;
peesweep -like, a contemiptihle epi-
thet applied to a feeble, sharp-
featured man or woman, with a
shrill but not loud voice, like
the cry of a plover.
Peerie, pearie or perie, a hum-
ming top; sometimes a peg-
top ; from the Gaelic beur (6
pronounced as p), to hum, to
buzz. Brand, in his well-known
work on Popular Antiquities,
quotes Jamieson as his autho-
rity. He defines it to mean a
peg-top, and adds that the
152
Peik- thank — Pensy.
name was apparently derived
from its close similarity to a
pear, and that the Scotch origin-
ally called it a French pear or
jiearie, because it was first im-
ported from France.
Peik-thank, is, according to
Jamieson, an ungrateful person,
one who returns little or no
thanks for benefits conferred.
PeiJc in this phrase seems to be
a corruption and misspelling of
the Gaelic beag {b pronounced
as p), little. Jamieson derives
it from the Italian poco.
The EnglishpichthanJc appears
to have had a different origin
and meaning, and signifies,
according to the examples of
its use in Nares, a sycophant,
a favourite, a flatterer, who
strove to pick up, acquire, or
gather thanks from the great
and powerful Shakspeare has
"smiling picJc-thanlcs, and base
newsmongers ; " Fairfax, "a flat-
terer, a pick-thank, and a liar."
Possibly, however, the Scot-
tish and English interpretations
of the word may be more akin
than might appear at first
glance. Sycophants, flatterers,
and parasites are proverbially
ungrateful, unless it be, as La
Rochefoucauld so wittily asserts,
** for favours to come."
Pendles, ear-rings ; from pen-
dants.
She's got pendles in her lugs,
Cockle-shells wad set her better ;
High-heel'd shoon and siller tags,
And a' the lads are wooin' at her.
Be a lassie e'er sae black,
Gin she ware the penny -siller.
Set her up on Tintock tap,
The wind will blaw a man till her !
— Herd's Collection : Tibbie Fowler.
Pennarts. Jamieson says this
word means "revenge," and
quotes the proverbial saying,
" I'se hae pennarts o' him yet ; "
suggesting that the derivation
may be from pennyioorths. It
is more likely to be from the
Gaelic 2?ein, punishment; peanas,
revenge ; and pein-aixi, high or
great revenge.
Penny-fee, wages. Penny is com-
monly used in Scottish par-
lance for money generally, as in
penny-siller, a great quantity of
money ; penny-maister, the town-
treasurer ; penny - wedding, a
wedding at which every guest
contributed towards the ex-
pense of the marriage festival ;
penny-frierid, a friend whose
only friendship is for his friend's
money. The French use denier,
and the Itahans danari, in the
same sense.
Peny is ane hardy knyght,
Peny is mekyl of myght,
Peny of wrong he raaketh ryght
In every country where he go.
— Ritson's Ancient Songs and
Ballads : A Song in Praise
of Sir Peny.
My riches a's ray penny-fee,
And I maun guide it canny, O.
—Burns : My Nannie, O.
Pensy, proud, conceited ; above
one's station. Probably a cor-
ruption of pensive or thought-
ful
Perlins — Pickle.
153
Helen Walker was held among her
equals to be pensy, but the facts brought
to prove this accusation seem only to
evince a strength of character superior to
those around her.— Scott : Heart of Mid-
lothian,
Perlins or pearlins, fine linen
ornamented with lace work or
knitted work.
Oh where, oh where, is her auld son,
Spak out the Lammikin ;
He's gane to \)\xy pearlins
Gin our lady lye in.
These pearlins she shall never wear,
Spak out the Lammikin.
— Herd's Collection : Lammikin,
Pemickitie (sometimes written
prig-7iickitie), precise about
trifles; finicking, over -dainty,
trim, neat, nicely dressed,
adorned with trifling articles
of finery, or knick - knackets.
Etymology doubtful.
The English are sae pemickity about
what they eat, but no ?^^ pemickity about
what they drink. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Peuter or peuther, to canvass, to
solicit votes, to thrust one's
self forward in election times to
ask for support ; from the Gaelic
'put, to thrust, and putair, one
who thrusts ; and the Flemish
peuteren, to poke one's fingers
into other people's business, —
rendered in the French and
Flemish Dictionary (1868),
" pousser les doigts, dans quel-
que chose."
He has peuthered Queensferry and In-
verkeithing, and they say he will begin to
peuther Stirling next week. — Jamieson.
Philabeg or fillabeg, the kilt as
worn by the Highlanders ; lite-
rally a little cloth; from the
Q2lq\\q, fileadk, a cloth, a woven
garment, and heag, little.
Oh to see his tartan trews.
Bonnet blue, and laigh-heeled shoes,
Philabeg aboon his knee —
That's the laddie I'll gang wi'.
— Geddes : Lewie Gordon.
r faith, quo' John, I got sic flegs (frights)
Wi' their claymore and philabegs.
If I face them again, deil break my legs,
So I wish you a good mornin'.
—Jacobite Ballad: Hey Johnnie Cope.
They put on him z. philabeg.
An' up his dowp they rammed a peg,
How he did skip, and he did roar,
The deils ne'er saw sic fun before.
They took him niest to Satan's ha',
There to lilt wi' his grandpapa ;
Says Cumberland, I'll no gang ben
For fear I meet wi' Charlie's men.
— Jacobite Ballad : Bonnie Laddie
Highland Laddie.
Pickle, a small quantity; from
the Italian piccolo, small, akin
to the Gaelic heag {or peag), little.
PicJcle in familiar English, as
applied to a small, unruly, and
troublesome boy, is of the same
origin ; "a wee pickle saut,"
a very small quantity of salt ;
** a. pickle o' tow," a small quan-
tity of flax or hemp for spinning
into yarn. Pickle is sometimes
used for pilfer, to steal small
things. *' To pickle in one's ain
pock, or peuk," i.e., to take
grain out of one's own bag, is a
proverbial expression signifying
to depend on one's own resources
or exertions. A hen is said to
''pickle up" when she searches
for and feeds on grain. The
word, in these senses, is not from
154
Pig — Pinkie-small.
the same source as pickle, to pre-
serve in salt or ^dnegar.
She gies the herd 2i pickle nits
And twa red-cheekit apples.
— Burns : Halloween.
Pig, an earthen pitcher or other
vessel, a flower-pot. Piggerie,
a place for the manufacture of
crockery and earthenware . Pig-
man and pigwife, hawkers of
crockery, or keepers of shops
where earthenware is sold ; from
the Gaelic pigeadh, an earthen
pot or jar ; pigean, a little pot ;
pigeadair, a potter or manufac-
turer of crockery. The English
pig iron, iron in a lump, before
its final manufacturing by fire
into a superior quality, seems
to be derived from its coarse
nature, as resembling the masses
of clay from which crockery and
earthenware are formed by the
similar agency of fire.
My Paisley pig-gy
Contains my drink, but then, oh.
No wines did e'er my brains engage
To tempt my mind to sin, oh.
— Chambers's Scots Songs : The
Country I.ass.
She that gangs to the well wi' ill-will
Either thepig breaks or the water will spill.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Where the pig's broken, let the shards lie.
— Idem.
An English lady, who had never before
been in Scotland, arranged to spend the
night at a respectable inn, in a small pro-
vincial town in the south. Desiring to
make her as comfortable as possible, Grizzy,
the chambermaid, on showing her to the
bedroom, said —
" Would you like to hae a pig in your
bed this cauld nicht, mem ? "
" A what ? " said the lady.
" A pig, mem ; I will put a pig in your
bed to keep you warm ! "
" Leave the room, young woman ; your
mistress shall hear of your insolence."
" Nae offence, I hope, mem. It was my
mistress bade me ask it, an' I'm sure she
meant it oot o' kindness."
The lady was puzzled, but feeling satis-
fied that no insult was intended, she looked
at the girl and then said pleasantly —
" Is it common in this country for ladies
to have/z^5 in their beds?"
" Gentlemen hae them tae, mem, when
the weather's cauld. I'll steek the mouth
o't an* tie it up in a clout."
A right understanding was come to at
last, and the lady found the pig with hot
water in her bed not so disagreeable as she
imagined. — Douglas's Scottish Wit and
Humour.
A rich Glasgow manufacturer, an illi-
terate man who had risen from the ranks,
having ordered a steam yacht, sent for a
London artist to decorate the panels in
the principal cabin. The artist asked what
kind of decoration he required ? The reply
was, Ony thing simple, just a pig ivi a
flower. Great was the surprise of the
Glasgow body when the work was com-
pleted, to see that the decoration con-
sisted of swine, each with a flower in its
jaws, which had been painted on every
panel. He made no complaint — paid the
bill, and declared the effect to be satisfac-
tory, though " it was no exactly what he
had meant in ordering it." — Traits q/
Scottish Life.
Pike, to pick and steal ; pUde, one
addicted to pilfering and petty
thefts.
By these pickers and stealers.
— Shakspeare : Hamlet.
Pinch and drouth, hunger and
thirst.
Nae mair -wx pinch and drouth we'll pine
As we hae done — a dog's propine —
But quaflf our draughts o' rosy wine,
Carle ! an' the king come.
— Jacobite Song.
Pinkie-small, the smallest candle
that is made, the weakest kind
Pirrie-dog — Pit-dark.
155
of table beer, anything small.
The word is also applied to the
eye when contracted.
There's a wee pinkie hole in the stock-
ing. — Jamieson.
Possibly this word is from the
Latin punctus, a point, or from
the Dutch and Flemish 'pink,
the little finger, and pink-oogen,
to look with half -closed eyes.
The Kymric pine signifies a
small branch or twig.
Pirrie-dog, a dog that follows at
his master's heels ; pirrie, to
follow and fawn upon one, like
a dependant, for what can be
gained from or wheedled out
of him. Jamieson derives this
word from the Teutonic paeren,
or paaren, to pair or couple ;
and refers to parry, an Aber-
' deenshire word, with a quota-
tion, " When ane says parry,
a' say parry,'' signifying that
when anything is said by a
person of consequence, it is
echoed by every one else. The
true origin both of pirrie and
the Aberdonian parry seems to
be the Gaelic peire, a polite word
for the breech. A dog that fol-
lows at the heels is a euphemism
for a less mentionable part of the
person. Jamieson suggests that
the Aberdeenshire parry is de-
rived from the French il parait ;
but the Gaelic peire better suits
the humour of the aphorism.
Piss-a-bed, a vulgar name for
the dandelion or taraxacum — a
beautiful, though despised, wild
flower of the fields. The word
appears to have originated in
Scotland, and thence to have
extended to England. It is a
corruption of the Gaelic pios,
a cup, and buidhe, " yellow — a
yellow cup, not, however, to
be confounded with buttercup,
another wild flower — the com-
panion in popular affection of
the daisy.
The daisy has its poets, — all have striven
Its world-wide reputation to prolong ;
But here's its yellow neighbour ! — who
has given
The dandelion a song ?
Come, little sunflower, patient in neglect,
Will ne'er a one of them assert thy
claim.
But, passing by, contemptuouslj'^ connect
Thee and thy Scottish name ?
— Robert Leighton : To a Dandelion.
Several years before Robert
Leighton strove to vindicate
the fair fame of the dandelion,
a couplet in its praise appeared
in the Illustrated London News,
in a poem entitled " Under the
Hedge " :—
Dandelions with milky ring,
Coins of the mintage of the spring. '
Pit-dark, dark as in the bottom
of a pit.
'Tis y^t pit-dark, the yard a' black about,
And the night fowl begin again to shout.
— Ross's Helenore.
It is very probable that pit-
dark was the original form of
the English pitch-dark, as dark
as pitch, i.e., as dark as tar, or
coal tar. The etymology from
pit, a hole, is preferable.
156
Pixie — Plea.
Pixie, a fairy. This Scottish
word is used in some parts of
England, particularly in the
south and west. It has been
supposed to be a corruption of
fuck, or jouckie, little puck,
sometimes called Kobin Good-
fellow. It is more probably
from the Gaelic beag (peg), little,
sith (shee), a fairy, anglicised
into pixie, a little fairy, a fairy
sprite. Puch is the name of one
particular goblin and sprite in
Shakspeare, and in popular
tradition ; but the pixies are
multitudinous, and the words
puck and pixie are from different
sources. The English puck is
the word that, in one variety
or another, runs through many
European languages. The Welsh
or Kymric has pivca (pooca), a
goblin, a sprite, the Gaelic bocan,
and Lowland Scottish bogie, the
Russian bug, the Dutch and
Flemish spook, the German spuk,
&c.
Pixie-rings are fairy-rings, sup-
posed to be made in the grass
by the footsteps, not of one
puck, but of many little sprites
that gamble by moonlight on
the green pixie-stool, a popular
name for the fungus, sometimes
called toad-stool; pixie-led, be-
wildered and led astray by the
ignis fatuus, Jack o' Lantern, or
WiU o' the Wisp.
Plack, an ancient Scottish coin
of the value of one-twelfth of
an English penny.
There's yam plack an' my plack.
An' Jenny's bawbee.
—Old Song.
Nae howdie gets a social night.
Or plack frae them.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Stretch a joint to catch 2i plack.
Abuse a brother to his back.
— Burns : To Gavin Hamilton.
The word is probably derived
from the ancient Flemish coin,
a flaquette, current before the
introduction into the Nether-
lands of the French money,
reckoned by francs and cen-
times.
Plea, a lawsuit ; the substitution
of the aggregate of law for the
segregate. The English verb, to
plead, has received in Scottish
parlance a past tense which does
not correctly belong to it, in
the phrase, " he jpZerf guilty," in-
stead of ''he pleaded guilty," as
if plead were a word of Teutonic
origin and subject to the Teu-
tonic inflexion which governs
most of the ancient English
verbs, which are derived from
the Dutch, German, or Dan-
ish, such as "bleed, bled;"
"blow, blew;" "run, ran;"
" freeze, froze," &c. &c. Verbs
derived from the Latin and
French cannot be correctly con-
jugated in the past tense, ex-
cept by the addition of d or ed
to the infinitive, as in " coerce,
coerced ; " "plead, pleaded."
l>ia.eplea is best. (It is best not to go to
law at a\\.)—Old Proverb.
When neighbours anger at 3. plea,
The barley bree
Cements the quarrel. — Burns.
Pliskie — Fluff.
157
Pliskie, a trick, a prank. From
the Gaelic plaosgach, a sudden
noise, a flash, a blaze.
Her lost militia fired her blood,
Deil na they never mae do guid.
Played her ihdX pliskie.
— Burns : Author's Earnest Cry
and Prayer.
Ghaist ! ma certie, I sail ghaist them 1
If they had their heads as muckle on their
wark as on her daffins, they wadna play
svzpliskies /—Scott : St. Ronans Well.
Plooky, swollen, blotchy, pimpled.
From the Gaelic 'ploc, a tumour,
a bunch, a knob, a swelling.
The English slang Udke, a swell,
is probably from the same root.
Plooky, plooky are your cheeks,
And plooky is your chin,
And plooky are your armis twa
My bonnie queen's layne in,
— Scott's Minstrels of the Scottish
Border: Sir Hugh Le Blonde.
Plotcock, the devil ; the dweller
in the pit of hell, the fiend, the
archenemy. This singular word,
or combination of words, appears
in Jamieson as "from the Ice-
landic Blotgod, a name of the
Scandinavian Pluto ; or hlothoh
— from blot, to sacrifice ; and
hoka, to swallow — i.e., the swal-
lower of sacrifices." May not
a derivation be found nearer
home than in Iceland: in the
Gaelic hlot (pronounced xilot), a
pit, a cavern ; and cog, to con-
spire, to tempt, to cheat 1
Since you can cog, I'll play no more with
you.
— Shakspeare : Love's Labour's Lost.
Lies, coggeries, and impostures.
— Nares.
The Kymric has coegiaw, or
cogio, to cheat, to trick. To cog
dice was to load the dice for the
the purpose of cheating; and
cogger, in old English, signified
a swindler, a cheat. This deri-
vation would signify the cheat,
the tempter who dwells in the
cavern or bottomless pit of hell ;
and might have been included
by Burns in his "Address to
the Deil," among the other
names which he bestows upon
that personage.
Plout, plouter, to wade with dif-
ficulty through mire or water ;
akin to the English plod, as in
the line in Gray's Elegy : —
The ploughman homewards //(7^5 his
weary way.
From the Gaelic plodan, a clod
of mud or mire, a small pool of
water ; plodanachd, the act of
paddling in the water or the
mud.
Flouting through thick and thin.
— Grose.
Many a -wtsxy plouter she cost him
Through gutters and glaur.
— Jamieson : Popular Ballads.
Had it no been, Mr. North, for your
plowterin' in a* the rivers and lochs o'
Scotland, like a Newfoundland dog.
— Nodes Ambrosiance.
Ploy, a plot, scheme, contri-
vance.
I wish he mayna hae been at the bottom
o' t\\t.ploy himsel'. — Scott : Rob Roy.
Pluff, a slight emission or short
puff of smoke, either from a
tobacco-pipe or of gas from a
burning coal; possibly of the
158
Pockpud — Point.
same derivation as the English
•puff, a slight, short or sudden
movement of the wind or the
breath.
Pockpud, an abbreviation of the
contemptuous epithet of -pock-
pudding applied by the Scottish
multitude to the English, in the
bygone days when the English
were as unpopular in Scotland
as the Scotch still are among
the more ignorant of the lower
classes in England.
They gloom, they glower, they look sae
big.
At ilka stroke they fell a Whig ;
They'll fright the fuds o' the Pock^uds,
For mony a buttock 's bare coming.
— Jacobite Song, 1743.
The English pockpuddings ken nae
better. — Sir Walter Scott : Waverley.
Pock-shaking's, a humorous and
vulgar term applied to the last
born child of a large family,
expressive of the belief that no
more are to be expected.
Poind, to lay a distraint on a
debtor's goods, to make a seiz-
ure for non-payment or arrears
of rent. The word was once
current in English, and survives
in a corrupt form, as impound,
and pound, an enclosure for
stray cattle. The oflQcer whose
duty it was to impound was
formerly called a pindar, a
word that survives in tradition
or legend in the '^Pindar of
Wakefield," celebrated in con-
nection with the deeds, real or
fabulous, of Eobin Hood and his
merry band of poachers and out-
laws. The etymology is from
the French poigne, the closed
fist, and empoigner, to seizre.
Multiple-^omc^in^r is a Scottish
law-phrase, expressive of a series
of poindings.
An' was na I a weary wight,
They poind my gear and slew my knight :
My servants a' for life did flee,
An' left me in extremitie.
— Lament of the Border Widow.
"A puir poind" signifies a
weak, silly person, metaphori-
cally applied to one who is not
substantial enough to take hold
of, intellectually or morally ; one
of no account or importance.
Point, an old Scottish word for
state of body ; almost equivalent
to the modem "form," which
implies good condition generally
of body, mind, and manners.
Murray said that he never saw the Queen
in better health or in better point. —
Robertson : History of Mary Queen of
Scots.
This is a French idiom, nearly allied to
that which is now familiar to English ears,
en bon point. " In better point " signifies
more plump, or in fuller habit of body. —
Jamieson.
The word point has so many
meanings, all derivable from and
traceable to the Latin punctus,
such as the point of a weapon ;
puncture, the pinch of a sharp
weapon ; punctual, true to the
point of time, or the time ap-
pointed, &c., as to suggest that
the etymology of point, in the
sense of the French en bon point,
and of the old Scotch, as used
by Robertson in his reference to
Post — Pow.
159
Queen Mary, must be other than
punctus. En bon point is euphem-
istic for stout, fat, fleshy, in-
clining to corpulency — all of
which words imply the reverse
of pointed. It is possible that
the true root is the Gaelic bun
{b pronounced as p), foundation,
root ; applied to one who is in
solid and substantial health or
condition of body ; well formed
and established, physically and
morally. The word is indica-
tive of stability rather than of
sharpness or pointedness. The
now current slang of " form,"
derived from the language of
grooms, jockeys, and racing
men, springs from the same idea
of healthiness and good condi-
tion. The Gaelic bunanta signi-
fies firm, well-set, and estab-
lished. The colloquial and
vulgar word bum is from the
same root of bun, and produces
fundament; the French fonde-
ment, the bottom, the founda-
tion.
Post, to tramp, to tread. To post
the linen was to tread upon it
with the bare feet in the wash-
ing-tub, a common practice
among the women of the work-
ing-classes in Scotland. Seen
for the first time by English
travellers in the far North, the
fashion excited not only their
surprise, but sometimes their
admiration, by the display of
the shapely limbs of the bonnie
Highland and Lowland lassies
engaged in the work, with their
petticoats kilted up to the knee,
without the faintest suspicion
of immodesty. Post is derived
from the Gaelic, "to tread;"
postadh, treading; postanach, a
little child that is just begin-
ning to walk or tread. The
word is thus of a different origin
and meaning from jpos^, an oflSce,
a station, a place, which is de-
rived from the Latin positum.
The post-office and the postal
service, words which are com-
mon to nearly all the European
languages, are more probably
traceable to the Gaelic and
Celtic source, in the sense of
tread and tramp, than to the
Latin positum. The postman
treads his accustomed rounds
to the great convenience of
the public in all civilised coun-
tries.
In scouring woollen clothes or coarse
linen when the strength of arm and manual
friction are found insufficient, the High-
land women put them in a tub with a
proper quantity of water, and then with
petticoats tucked up commence the opera-
tion of posting. When three women are
engaged, one commonly tramps in the
middle, and the others tramp around her.
This process is called postadh. — Arm-
strong's Gaelic Dictionary, 1820.
Pot, a deep pool, or eddy in a
river.
The neist step that she waded in, ,
She waded to the chin ;
The deepest pot in Clyde water
They gat sweet Willie in.
—Ballad of Willie and May Margaret.
Pow or powe, the head ; from the
old English poll. The impost
called the "Poll-tax," that
created such great dissatisfac-
i6o
Powsoudie — Prick-me-dainty.
tion in the days of Wat Tyler,
was a personal tax on the head
or i^oll.
There is little wit in \v\?,j>ow
That lights the candle at the low [or fire].
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The miller was of manly make,
To meet him was nae mows [joke] ;
There durst not ten cum him to take,
Sae noytit [thumped] he their pows.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Fat pouches bode lean pows. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Blessings on your frosty /<?«/,
John Anderson, my jo.
— Burns.
Powsoudie. Sheep's head broth.
This word occurs in the humo-
rous ballad by Francis Semple,
"Fy let us a' to the bridal,"
which contains an ample list of
all the dainty eatables served up
at a marriage-feast among the
rural population of Scotland in
the seventeenth century.
And there'll be fadges and bracken.
And fouth o' gude gebbocks o' skate,
Powsoudie and drammock and crowdie.
And caller nowte-feet on a plate.
— Watson's Collection, 1706.
The word is compounded of
^ow, the head, and soudie, broth.
Powt, a young fowl or chicken ;
from the French, poule and
poulte ; in English, poultry and
poulterer.
Ye peep (chirp or pipe) like a powt,
O Tammy, my man, are ye turned a saunt ?
— Hew Ainslee : Tarn d the Balloch.
Free, to taste, to sip, " \,opree the
mou," to kiss the mouth. A
story his long been current that
a young English nobleman,
visiting at Gordon Castle, had
boasted that during his six
weeks' shooting in the north he
had acquired so much Scotch
that it was impossible to puzzle
him. The beautiful and cele-
brated Duchess of Gordon took
up his challenge, and defied him
to interpret the sentence, " Come
pree my bonnie mou, my canty
callant." It was with intense dis-
gust that he afterwards learned
what a chance he had lost by
his ignorance.
Ye tell me that my lips are sweet,
Sic tales I doubt are a' deceit.
At any rate it's hardly meet,
To pree their sweets before folk.
— Chambers's Scotch Songs : Behave
Yoursel before Folk.
Preen, a pin; from the Gaelic
prine, a pin ; prineachan, a little
pin ; prinich, to secure with pins.
Prick-me-dainty, prick-ma-leerie.
These two apparently ridiculous
phrases have the same meaning,
that of a finical, conceited, super-
fine person, in his manners or
dress, one who affects airs of
superiority — without the neces-
sary qualifications for the part
he assumes. Jamieson suggests
that prick-me-dainty is from the
English prick-me-daintily ! Of
prick-ma-leerie, he conjectures
nothing. Both phrases seem to
be traceable to the Gaelic hreagh,
fine, beautiful, braw ; and deanta,
complete, finished, perfected ;
and leor or leoir, enough, suffi-
cient, entirely ; so that prick-
me-dainty resolves itself into a
Prig — Puirtith,
i6r
corruption of breagh-me-deanta,
I am beautifully perfect ; and
prick - ma - leerie into breagh - ma-
leor, I am beautiful entirely. A
comic and scornful depreciation
miderlies both phrases.
Prig", to cheapen, to beat down
the price; whence the English
word prig, a conceited person,
who thinks he knows better
than other people. The English,
''to prig" in the sense of com-
mitting a petty theft, appears
to have no connection with the
Scottish word.
Men who grew wise PriggifC ower hops
and raisins.
—Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Ane o' the street-musician crew
Is hvL^y priggin wi' him now ;
An' twa auld sangs he swears are new,
He pawns on Jock ;
For an auld hod o' coals half fou,
A weel-matched troke.
—James Ballantine ; Coal Jock.
Jamieson defines to prig as
to haggle, and derives it from
the Flemish prachgen, to beg ;
French briguer, barter,, from
bngue, ** rechercher avec ar-
deur."
Prig. — I don't know how this word in
Scotch means to cheapen, and in English
to steal ; perhaps there is some connection
which a knowledge of the root from which
it comes would help us to understand.
Prig, as a conceited person, is purely a
conventional use of the word. Prig in
Scotch has also the meaning of earnestly
to entreat. " I prigged wi' him for mair
nor an' hour that he shouldna leave me."
— R. Dkennan.
Prink and preen. Prinlc signifies
to adorn, to dress out in finery ;
preen or prein, a pin — or to pin ;
and preen-head, a pin's head.
She has prinked hersell and preen' d hersell
By the ae light o' the mune,
And she's awa to Castelhaugh
To speak wi' young Tamlane.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border ;
Ballad of the Young Tamlane.
Prinkling, a slight pricking; a;
tingling sensation, either of
pain or pleasure.
Her wily glance I'll ne'er forget,
The dear, the lovely blinkin' o't.
Has pierced me through and through
the heart,
And plagues me in the prinkling o't.
The parson kissed the tinker's wife,
An' coudna preach for thinking o't.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs: Love's
Like a Dizziness.
Prog, to goad, to stab, to thrust,
to prick, to probe ; metaphori-
cally, to taunt, to gibe, to pro-
voke by a sarcastic remark; a
sting, a lance, an arrow. From
the Kymric proc, a thrust ; and
pi'ociaw, to thrust or stab.
Prapine, a gift, or the power of
giving. Also drink-money —
equivalent to the German word
trink-geld, the French pour boire,
and the English tip. To propine
also means to pledge another in
drinking, or to touch glasses in
German fashion.
If I were there and in thy propine,
Oh, what wad ye do to me.
—Border Minstrelsy : Lady Anne.
Puirtith, poverty.
Oh puirtith cauld, and restless love,
Ye wreck my peace atween ye ;
Yet puirtith a' I could forgi'e.
An' 'twerna for my Jeanie.
—Burns.
1 62
Punchy — Quarters.
Punchy, thick, short, squat, and
broad; applied to the human
frame. From the Gaelic hun,
foundation ; and bunaich, to
establish firmly on a broad
foundation.
Purlicue, the unnecessary flourish
which people sometimes afiix at
the end of their signatures ; also,
a whim, a caprice ; and, in de-
rision, the summing up of a
judgment, and the peroration
of a sermon or a speech. The
French par la queue, by the tail
or finish, has been suggested as
the derivation.
Puslic (more properly huslicJc),
a cow-sherd, gathered in the
fields when dried by the weather,
and stored for winter fuel by
the poor. According to Jamie-
son, this is a Dumfriesshire and
Galloway word, and used in
such phrases as ** dry as a pus-
lick," and "as light as a pus-
lich" It is compounded of the
two Gaelic words buac, cow-
dung; and leag, a dropping, or
to drop or let fall: used in a
similar sense to the English
" horse-droppings," applied to
the horse-dung gathered in the
roads.
Pyle, a small quantity ; small as
a hair, or as a grain. From the
Latin pUus, French poil.
The cleanest corn that e'er was dight
May hae some p^les o' caff in.
— Burns : T/ie Unco Guid.
Pyot, a magpie ; from the Gaelic
pighe, a bird.
I tent it z.pyot
Sat chatterin' on the house heid.
— Andrew Sutar : Sytnon and
J-anet.
Q
Quarters, a place of residence or
abode, a domicile, an apartment
or lodging.
An' it's oh for siccan quarters
As I gat yesternight.
— King James V.. : W£^ II Gang
Nae Mair a-Rovin.
Quarters, in this sense, is not
derived from quatuor, or from
the fourth part, as is generally
asserted in the dictionaries, and
exemplified by the common
phrase, "From which quarter
does the wind blow ? " i.e., from
whicTi of tbe fmir points of the
compass ? The true derivation
of quarter, the French quartier,
and of the military functionary,
the Quarter-master General, is
the Gaelic cuairt, a circle.
" Paris," says Bescherelle in his
French Dictionary, " was for-
merly divided into four quar-
ters ; it is now divided into
forty-eight, which, if quarters
were translated into circZe, would
not be an incongruous expres-
sion, as it is when quarter repre-
Quean — Quey.
I6J
sents a fourth part only." The
French use the word arrondisse-
ment in the same sense, which
supports the Gaelic etymology.
The quarter or habitation of a
bird is its nest, which is a circle.
"The circle of one's acquaint-
ance," and " the social circle,"
are common expressions ; and
the points of the compass are
aU points in a circle, which, as
all navigators know, are con-
siderably more than four.
Quean, wench, winklot. These
are all familiar or disrespectful
terms for a woman.
I wat she was a cantie guean.
And weel could dance the Highland
walloch.
—Roy's Wife.
By that the dancin' was all done.
Their leave took less or mair,
"When the ivtnklots and the woers turn'd
To see it was heart -sair.
—Peblis to the Play.
Quean, like queen, seems to ori-
nate in the Greek yvf, a woman ;
Danish quinde, a woman ; quin-
delig, feminine ; Gaelic gin, to
beget, to generate ; gineal, off-
spring. Wench, by the common
change of gu into w^ as in war
for guerre, is from the same
root. Wink-lot, or wench-let, as
a little wench or quean, is of the
same parentage.
Queer cuffin. English and Scot-
tish gipsy slang — a justice of
the peace. This phrase is of
venerable antiquity, and is a
relic of the Druidical times
when the arch-druid, or chief
priest, was called coibhi {coivi),
since corrupted into cuffin. The
arch-druid was the chief ad-
ministrator of justice, and sat
in his coi^, or court (whence
qu^er), accessible to all sup-
pliants ; like Joshua, Jephtha,
Eli, and Samuel, judges of
Israel. A Druidical proverb,
referring to this august per-
sonage of the olden time, is
still current among the Gaelic-
speaking population of the
Highlands, that " the stone is
not nearer to the ground on
which it rests, than is the ear
of Coibhi to those who apply to
him for justice."
Queet, an ankle ; sometimes writ-
ten cute (which see).
The firstan step that she stept in,
She steppit to the gueet ;
" Ochone ! alas ! " said that lady,
" The water's wondrous deep."
— Buchan's Aficient Ballads: The
Drowned Lovers.
I let him cool his cutes at the door.
— Jamieson : Aberdeenshire Proverb.
Quey, a young cow ; from the
Danish quay, cattle, the Ger-
man vieh, the Dutch and Flem-
ish vee.
Amang the brachans on the brae,
Between her and the moon,
The Deil, or else some outler quey.
Gat up and gae a croon.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
The cow was eager to browse the pas-
turage on which she had been fed when
she was a young and happy guey.—Noctes
AmbrosiancB.
1 64
Rad — Rattan,
R
Rad, to fear, to be afraid, or to
guessr
I am right rad of treasonry.
— Song of the Outlaw Murray.
O ance ye danced upo' the knowes.
And ance ye lightly sang,
But in herrying o' a bee byke
I'm rad ye gat a stang.
— Burns : Ye hae been a' wrang,
Lasiie.
Jamieson derives rad from the
Danish raed, afraid, which
meets the sense of the passage
in which it is used by Burns.
The sense, however, would be
• equally well rendered by a
derivation from the Danish,
Flemish, and Dutch raad, Ger-
man ratherif to guess or conjec-
ture.
Ram and ran. The Scottish lan-
guage contains many expressive
and humorous words commenc-
ing with the syllables ram and
ran, which are synonymous,
and imply force, roughness,
disorder ; and which appear to
be primarily derived from the
Gaelic ran, to roar, to bluster.
Among others are — randy, viol-
ent or quarrelsome ; rampage, a
noisy frolic, or an outburst of ill-
■ humour, a word which Charles
Dickens revived and rendered
popular in the English verna-
cular ; ramgunshocJc, rough, rug-
ged, coarse ; ramshackle, old.
Worn out with rough usage.
Our ramgunshock glum gudeman,
Is out and owre the water.
—Burns : Had I the Wyte.
Rangunshock. This seems to be
a corruption of the Gaelic ran,
to roar; gun, without ; and seach
(pronounced shach), alternation,
i.e., to roar incessantly, without
alternation of quiet.
Rant, to be noisily joyous ; rants,
merry-makings, riotous but joy-
ous gatherings ; ranter, a merry-
maker. From the Gaelic.
My name is Rob the ranter.
— Maggie Lauder.
From out the life o' publick haunts.
But thee, what were our fairs and rants,
Ev'n godly meetings o' the saunts
By thee inspired.
When gapin' they besiege, the tents
Are doubly fired.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Rattan, rottan, a rat. In Flemish
the word is written rat or rot.
Baudrons, in the following quo-
tation, is a famihar name for
a cat.
Then that curst carmagnole, old Satan,
Watches like baudrons by a rattan,
Our sinful souls to get a claut on.
— Burns : Colonel De Peysten.
"Wonderful man, Dr. Candlish," said
one clergyman to another. "What ver-
satility of talent. He's fit for onything ! "
"Aye, aye I that's true; put him doon
a hole, he'd make a capital rottan I " —
Anecdotes of Scottish Wit and Humour.
Rax — Rhah
taint.
165
Rax, to reach; raught, reached;
a corruption, or perhaps the
original of the modern English
word.
Never rax aboon your reach.
The auld guidman raught down the pock.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
And ye may rax Corruption's neck,
And gi'e her for dissection.
— Burns : A Dream.
" Rax me a spaul o' that bubbly Jock."
Reach me a wing of that turkey. — Dean
Ramsav.
Ream, to froth like beer, or
sparkle like wine, to effervesce,
to cream ; from the German
rahmen, to froth; rahm, yeast;
Flemish room.
Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,
Wi' reaming swats that drank divinely.
The swats sae reamed in Tammy's noddle,
Fair play ! he cared na deils a boddle.
— Burns : Tarn 0' Shanter.
The nappy reeks wi' mantling ream..
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
That merry night we got the corn in,
Oh sweetly then thou reafns the horn in.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Reaming dish, a shallow dish for
containing the milk until it is
ready for being creamed.
Red-wud, stark, raging mad.
And now she's like to run red-wud
About her whisker.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
Redy used as an intensitive
prefix to a word, is not uncom-
mon in English and Scottish
literature. Red vengeance is a
vengeance that demands blood ;
and possibly red-wud may mean
a madness that prompts blood.
In Gaelic the great deluge is
called the DUe Ruadk, or red-
flood.
Rede, advice, counsel.
Rede me noght, quod Reason,
No ruth to have
Till lords and ladies
Loves alle truth
And hates alle harlotrie.
— Vision of Piers Ploughman.
Short rede is good rede.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
I rede ye weel— tak care o' skaith—
See there's a guUie !
—Burns : Death and Dr. Homiook.
Ye gallants wight, I rede ye right.
Beware o' bonnie Anne.
—Burns.
This word was once good Eng-
lish, as appears from the ex-
tract from " Piers Ploughman,"
and was used by Chaucer, Gower,
and Shakspeare. It is either
from the Flemish and Dutch
raed, counsel; the German reden,
to speak; or the Gaelic radh,
raidh, or raite, a saying, an
aphorism.
Renchel, a tall, lean, lanky per-
son; from the Gaelic reang, or
reing, thin, lean; and gUlie, a
youth, a young man, a feUow.
He's naething but a lang renchel.
— Jamieson.
Rhaim, Rhame. According to
Jamieson, these words signify
either a commonplace speech,
a rhapsody; or **to run over
anything in a rapid and un-
meaning way," " to repeat by
rote, to reiterate." He thinks
1 66
Rickle — Rind.
it a corruption of rhyme, "be-
. cause proverbs were anciently
expressed in a sort of rhyme."
Is not the true derivation of
the word the Teutonic rahm,
the Flemish room, froth ; to
ream, to cream, to froth, to
eifervesce like soda-water or
champagne? " A /ro^/i^ speaker"
is a common expression of dis-
paragement.
Rickle or ruckle, a loose heap;
rickler, a term of contempt ap-
plied to a bad architect or
■ builder.
I'm grown so thin ; I'm naething but a
rickle o' banes. — Jamieson.
The proud Percy caused hang five of
the Laird's henchmen at Alnwick for burn-
ing a rickle of houses.
Scott : The Monastery.
A wild goose out o' season is but a ruckle
o' banes. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Rigfging. In English this word
is seldom used except in refer-
ence to ships, and the arrange-
ments of their masts, spars,
ropes, &c. In the Scottish lan-
guage it is employed to signify
the roof, cross-beams, &c., of a
house.
This is no my ain house^
I ken by the rigging o't ;
Since with my love I've changed vows,
I dinna like the bigging [building] o't.
— Allan Ramsay.
There by the ingle-cheek
I sat,
And heard the restless rations squeak
About the riggin.
— Burns : The Vision.
The word is derived from the
Teutonic ruQlc^ the Flemish rug,
a ridge, top, or back ; whence
the ridge at the top of the house,
the roof. The rigging tree is the
roof tree. The rigging of a ves-
sel is in like manner the roof, or
ridge of a ship, as distinguished
from the hull. So the colloquial
expression to "rig out," to dress,
to accoutre, to adorn, to put the
finishing touch to one's attire,
comes from the same idea of
completion, which is involved
in the rigging of a ship or of a
house.
Rigwoodie, old, lean, withered.
Withered beldams, auld and droll,
Rigwoodie hags. .
—Burns : Tarn o' Shunter.
Rigwoodie. — " Old, lean, withered."
Mr. Robert Chambers says it means
" worthy of the gallows." Neither of
these meanings is correct. Rigivoodie is
the name of the chain or rope which passes
across the saddle to support the shafts of
a cart or other conveyance — what an Eng-
lishman would call the back band. This
very likely was anciently made of twisted
woodies or saugh or willow wands, now it
is generally made of twisted chain and of
iron. By a very evident metonomy Burns
applied the twisted wrinkled appearance
of a rigwoodie to these old wrinkled hags.
— R. Drennan.
Rind or rhynd, hoar frost ; a cor-
ruption of the English rime, or
possibly of the Kymric rhym,
great cold ; rhyme, to shiver.
Jamieson derives the Scottish
rhynd and the English rime from
the Anglo-Saxon hrim, and the
Dutch and Flemish rym; but
in these languages rym — more
correctly rijm — signifies rhyme,
in versification, not rime or
Ringle-eyed — Rippet.
167
frost. Jihind is all but obsolete
in Lowland Scotch, and has
been superseded by cranreuch,
sometimes written crandruch, a
particularly cold and penetrat-
ing mist or fog. The etymology
is uncertain, but the word is
most probably a corruption
and mispronunciation by the
Lowland Scotch of the Gaelic
grainn, horrible ; whence cran-
reuch, from grainn and driugh,
penetrate, ooze, drip ; whence
also the word drook, to saturate
with moisture, and droohit, wet
through. Jamieson derives cran-
reuch from the Gaelic cranntar-
ach, but no such word is to be
found in the Gaelic dictionaries
of Armstrong, Macleod, and
Dewar, MacAlpine, or the High-
land Society of Edinburgh.
When hailstones drive wi' bitter skyte,
And infant frosts begin to bite
In hoary cranreuch drest.
—Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
Trumpets and shalms with a shout
Played ere the rink began,
And equal judges sat about
To see wha tint or wan
The field that day.
—Allan Ramsay ; The Evergreen.
Then Stevan cam steppand in,
Nae rink might him arrest.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Jamieson derives rink from the
English ring, a circle ; but it is
more probably from the Gaelic
rianaich, to arrange, to set in
order,, to prepare.
Ripp, a handful of unthrashed
ears of corn pulled out of the
sheaf or stack to give to an ani-
mal; from the Gaelic reub, to
rend, to pull out.
A guid New Year I wish thee, Maggie ;
Hae ! there's a ripp to thy auld baggie.
—Burns : Auld Farmer to his
Auld Mare Maggie.
An' tent their duty, e'en and mom,
Wi' teats o' hay and ripps o' com.
— Burns : Mailie, the Authors
Pet Vowe.
The French word for hoar-frost
or cranreuch is verglas, which is
also of Gaelic origin, from fuar,
cold, and glas, grey.
Ringled-eyed, squinting.
He's out-shinned, in-kneed, and ringled-
eyed too,
Auld Rob Morris is the man I'll ne'er
lo'e.
—Allan Ramsay : Auld Rob
Morris.
Rink, a space cleared out and set
aside for sport or jousting, and
in winter for curling or skating
on the ice.
Rippet, a slight matrimonial quar-
rel. The word seems to be de-
rived either from the Gaelic r\a-
paladh, mismanagement, bung-
ling, misunderstanding, or from
reubte, a rent, from reub, to tear,
to rend, to pull asunder; the
English rip, or rip up.
Mr. Mair, a Scotch minister, was rather
short tempered, and had a wife named
Rebecca, whom, for brevity sake, he
called Beckie. He kept a diary, and
among other entries this one was very fre-
quent. " Beckie and I had a rippet, for
which I desire to be humble." A gentle-
man who had been on a visit to the mini-
ster went to Edinburgh and told the story
to a minister and his wife there, when the
1 68
Rispie — Roose.
lady replied, " Weel, weel ! he must have
been an excellent man that Mr. Mair. My
husband and I sometimes have rippets, but
deil tak' me if he's ever humble." — Dean
Ramsay's Reminiscences.
Rippet means a noise or disturbance of
any kind, not specifically and only a do-
mestic quarrel between husband and wife.
I have often been told by my mother,
when a boy, to be "quate and no breed
sic a rippet." — R. Drennan.
Rispie, a bulrush ; the badge of
the clan Mackay, worn in the
bonnet.
Among the greene rispies and the reeds.
— Allan Ramsay: The Evergreen — The
Golden Terge.
Jamieson erroneously defines
ru-pie to mean coarse grass, and
derives the word from the Eng-
lish ras-p^ to scrape, with which,
however, it has not the slight-
est connection. It seems to be
derived from the Gaelic Was, or
riasg, a moor, a fen, a marsh,
where bulrushes grow ; and thus
to signify a marsh flower or bul-
rush.
Ritt, to thrust with a weapon, to
stab. The etymology cannot be
traced to the Gaelic, the Ger-
man, the Flemish, or any other
of the known sources of the
Scottish language. Jamieson
seems to think it signifies to
scratch with a sharp instru-
ment. It is possibly a corrup-
tion oi right ; "rittcd it through "
may mean, drove it right
through.
Young Johnston had a rust-brown sword
Hung low down by his gair [belt],
And he ritted'iX. through the young Colonel,
That word he never spak mair.
—Motherwell's Collection : Ballad
of Young Johnson.
Roddins, the red berries of the
hawthorn, the wild rose, the
sweet briar, and the mountain
ash, more commonly called
rowan, or rodden, in Scotland ;
from the Gaelic ruadh, red.
Jamieson confines the use of
the word to the berries of the
mountain ash, but in this he is
mistaken, as appears from the
following : —
I've mair need o' the roddins, Willie,
That grow on yonder thorn.
He's got a bush o' roddins till her
That grew on yonder thorn,
Likewise a drink o' Maywell water
Out o' his grass-green horn.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads, vol. ii. :
The Earl of Douglas and Dame
Oliphant.
Roop, roup, to call out, especially
if the voice be harsh and rough ;
roopet or roupit, rendered hoarse
by cold or by violent vocifera-
tion. This word seems to be
from the Flemish roop, to cry
out ; the German rufen, to call.
Alas ! my roupit Muse is hearse.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
Here the poet is guilty of a
pleonasm, unusual with one so
terse in expression, of using in
one line the two synonymous
words of roupit and hearse
(hoarse). But he was sorely in
need of a rhyme for the coarse
but familiar word in the third
line of the poem. Boiip also
signifies a sale by auction, from
the " crying out " of the person
who offers the goods for sale.
Roose, rouse, to praise or extol ;
and thence, it has been sup-
Row,
169
posed, by extension of meaning,
to drink a health to the person
praised ; also, any drinking-bout
or carousal. The etymology of
roosCf in the sense of to praise,
as used in Scotland, is unknown.
Rouse, in the sense of a drinking-
bout, has been held by some to
be a corruption of carouse, and
by others, of the German ex-
clamation, heraus ! signifying
" empty the cup or glass,"
drink it I
Roose the ford as ye find it.
Roose the fair day at e'en.
— ^Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
To roose ye up and ca' ye guid,
An' sprang o' great an' noble bluid.
— Burns : To Gavin Hatnilton.
He roos'd my e'en sae bonnie blue,
He roos'd my waist sae genty sma'.
— Burns : Young Jockey.
Some o' them hae roosed their hawks,
And other some their houndes,
And other some their ladies fair.
— Motherwell's Ancient Minstrelsy.
In all the above quotations
the meaning of roost is clearly
to praise or extol. But the
English rouse has not that
meaning.
No jocund health that Denmark drinks
to-day,
But the great cannon to the clouds shall
tell,
And the kings rouse, the heavens shall'
bruit again.
Bespeaking earthly thunder.
— Shakspeare : Hamlet.
I have took since supper a rouse or two
too much.
— Beaumont and Fletcher.
It is thus clear that the Scot-
tish roose and the English rouse
are of different origin. The
German rausch, and the Dutch
and Flemish roes, signify semi-
intoxication ; roesig, in these
languages, means nearly drunk,
or, as the French phrase it,
*' entre deux vins," or, as the
English slang expresses it, "half
seas over." In Swedish, rus
signifies drunkenness ; taga rvs,
to get drunk; and rusig, ineb-
riated. In Danish, runs signifies
drunkenness, and ruse, intoxica-
ting liquor. Nares rightly sus-
pected that the English rouse
was of Danish origin. The
passage in Hamlet, act i. scene
4—
The king doth wake to-night and takes
his rouse,
signifies the king takes his
drink, and all the other instances
quoted by Nares are susceptible
of the same interpretation. Nares
quotes from Harman's " Caveat
for Common Cursitors," 1567 : —
I thought it my bounden duty to ac-
quaint your goodness with the abominable,
wicked, and detestable behaviour of all
these rcnvsey, ragged rabblement of rake-
hells.
He defines rowsey in this pas-
sage to mean dirty, but, in view
of the Danish, Dutch, and
Flemish derivations, it ought to
be translated drunken.
Row, to enwrap, to entwine, to
enfold, also to roll or flow on-
wards like the wavelets on the
river ; from the Gaelic ruith {rui),
to flow, to ripple.
I/O
Rowan — Rowth.
Hap and row, hap and row,
Hap and row the feetie o't,
It is a wee bit eerie thing,
I downa bide the greetie o't.
— Creech.
Then round she rozvd her silken plaid.
— Ballad of Fremmet Hall.
Where Cart runs rowan to the sea.
— Burns.
Rowan, the mountain ash ; a tree
that grows in great perfection
in the Highlands of Scotland,
and named from its beautiful
red berries, ruadh, the Gaelic
for red. This tree, or a twig of
it, is supposed, in the supersti-
tion of Scotland, to be a charm
against witchcraft. Hence, it
has been supposed, but with-
out sufficient authority, that
the phrase, ' ' Aroint thee, witch , ' '
in Shakspeare, is a misprint for
"a rowan-tree, witch!" The
word occurs in no author pre-
vious to Shakspeare.
The night was fair, the moon was up,
The wind blew low among the gowans.
Or fitful rose o'er Athole woods.
An' shook the berries frae the rowans.
— The IVraith oj" Garry Water.
Rowan tree and red thread
Mak' the witches tyne [lose] their speed.
— Old Scottish Proverb.
Rowt, to bellow or low like cattle ;
from the Gaelic roiteach, bellow-
ing. Nares erroneously renders
it " snore." " The rabble rowt,"
i.e., the roaring rabble, the
clamorous multitude.
The kye stood routin in the loan.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Nae mair thou'lt rowie out o'er the dale,
Because thy pasture's scanty.
— Burns : The Ordination.
And the king, when he had righted
himself on the saddle, gathered his breath,
and cried to do me nae harm ; " for," said
he, " he is ane o' our Norland stots, I ken
by the rowte o him ; " and they a' laughed
and rowted loud eneuch. — Scott: For-
tunes of Nigel.
Rowth, plenty, abundance ; a
word formed from roll and rdl-
elh, Scottish row. It is expres-
sive of the same idea as in the
English phrase, applied to a
rich man, " He rolls in wealth."
A peculiarly Scottish word
which never seems to have been
English. It has been suggested
that it is derived from the Gaelic
ruathar, a sudden rush, onset,
or inpouring ; whence meta-
phorically, a sudden or violent
influx of wealth or abundance.
A rowth o auld knick-knackets,
Rusty aim caps, and jingling jackets.
— Burns : Captain Grose.
The ingle-neuk, with routh o' bannocks
and bairns ! — Dean Ramsay : A Scottish
Toast or Sentiment.
A rowth aumrie and a close nieve. —
Jamieson.
It's ye have wooers mony a ane,
An' lassie ye 're but young, ye ken,
Then wait a wee, and cannie wale,
A routhie butt, a routhie ben.
— Burns : Country Lassie.
God grant your lordship joy and health.
Long days and routh of real wealth.
— Allan Ramsay : Epistle to
Lord Dalhousie.
A boundless hunter and a gunless
gunner see aye rowth o' game. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Fortune, if thou wilt give me still
Hale breeks, a scon, a whisky gill.
And rowth o' rhyme to rave at will.
Take a' the rest.
—Burns : Scotch Drink.
Roxle — Rule the Roast.
xn
Roxle, to grunt, to speak with
a hoarse voice; Gaelic roc^ a
hoarse voice ; French rauque,
hoarse; English rook, a bird
that has a hoarse voice in caw-
ing ; Gaelic, rocair, a naan with
a hoarse voice; rocail, croak-
ing. Mr. Herbert Coleridge, in
his dictionary of " The Oldest
Words in the English Language, ' '
from the semi- Saxon period of
A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1800, derives it
from the Dutch rotelen, but the
word does not appear in any-
Dutch or Flemish dictionary.
Royet, wild, dissipated, riotous,
unruly. Roit, according to
Jamieson, is a term of contempt
for a woman, often conjoined
with an adjective, denoting bad
temper; as, *'an ill-natured
roit." The resemblance to the
English riot suggests its deriva-
tion from that word, but both
royet and riot are traceable to
the Gaelic raoit, noisy, obstre-
perous, or indecent mirth and
revelry ; and ruidhtear, a loud
reveller; riatach, indecent, im-
modest. Jamieson, however,
derives it from the French
roide, stiff, which he wrongly
translates fierce, ungovernable.
Royet lads may make sober men.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Ruddy, to roar like thunder, or to
rumble like wind in the stomach.
Derivation uncertain, but pos-
sibly akin to rowte or rowtin, the
bellowing of cattle.
I in its wame heard Vulcan ruddy.
— Beattie : John d Amha.
Rude, the complexion ; the ruddy
face of a healthy person. From
the Flemish rood, red, which
has the same meaning ; Gaelic
ruatli, red, corrupted by the
Lowland Scotch into Roy, as in
Rob Roy, Gilderoy, and applied
to the hair as well as to the
complexion.
Of all their maidens myld as meid
Was nane sae gymp as Gillie,
As ony rose her rude was reid,
Her lyre was like the lillie.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
She has put it to her roudes lip,
And to her roudes chin,
She has put it to her fause, fause mouth,
But never a drap gaed in.
— Border Minstrelsy : Prince Robert.
Sir Walter Scott, in a note to
this ballad, glosses roudes by
" haggard." Surely this is
wrong ?
Rug, to pull. Derivation un-
certain.
Trying to rug them off, tae an' heel. —
Noctes A jnbrosiance.
Rugg", a great bargain, a thing
ridiculously cheap ; to spoil, to
plunder, to seize. From the
Gaelic rug, the past tense of
heir, to take hold of.
When borrowers brak, the pawns were
rugg.
Rings, beads of pearl, or siller jug,
I sold them off — ne'er fashed my lug
Wi' girns or curses ;
The mair they whinged, it gart me hug
My swelling purses.
— Allan Ramsay : Last Speech of a
Wretched Miser.
Rule the roast. This originally
Scottish phrase has obtained
currency in England, and ex-
172
Rummel — Ryg-hane.
cited much controversy as to
its origin. It has been derived
from the function of a chief
cook, to be master or mistress
in the kitchen, and as such, to
" rule the roasting." It has also
been derived from the mastery
of the cock among the hens, as
ruling the place where the fowls
roost or sleep. In the Scottish
language roost signifies the inner
roof of a cottage, composed of
spars or beams reaching from
one wall to the other; the
highest interior part of the
building. Hence, to rule the
roast, or roost, or to rule the
house, to be the master.
Rummel, to make a confused
sound ; from rumble.
Your crackjaw words of half an ell,
That rummel like a witch's spell.
— George Beattie : John
& Amha\
Rump, to break ; rumpit, broken ;
or in English slang "to be
cleaned out," or exhausted of
money by losses at gambling.
"Perhaps," says Jamieson, "in
allusion to an animal whose tail
has been cut off near the rump ! "
The etymology did not need the
"perhaps" of the non-erudite
author, and is to be found in the
French rompre, to break, and
rompu, broken.
Rumple-bane, the lowest bone of
the spine.
At length he got a carline grey,
And she's come hirplin ' hame, man,
And she fell o'er the buffet stool,
And brak her rumplc-bane, man.
—Johnson's Mttsical Museum.
Rung", a cudgel, a staff, a bludgeon,
the step of a ladder ; any thick
strong piece of wood that may
be wielded in the hand as a
weapon. From the Gaelic rong^
which has the same meaning.
The modern Irish call a bludgeon
a shillelah; also a Gaelic word
for seileach, a willow, and slaith
{sla), a wand,
Auld Scotland has a raucle tongue.
She's just a deevil wi' a rung:
— Burns.
Runk, to whisper secret slan-
ders, also a term of opprobrium
applied to an old woman, a
gossip, or a scandal-monger.
From the Gaelic runach, dark,
mysterious, also a confidant ;
run, Sb secret, a mystery; and
by extension of the original
meaning, a scandal repeated
under the pretence of a secret
and confidential disclosure.
Runt; a deprecatory or contemp-
tuous name for an old woman ;
from the German rind, and the
Flemish rund, an ox, or a' cow
that calves no longer ; also, the
hard stalk of kail or cabbage
left in the ground, that has
ceased to sprout.
Ruther. This word, according to
Jamieson, means to storm, to
bluster, to roar, also an uproar
or commotion. It is probably
from the Gaelic rutharach, quar-
relsome, contentious, and rutha-
rachd, quarrelsomeness.
Ryg-bane, or rig-bane, the spine
or backbone ; from the Flemish
Saikless — Sak.
173
rug, the German rucken, the
back, and 6em, a bone. The
origmal meaning of rug and
rucken is that of extension in
length ; from the Gaelic ruig,
to extend, to reach, and ruigh,
or righe, an arm ; ruighe (the
English ridge) is the extension
of a mountain, or of a series
of hills forming, as it were,
the spine or backbone of the
land.
S
Saikless, innocent, guiltless ; from
the Teutonic sack, the cause ;
whence sacMess, or saiHess, with-
out cause.
, " Oh, is this water deep," he said,
" As it is wondrous dim ;
Or is it sic as a saikless rnaid,
And a leal true knicht may swim ? "
— Ballad of Sir Roland.
Leave off your douking on the day,
And douk upon the night,
And where that saikless knight lies slain,
The candles will burn bright.
— Border Minstrelsy : Earl Richard.
Sain, to bless, to preserve in
happiness ; from the German
segnen, to bless, and segen, a
benediction ; Flemish zegenen —
all probably from the Latin
sanus.
Sain yoursel frae the deil and the laird's
bairns.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Sairing", enough, that which satis-
fies one ; used both in a favour-
able and unfavourable sense.
"He got his sairin,^' applied to
a drubbing or beating; in the
ironical sense, he got enough of
it, or, as Jamieson phrases it in
English, "he got his bellyfull
of it." A corruption of serve,
or serve the purpose — therefore,
a sufficiency.
You couldna look your sairin at her face,
So meek it was, so sweet, so fu' o' grace.
—Ross's Helenore.
Sairy or sair, very, or very great ;
from the German sehr, as in
zehr schon, sehr gut, very fair,
very good; sometimes used in
English in the form of sore ; as,
•' sore distressed," very much
distressed.
And when they meet wi' sair disasters.
Like loss o' health or want o' masters.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
It's a sair dung bairn that mauna greet.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
It's a sair field where a' are slain.
— Idem.
The state of man does change and vary :
Now sound, now sick, now blythe, now
sary,
Now dansand merry, now like to dee.
—Allan Ramsay : The Evergreen.
Sak, saik, sake, blame, guilt;
whence sacJdess, sackless, saikless,
guiltless, innocent ; and also, by
extension of meaning, foolish,
worthless, as in the correspond-
ing English word, "an inno-
cent," to signify an imbecile.
174
Sandie — Sanshagh.
The root of all these words
appears to be either the German
jach (see S airless, ante), or the
Gaelic sag, weight ; whence also
sag, to weigh or press down, and
sack, a bag to carry heavy articles.
The idea of weight, as appHed
to guUt and blameworthiness,
is obvious, as in the line quoted
by Jamieson, "Mary was sack-
less o' breaking her vow," i.e.,
she was not burthened with the
guilt of breaking her vow. A
saikless person, or an imbecile,
in like manner, is one who is
not weighted with intellect.
Sag, in EngHsh, is said of a
rope not drawn tightly enough,
and weighed down in the
middle. It also signifies to bend
or give way under pressure of
weight.
The heart I bear
Shall never sag- with doubt or shake with
fear. — Shakspeare.
"It is observable," says Dr.
Johnson, "that sack (in the
sense of a bag for carrying
weight) is to be found in all
languages, and is therefore
conceived to be antediluvian."
The phrase "sair sav^ht," quoted
by Jamieson, and defined as
signifying " much exhausted,
and especially descriptive of
bodily debility," is traceable to
the same root, and might be
rendered, sorely weighed down
by weakness or infirmity. There
is, however, in spite of these
examples, much to be said in
favour of the derivation from
the German sack.
Sandie, Sanders, Sawney, San-
nock, abbreviations of the fa-
vourite Scottish Christian name
of Alexander ; from the last two
syllables. The English com-
monly abbreviate the first two
syllables into Aleck. In the days
immediately after the accession
of James VI. to the English
throne, under the title of James
L, to the time of George III.
and the Bute Administration,
when Scotsmen were exceed-
ingly unpopular, and when Dr.
Samuel Johnson — the great
Scoto-phobist, the son of a
Scotch bookseller at Lichfield —
thought it prudent to disguise
his origin, and overdid his pru-
dence by maligning his father's
countrymen, it was customary
to designate a Scotsman as a
Sawney. The vulgar epithet,
however, is fast dying out, and
is nearly obsolete.
An', Lord ! renjember singing Sannock,
Wi' hale bracks, saxpence, and a ban-
nock.
Burns: To James Tait.
Sanshagh or sanshach. Jamieson
defines this word as meaning
wily, crafty, sarcastically clever,
saucy, disdainful, and cites —
'* * He's a sanshach callant, or
chiel,' is a phrase used in Aber-
deenshire and the Mearns." He
thinks it is derivable from the
Gaelic saobh-nosach, angry, pee-
vish, irascible ; but it is more
probable that it comes from
sean, old, and seach {shach), dry
or caustic, an old man of a
cynical temper.
Sant — Sap.
O ■ THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
^7S
Sant or saunter. Jamieson defines
this word as meaning "to dis-
appear, to vanish suddenly out
of sight," and quotes it as in
use in Ettrick Forest. ** It's
santed, but it will, may be, cast
up again." In Wright's *' Dic-
tionary of Obsolete and Provin-
cial English," saunt, a northern
word, is said to signify to van-
ish ; and saum, to wander lazily
about. The word is nearly, if
not quite obsolete, and does not
appear either in Burns or Allan
Kamsay. Sant was formerly
current in the same sense as
saunter, to roam idly or listlessly
about ; to saum, to disappear
from, or neglect one's work or
duty. Johnson derived saunter
from an expression said to
have been used in the time
of the crusades, in application
to the idle vagabonds and im-
postors who roamed through
the country and begged for
money to help them on their
way to the Holy Land, or
La Sainte Terre. Saunter, as
now used in English, is almost
synonymous with the Scottish
dauner, q.v. But no authori-
tative derivation has yet been
discovered, either for sant or
saunter, unless that given by Mr.
Wedgwood, from the German
schlendern, can be deemed satis-
factory. In Sheffield, Duke of
Buckingham's Essay on "Satire,"
saunter is used in a curiously
unusual sense, an investigation
of which may possibly throw
light on the original meaning
of the word.
While sauntering Charles betwixt so mean
a brace [of mistresses],
Meets with dissembling still in either place,
Affected humour or a painted face ;
In loyal libels we have often told him
How one has jilted him, the other sold him.
Was ever Prince by two at once misled,
Foolish and false, ill-natured and ill-bred ?
Sir Walter Scott cites from the
same author, in reference to the
sauntering of Charles II. : —
In his later hours, there was as much
laziness as love in all those hours he passed
with his mistresses, who, after all, only
served to fill up his seraglio, while a be-
witching kind of pleasure called sauntering-
and talking without restraint, was the true
sultana he delighted in.
In Gaelic sannt, andsanntaich,
signifies to covet, to desire, to
lust after; and if this be the
true derivation of the word, the
passage from the Duke of Buck-
ingham would be exceedingly
appropriate. To saunter was
applied to idle men who fol-
lowed women about the streets,
with libidinous intent of admi-
ration or conversation ; sann-
taire, a lustful man. The French
have a little comedy entitled
" Un monsieur qui suit les
femmes," which expresses the
idea of saunterer, as applied to
Charles 11.
Sap, a fool, a simpleton, a ninny.
The English has milk-sop, an
effeminate fool. Sap and sop
are both derived from the Gae-
lic saobh, silly, foolish, as well
as the English slang, soft, apt
to be imposed upon.
176
Sark — Scaff-raff.
Sark, the linen, woollen, silken,
or cotton garment worn next
to the skin by men and women ;
a shirt or shift ; the French
chemise, the German hemde.
Weel'SarJcif, well provided with
shirts.
The last Hallowe'en I was wauken,
My droukit sark-s\ee\Q as ye ken.
— Burns : Tarn Glen.
They reel'd, they sat, they crossed, they
cleekit,
Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,
And coost her duddies to the wark.
And linkit at it in her sark !
Tarn tint his reason a' thegither,
And roar'd out, "Weel done ! Cutty sark ! "
And in an instant a' was dark.
— Burns : Ta»t d Shanter.
Being asked what was the diflference be-
tween Presbyterian ministers, who wear no
surplices, and Episcopalians, who do, an
old lady replied, " Well, ye see, the Pres-
byterian minister wears his sark under his
coat, the Episcopalian wears his sark
aboon his coat."— Dean Ramsay.
The phrase, " sarh-alane," is
used to signify nude, with the
exception of the shirt ; and " a
sarJcfu' o' sair banes," to express
the condition of a person suffer-
ing from great fatigue, or from
a sound beating. The etymo-
logy of the word, which is pecu-
liar to Scotland and the North
of England, is uncertain. At-
tempts have been made to trace
it from the Swedish, the Ice-
landic, the Anglo-Saxon, and
the Greek, but without success.
In the "Dictionaire de la
Langue Komane, ou du Vieux
Langage Frangaise " (Paris,
1768), the Scottish word sarJc is
rendered serecote, and serecot,
" une camisole, une chemisette."
Saugh, a willow ; the French
saule, Gaelic seUeag.
The glancin' waves o' Clyde
Through sauglts and hanging hazels glide.
— PiNKERTON : Bothwell Bank.
Saulie, a hired mourner, a
mute, or undertaker's man. The
word seems to have been em-
ployed to express the mock or
feigned sorrow assumed in the
lugubrious faces of these men,
and to be derived from the Gae-
lic mil, mockery, satire, deri-
sion ; samhladhj an apparition, a
ghost, has also been suggested
as the origin of the word. The
derivation of Jamieson from
salve reginam is scarcely worthy
of consideration.
Saur, to flavour ; saurless, insipid,
tasteless ; supposed to be a cor-
ruption of savour. The French
for a red herring is sawe ; and
saurir, or saurer, is to flavour
with salt.
Scaff-raff, rubbish, refuse.
If you and I were at the Witherspoon's
Latch, wi' ilka ane a gude oak hippie in
his hand, we wadna turn back — no, not for
half-a-dozen o' your scaff-raff. — Scott :
Guy Mannering.
Jamieson, unaware of the in-
digenous roots of these words,
derives them from the Swedish
scaef, a rag, anything shaved
off; and raja, to snatch away.
The true etymology, however,
is from the Gaelic sgamh (pro-
Scag — Scarnoch.
177
nounced scav), dross, dirt, rub-
bish; and rdbh {raff), coarse,
idle, useless.
Scag, to shrivel in the heat, or by-
exposure to the weather, to split,
to crack in the heat; a term
applied in the fishing villages of
Scotland to fish, dried or fresh,
that have been kept too long.
** A scaggit haddie " is a haddock
spoiled by long expos ure . Jamie -
son hesitates between the Ice-
landic skacka, inquare ; and the
Gaehc sgag, as the derivation of
this word. Sgag, in Gaelic, signi-
fies to shrivel up, to crack, to
split, or to spoil and become
putrid by long keeping ; sgagta,
lean, emaciated.
Seance, skance. To reflect upon
a person's character or conduct
by charge or insinuation ; to
censure, to taunt indirectly ; to
glance at a subject cursorily in
conversation ; also, a transient
look at anjrthing. These words
are not used in English, though
askance, a recognised English
word, appears to be from the
same root. The ordinary de-
rivation of askance is either from
the Italian schianco, athwart, or
from the Flemish and Dutch
schuin, oblique, to squint. The
latter etymology, though it
meets the English sense of the
word, does not correspond with
the variety of meanings in which
it is employed in Scotland.
Neither does it explain the
English scan, to examine, to
scrutinise,— stiU less the scan-
ning, or scansion of the syllables
or feet in a verse.
Perhaps the Gaelic sgath, a
shadow, a reflection in the water
or in a glass, sgathan {sga-an), a
mirror, and sgathanaich, to look
in a glass, may supply the root
of the Scottish, if not the Eng-
lish words. Tried by these tests,
seance might signify to cast a
shadow or a reflection upon one,
to take a rapid glance as of
one's self in a glass ; and to scan,
to examine, to scrutinise, " to
hold the mirror up to nature,"
as Shakspeare has it. In these
senses, the word might more
easily be derivable from the
Gaelic, which does not imply
obliquity, than from the Flemish
and Dutch, of which obliquity
is the leading, if not the sole
idea, as in the English squint.
Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman ;
Though they may gang a kennin' wrang,
To step aside is human.
— Burns : Address to the Unco Guid.
To scan a verse, to examine or
scrutinise whether it contains
the proper number of feet or
syllables, or is otherwise correct,
may possibly be an offshoot of
the same idea; though aU the
etymologists insist that it comes
from the Italian scandio, to
climb.
Scarnoch. A scarnoch o' words
signifies a multitude of words,
such as are unnecessarily used
by wordy lawyers and by over
garrulous Members of Parlia-
ment, who use them, as Solomon
178
Scaii — Schore.
said in old times, ** to darken
counsel," and as a wise and
cynical man of more modern
days— the late Prince Talleyrand
— said with equal appropriate-
ness, " pour deguiser la pensee"
(to disguise their thoughts).
Scarnoch also signifies a tumul-
tuous din, the murmur or shout-
ing of a crowd, and scarochin,
a great noise. Jamieson derives
these words* from the Swedish
skara, a crowd, a cohort, but
the true root is the Gaelic sgaim,
to howl as dogs, wolves, or other
animals, and sgarneach, howling,
shrieking, roaring, &c.
Scart, a scratch ; scart-free, with-
out a scratch or injury. Scart
is also a name given, in most
parts of Scotland, to the rapa-
cious sea-bird, the cormorant.
Scart, to scratch, is a softer
rendering of the harsher English
word ; and scart, a cormorant, is
a corruption of the Gaelic sgarbh,
which has the same meaning.
They that bourd wi' cats may count upon
scaris.— Allan Ramsay.
"To scart the buttons," or draw one's
hand down the breast of another, so as
to touch the buttons with one's nail, is a
mode of challenging to battle among Scot-
tish boys. — Jamieson.
Like scarts upon the wing by the hope of
plunder led.
—Legends of the Isles.
D'ye think ye'll help them wi' skirlin'
that gate, like an auld skart before a flaw
o' weather ?— Scott : The Antiquary.
Scaur, a steep rock, a cliflf on the
shore ; sTcerrie, a rock in the sea.
Scarborough, a watering-place
in England, signifies the town
on the cliff or rock ; STcerrievore^
or the great rock or skerrie, from
sgeir and mhor, is the name of
the famous lighthouse on the
West Coast of Scotland. The
skerries are rocks in the sea
among the Scilly islands. Both
scaur and skerrie are traceable to
the Gaelic sgeir, a rock in the
sea, and sgor, a steep mountain
side ; whence also the English
scar in Scarborough.
Ye that sail the stormy seas
Of the distant Hebrides.
By lordly Mull and Ulva's shore
Beware the witch of Skerrievore.
—Legends of the Isles.
Where'er ye come by creek or scaur.
Ye bring bright beauty.
—James Ballantine.
Schacklock. Jamieson imagines
this word to mean a pickpocket
or burglar, or one who shakes
or loosens locks. It is, however,
a term of contempt for a lazy
ne'er-do-weel, like the similar
English word, sTvackahack, and
is derivable from the Gaelic seac
(shack), useless, withered, dried
up, and leug, dull, sluggish, or
incorrigibly lazy.
Schore, a man of high rank;
schore-chiefiain, a supreme chief.
Jamieson derives schore from the
German schor or schoren, " altus
eminens "—a word which is not
to be found in any German
dictionary, nor in Dutch or
Flemish, or any other Teutonic
speech. The etymology is un-
Schrew — Sclaurie,
179
known or difficult to discover,
unless it be presumed that the
word was used metaphorically
for high, in the sense of an
eminence ; from the Gaelic sgor,
a steep rock, a cliff.
Schrew (sometimes written
sckrow), to curse; allied to the
English shrew, a scolding and
ill-tempered woman, and usually-
derived from the German besch-
reien, to curse. A screw, in
English slang, signifies a mean,
niggardly person, who, in Ameri-
can parlance, would be called
*'a mean cuss," or curse. A
miserable old horse is called a
screw, not as the Slang Dic-
tionary says, "from the serew-
liJce manner in which his ribs
generally show through the
skin," but from the original
sense of shrew, to curse — i.e.,
a horse only fit to swear at
— or possibly from the Gaelic
sgruitt old, wrinkled, thin,
meagre. Schrewit signifies ac-
cursed, also poisonous, which
is doubtless the origin of the
slang English screwed, intoxi-
cated. The kindred English
word scrub, a mean person, and
scrubbed, vile, worthless, shabby,
as used by Shakspeare in the
phrase, "a little scrubbed boy,"
is evidently derived from the
Gaelic sgrub, to act in a mean
manner, and sgrubair, a churl,
a niggard, or a despicable per-
son. The true derivation of the
Scottish schrew remains obscure.
In its form of shrew or schrow
the word was formerly used in
reference to the male sex, in
the sense of a disagreeable and
quarrelsome person ; as in shrewd,
an epithet applied to a man of
penetration and sharp common
sense. These words, whether
schrew or schrow be the correct
form, have given rise to many
discussions among etymologists,
which are not yet ended. Shrew
or schrow has been derived not
only from the Teutonic schreien,
to shriek, to call out lustily,
but from the little harmless
animal called the shrew mouse,
which was fabled to run over
the backs of cattle and do
them injury by the supposed
venom of its bite. Some of
these apparently incongruous
or contradictory derivations are
resolvable by the Gaelic sgi'uth
{sru), to run, to flow. A shrew is
a scold, a woman whose tongue
runs too rapidly, or a man, if
he have the same disagreeable
characteristic ; shrewd is an
epithet applied to one whose
ideas run clearly and precisely.
The shrew mouse is the running
mouse.
Sclaurie, to bespatter with mud ;
also metaphorically, to abuse,
revile, to asperse, make accusa-
tion against, on the principle
of the English saying, " Throw
mud enough; some of it will
stick." The lowland Scotch
claur, or glaur, signifies mud,
q.v. This word is derived from
the Gaelic clabar (aspirated clab-
har or claur), filth, mire, mud ;
" A gowpen o' glaur," or claur,
i8o
Scogie — Scoot
the two hands conjoined, filled
with mud. When the initial
s was either omitted from or
joined to the root-word, is not
discoverable.
Scogie or scogie-lass, a kitchen
drudge, a maid-of-all-work, a
"slavey;" one unskilled in all
but the commonest and coarsest
work. From the Gaelic sgog, a
fool, a dolt, one who knows
nothing.
Scoil, shriek ; akin to the English
A n' smellin' John he gaed a scoil,
Then plunged and gart the water boil.
— yohn d AmhcC.
Till echo for ten miles around
Did to the horrid scoil resound.
—Ibid.
Scold or skald. Fingal and the
other warriors whose deeds are
commemorated by Ossian, drank
out of shells (scallop shells),
doubtless the first natural ob-
jects that in the earliest ages
were employed for the purpose.
Scold is an obsolete word, signi-
fying to drink a health, evi-
dently derived from shell, or
scallop; the Teutonic scTiale, a
shell or a cup ; the Danish
sTciall, the French escaiUe or
ecaille, the Flemish and Dutch
schelp and schaal, the Norse sJcul,
the Greek chalys, the Latin calix,
a shell or cup. Possibly the
tradition that the Scandinavian
warriors drank their wine or
mead out of the skuUs of their
enemies whom they had slain in
battle, arose fi'om a modern mis-
conception of the meaning oiskul
— originally synonymous with
the skull or cranium, or shell of
the brain. Skid is used by the
old Scottish poet, Douglas, for
a goblet or large bowl.
To scold or scoil, to drink healths, to
drink as a toast ; scolder, a drinker of
healths ; skul, a salutation of one who is
present, or of the respect paid to an absent
person, by expressing a wish for his health
when one is about to drink it.
— Jamieson.
Skeolach (sgeolach), the name of one of
Fingal's drinking cups, — Macleod and
Dewar : Gaelic Dictionary.
The custom of drinking out of shells is
of great antiquity, and was very common
among the ancient Gael. Hence the ex-
pression so often met with in the Fingal ian
poets, "the hall of shells," "the chief of
shells," "the shell and the song." The
scallop shell is still used in drinking strong
liquors at the tables of those gentlemen
who are desirous to preserve the usages of
their ancestors. — Armstrong's Gaelic Dic-
tionary, 1828.
Scon or scone, a barley cake ;
from the Gaelic sgonn, a lump
or mass.
Leeze me on thee, John Barleycorn,
Thou King o' grain,
On thee auld Scotland chaws her cood,
In souple scones, the wale o' food.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Sconfice, discomfit, beaten, led
astray, subdued ; from the Gaelic
sgon, bad, andj^os, knowledge.
I'm unco wae for the puir lady ; I'm feart
she'll grow wud gin she be lang in yon
hole, for it would sconfice a horse, forbye
a bodj\— Macleav's Memoirs of the Clan
MacGregor.
Scoot, a tramp, a gad-about, a
vagrant, a term of opprobrium
given to a low woman; from
Scottis bed — Screed,
i8i
the Gaelic sguit, to wander.
The English scout, a person em-
ployed by an army to recon-
noitre, by travelling or wander-
ing to and fro, so as to observe
the motions of the enemy, is
obviously from the same root.
Scottis bed. *• This phrase," says
Jamieson, "occurs in an Aber-
deen Register, but it is not easy
to aflSx any determinate mean-
ing to it." May it not mean a
ship's bed, or a hammock ; from
scothach, a small skiff ?
Scouk, to sneak, to loiter idly or
furtively ; either a corruption
of the English sJctdk, or a deri-
vation with an allied meaning ;
from the Gaelic sguga, a coarse,
ill-mannered, ungainly person.
They grin, they glower, they scouk,
they gape.
—/acoitie Relics.
Scouth or skouth, elbow-room,
space, scope, room for the arm'
in wielding a weapon so as to
cut off an enemy or an obstruc-
tion at a blow ; from the Gaelic
sgud, to lop, to cut off ; sgudadh,
act of cutting down by a sudden
blow.
An' he get scouth to wield his tree,
I fear you'll both be paid.
— Ballad of Robin Hood.
By break of day he seeks the dowie
glen.
That he may scouth to a' his morning
len' (lend).
— Allan Ramsay : Pastoral on the
Death of Matthew Prior.
They tak religion in their mouth.
They talk o' mercy, grace, and truth—
For what ? to gie their malice scouth
On some poor wight,
An' hunt him down, o'er right and ruth.
To ruin straight.
—Burns : To the Rev. John M*Math.
" Scouth and routh " is a pro-
verbial phrase for elbow-room
and abundance.
That's a good gang for your horse, he'll
have scouth and routh. — Jamieson.
Scowf, a blustering, low scoun-
drel. Dutch and Flemish schoft.
Explained in Dutch and French
dictionaries as ^^ maroufle, coquin,
maraud," i.e., a low scoundrel, a
rogue, an impudent blackguard.
He's naething but a scouf; Danish
scuffer, to gull, to cheat, to shuffle ; a cheat,
a false pretender. — Jamieson.
Scran or skran, odds and ends
or scraps of eatables, broken
victuals ; also applied derisively
to food or daily bread.
Scranning is a phrase used by school-
boys when they spend their pocket-money
at the pastry-cook's. — Jamieson.
Scran-pock, a beggar's wallet to
hold scraps of food. The word
scran is derived from the Gaelic
sgrath (pronounced sgra), to peel,
to pare, to take off the rind or
skin, and sgrathan {sgra-an), a
little peeling or paring. In the
sense of food, the word occurs
in the Irish objurgation, "Bad
scran to ye 1 "
Screed, a lengthy discourse or
written article. This word is
defined in a note to a passage
in the " Noctes Ambrosianae"
as a '* liberal allowance of any-
thing."
1 82 Screik d Day — Scroggam and Ruffam,
A man, condemned to death for rape
and murder at Inverness, requested that
the editor of the Courier might be per-
mitted to see him the night before his
execution. After some talk, the criminal
said, "Oh, Mr. Carruthers, what a screed
you'll be printin' in your next paper about
me ! "— M.
Screik (or scrai^h) o' day, the
early dawn, the first flush of the
morning light. Jamieson says
the radical word is creek ; from
the Teutonic krieche, "aurora
rutilans." It has been suggested
that screich, or shriek, of day,
means the shrill cry of the cock
at early morn, but it is more
probable that the phrase is from
the Flemish krieken van den
dag, which the French translate
Vauhe dujour, Vaurore, the dawn
of day.
Scrieve, to roll or move or glide
easily ; from the Gaelic sgrioh,
to scrape, to draw a line or a
furrow, to go on an excursion or
journey.
The wheels o' life gae down -hill scrievin.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Scrimp, bare, scarce ; scrimply,
barely, scarcely.
Down flowed her robe, a tartan sheen.
Till half a leg was scrimply seen.
And such a leg ! my bonnie Jean
Alone could peer it.
— Burns : The Vision.
Scrog", a stunted bush, furze ;
scroggy, abounding in under-
wood, covered with stunted
bushes or furze like the Scottish
mountains ; from the Gaelic
sgrogag, stunted timber or under-
wood.
The way toward the cite was stony,
thorny, and scraggy. — Gesta Romanorum.
As I came down by Merriemass,
And down among the scroggs.
The bonniest chield that e'er I saw
Lay sleeping 'mang his dogs.
— Johnnie of Bredislee..
Sir Walter Scott, when in his
last illness in Italy, was taken
to a wild scene on the mountains
that border the Lago di Garda.
He had long been apathetic,
and almost insensible, to sur-
rounding objects ; but his fad-
ing eyes flashed with unwonted
fire at the sight of the furze
bushes and scrogs that reminded
him of home and Scotland, and
he suddenly exclaimed, in the
words of the Jacobite ballad —
Up the scroggy mountain.
And down the scroggy glen.
We dare na gang a hunting,
For Charlie and his men.
Scroggam and ni£fam. These
two words occur as a kind of
chorus in a song attributed, but
on doubtful authority, to Kobert
Bums. It is wholly unworthy
of his genius, and appears — if
he had anything at all to do
with it — to have been slightly
mended, to make it more pre-
sentable in decent company.
Burns was almost wholly unac-
quainted with Gaelic, though he
occasionally borrowed a phrase
or a word from that language
without quite comprehending its
meaning.
There was a wife wonn'd in Cockpen,
Scroggam !
She brewed guid ale for gentlemen.
Sing, Auld Coul lay ye down by me,
Scroggam, my dearie, ruffam.
Scrub — Scunner.
183
Scroggam is the Gaelic for
sgroggam, let me put on my
bonnet ; and ruffam is ruhham, or
(ruffam) let me rub or scratch.
An obscene meaning is con-
cealed in the words.
Scrub, a terrn of contempt for a
mean, niggardly person ; a Scot-
tish word that has made good
its place in the English verna-
cular. Scroppit, sordid, parsi-
monious ; from the Gaelic scrub,
to hesitate, to delay, especially
in giving or paying ; sgrubail,
niggardly ; scrubair, a churl, a
miser.
S c r u n t, a worn - out broom ;
scrunty, a Northern word, sig-
nifying, according to Halliwell,
short, stunted. Jamieson gives
a second interpretation — **a
person of slender make, a
walking skeleton. ' ' Possibly the
word is a corruption of the
English shrink, shrank. There
is no trace of it either in the
Teutonic or the Gaelic.
S cuddy, stark naked ; from the
Gaelic sguad, to strip or lay
bare.
Strip a country lass o' laigh degree per-
fectly scuddy, and set her beside a town
belle o' a noble blood, equally naked,
and wha can tell the ewe-milker frae the
duchess? — Nodes Ambrosiana.
Scug or skug, to hide, to take
shelter, to run to sanctuary, to
overshadow.
That's the penance he maun dree
To scug his deadly sin.
— Border Minstrelsy : Young Benjie.
In this quotation, skug seems
to mean expiate, rather than
hide or take refuge from the
consequence of the deadly sin.
Jamieson derives this word from
the Gothic-Swedish skugga, a
shade. It does not, however,
appear in modern Swedish dic-
tionaries. Skug and scuggery
are noted both by Halliwell and
Wright as northern English
words for secret, hidden, and
secrecy. In a note to the ballad
of " Young Benjie," in the
" Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border," Sir Walter Scott states
that scug means to shelter or
expiate. Possibly, if the inter-
pretation of "shelter" can be
accepted as connected, the ety-
mology of the word is the Gae-
lic sgathach, pronounced sgctch,
or skug, a screen.
Scunner or sconner, a very ex-
pressive word, significant of a
loathing or aversion to a thing
or person, for which it is some-
times diflScult or impossible to
account.
And yill and whisky gie to cairds
Until they scunner.
— Burns: To James Smith.
From the Gaelic sgonn, bad,
also rude, boorish, ill-mannered.
It enters also into the compo-
site of the English word scoun-
drel, and the Italian scondruds,
evidently of Celtic and Tuscan
origin. Or it may perhaps be
derived with equal propriety
from sgeun, a fright, and sgeun-
aich, to frighten.
1 84
Scutch — Sell.
Scutch, to bruise or beat, to beat
or dress flax. The error of
Shakspeare's printers in spell-
ing scutch as scotch, has led to
the all but incorrigible mispro-
nunciation of the word — "We
have scotched the snake, not
killed it "—and to the idea that
the word has something to do
with Scotland, and with the
habits of the Scottish people.
Squids, pronounced scuitch or
scutch, is the Gaelic for to bruise,
to beat ; sguidseadh, the act of
dressing flax. The word scutch
is still used in the northern
counties of England.
Sea-maw, the sea-gull, or sea-
mew ; the beautiful white bird
of the ocean.
Keep your ain fish-guts to feed your ain
sea-maws. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
The white sea-mew, and not
the white dove, was considered
by the Druids the bird that
Noah let fly from the ark on
the subsiding of the Deluge.
The name of 'pigeon, sometimes
given to the dove, signifies in
Gaelic the bird of security ;
from jpighe, bird, and dion {di
pronounced ji), security, pro-
tection. The coincidence is
curious.
Seile, happiness ; from the Ger-
man selig, happy.
Sei^e o' your face I is a phrase in Aber-
deenshire, expressive of a blessing on the
person to whom It is addressed. — Dean
Kamsav.
Sokand seil is best — the happiness that
is earned is best — i.e., earned by the
plough ; from sock, the ploughshare, and
here used metaphorically for labour of any
kind. — Ferguson's Scots Proverbs.
Selkouth or selcouth, seldom seen
or known ; rendered * ' wondrous ' '
by Sir Walter Scott, in the notes
to "Thomas the Khymer." The
word is of the same origin as the
English uncouth, strange, or un-
known ; from Icythe, to show, or
appear".
By Leader's side
A selkouth sight they see,
A hart and hind pace side by side
As white as snow.
' — Thomas the Rhymer.
Sell or selle, a seat, a chair, a
stool. Latin sed\le, French sdle,
a saddle, the seat of a rider. This
was once an English as well as
a Scottish word, though obso-
lescent in the Elizabethan era.
Shakspeare uses it in Macbeth —
Vaulting ambition that o'erleaps itself.
And falls on the other—
which, to render the image per-
fect, as Shakspeare meant —
and no doubt wrote — ought to
be read —
Vaulting ambition that o'erleaps its sell,
And falls on the other side.
The London compositors of
Shakspeare's time, ignorant of
the word sell, insisted upon mak-
ing self of it, and in omitting
"side." Ambition, in the guise
of a horseman, vaulting to the
horse's back, could not fall on the
other side of itself ; though it
might well fall on the other side
Shacklebane — Shangie-mou' d.
i8s
of the sM or saddle, and light
upon the ground, which is the
true Shakspearian metaphor.
Shacklebane, the wrist; a word
apparently first applied to a
prisoner who was handcuffed,
or manacled.
Shadow-half, the northern ex-
posure of land. Sir Walter
Scott built Abbotsford on the
wrong side of the Tweed — in
the shadow-half. Land with a
southern exposure is called the
sunny-half, or the sunnyside.
S h a g; h 1 e, sometimes written
shaucle, to walk clumsily, to
shuffle along, to drag or shackle
the feet as if they were pain-
fully constrained by the shoes ;
to distort from the original
shape, to wear out.
Had ye sic a shoe on ilka foot, it wad
gar ye shaghle.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
And how her new shoon fit her auld shachtt
feet.
— Burns : Last May a Braiv Wooer.
Schachled is metaphorically applied to a
young woman who has been deserted by
her lover. She is, on this account, com-
pared to a pair of shoes that have been
thrown aside, as being so put out of shape
as to be unfit to be worn any longer.
— Jamieson.
Jamieson derives this word from
the Icelandic skaga, deflectere ;
skaggrer, obliquus. If he had
looked at the Gaelic, he would
have found seac {shale), dried up,
worn out, without substance,
decayed.
Shairnie-faced, a contemptuous
epithet applied to a person with
a very dirty face; from sham,
or shairn, dung, more especially
cow-dung, sometimes called in
English covf-sherd, a word, in
all probability, from the same
source.
Flae luggit, shairnie-faced.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Shalk, a servant, a workman, a
farm-servant ; from the Gaelic
sgalag, corrupted in America
into scalaivag, and used as a
term of opprobrium. The word
enters into the components of
the French marechal, and the
English marshal ; from the Gaelic
maor, a bailiff, overseer, steward,
or superintendent ; and sgalag,
a servant or workman, whence
marechal, one in charge of work-
men or servants.
Shang, a vulgar term for a hasty
luncheon or "snack," and for
what Scottish children call a
" piece ; " shangie, thin, meagre,
lean.
A shang o' bread and cheese, a bite be-
tween meals. In Icelandic skan, a crust,
a rind. — Jamieson.
The root is probalbly the Gaelic
seang {sheang), lean, hungry ;
thence, by extension of meaning,
a piece taken to satisfy hunger.
Shangie-mou'd, hare-lipped, or
with a cleft mouth ; from shan-
gan, a cleft stick, or anything
cleft or divided.
Shangie-mou'd, haluket Meg.
—The Blithesome Bridal.
i86
Shank — Shath mont.
The word haZuJcet in this de-
risory line appears to be a form
of haZse, a giddy, thoughtless
girl.
Shank, the leg. This noun is
sometimes used as a verb in
Scotland, and signifies to depart,
to send away, to dismiss. To
shank a person is to send him
away ; equivalent in English, to
give him the sack ; to shanJc one's
self away is to leave without
ceremony. The English phrase,
to go on shank's or shanks' s mare,
i.e., to walk, is rendered in
Scottish — to go on shank's naigie,
or little nag. Jamieson absurdly
suggests that the English, to
travel by the marrow-hone stage,
i.e., to walk, or go on shank's
mare, may be derived from the
parish of Marylebone, in Lon-
don. The etymology of shank
is the Gaelic seang {shank), lean,
slender, like the tibia, or bone
of the leg.
Shannach, or shannagh, a word
explained by Jamieson in the
phrase, " ' It's ill shannagh in
you to do this or that,' i.e., it
is ill on your part, or it is
ungracious in you to do so."
In Gaelic seanacach signifies
wily, cunning, sagacious, which
is clearly the root of shannagh,
so that the phrase cited by
Jamieson signifies it is not wise,
or it is ill wisdom on your part
to do so.
Shard (more properly sharg), a
contemptuous epithet applied
to a little, weazened, under-
grown, and, at the same time,
petulant and mischievous child.
From the GaeUc searg {s pro-
nounced as sh), a withered,
insignificant person or animal,
one shrivelled or dried up
with age, sickness, or infirm-
ity ; seargta, withered, dried up,
blasted.
Shargar, sharg, a lean, scraggy,
cadaverous person. Shargie, thin,
shrivelled, dried up ; from the
Gaelic searg, a puny man or
beast, one shrivelled with sick-
ness or old age ; also, to wither,
to fade away, to dwindle or dry
up, from want of vitality.
Sharrow, sharp, sour or bitter
to the taste. Flemish schcrp,
French acerbe, Gaelic searbh,
bitter ; searbhad, bitterness ;
searbhag, a bitter draught.
Shathmont, a measure, of which
the exact length is uncertain,
but which is evidently smalL
As I was walking all alane
Atween the water and the wa',
There I spied a wee, wee man,
The wee'est man that e'er I saw.
His leg was scarce a shathmont lang.
—Ballad of the Wee, Wee Man.
This obsolete English, as well
as Scottish word, is sometimes
written shaftmond, and shaft-
man. It appears in "Morte
Arthur," and other early Eng-
lish poems. The etymology has
never been satisfactorily traced.
Shacht, which is also written
schaft, is Flemish for the handle
Shaver — Shaw.
187
of a pike, or hilt of a sword ;
and mand is a basket or other
piece of wickerwork; whence
schacht-mand, a basket-hilt, or
the length of a basket hilt of
a sword, which may possibly
be the origin of the word.
The length of a shathmont is
stated to be the distance be-
tween the outstretched thumb
and little finger — a distance
which corresponds with the
position of the hand, when
grasping the sword-hilt. Maund,
for basket, is not yet entirely
obsolete.
Shaver, a droll fellow, a wag, a
funster, or one who indulges in
attempts at fun ; shavie, a trick.
Than him at Agincourt wha shone.
Few better were or braver,
And yet wi' funny, queer Sir John,
He was an unco shaver.
— Burns : A Dream.
But Cupid shot a shaft
That played the dame a shavie.
— Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
It has been suggested that
shaver, in the sense of a wag or
funster, is derived from Figaro
the barber, as the type of a
class who were professionally
funny in amusing their cus-
tomers, when under their hands
for hair-cutting or hair-dressing.
The words are possibly corrup-
tions of the old English shaver ^
described by Nares as a low,
cunning fellow, and used by the
writers of the early decades of
the seventeenth century. Shaver,
in the United States, signifies
a bill discounter who takes ex-
orbitant interest, and a shave
means a swindle or an imposi-
tion. Some have derived the
word from shave, to cut the
beard, itself a word of very
uncertain etymology, and not
necessarily connected with any
idea of dishonesty. The more
likely derivation is from the
Gaelic saohh (or shaov), dis-
semble, prevaricate, take unfair
advantage of, also, foolish.
Shaw, a small wood, a thicket,
a plantation of trees ; from the
Teutonic. This word was once
common in English literature.
It still exists in the patrony-
mics of many families, as Shawe,
Alder shaw, Einshaw, Hackshaw,
Hawkshaw (or Oakshaiv), and
others, and is used by the pea-
santry in most parts of England
and every part of Scotland.
Whither ridest thou under this green
shawe ?
Said this yeman.
— Chaucer : The Freres Tale.
Gaillard he was as goldfinch in the shaw,
Brown as a berry, a proper short fellow.
— Idem. : The Coke's Tale.
Close hid beneath the greenwood shaw.
— Fairfax.
In summer when the shaivs be shene.
And leaves be fair and long,
It is full merry in fair forest,
To hear the fowles' song.
—Ballad 0/ Robin Hood.
To all our haunts I will repair.
By greenwood, shaw, and fountain.
— Allan Ramsay.
The braes ascend like lofty wa's,
The foaming stream deep roaring fa's,
O'erhung wi' fragrant spreading shaws.
The birks of Aberfeldy.
—Burns.
i8S
Shear — Shtll.
Gloomy winter's now awa,
Saft the westlin breezes blaw ;
'Mang the birks o' Stanley shaw.
The mavis sings fu* cheery, oh.
— Tannahill.
There's nae a bonnie flower that springs
By fountain, shaw, or green,
There's nae a bonnie bird that sings.
But minds me o' my Jean.
— Burns : O/a the Airts.
Shear. The primary meaning of
shear is to cut or clip. In this
sense it is used by English
agriculturists, for the operation
of cutting or clipping the fleece
of sheep. In Scotland it is used
in the sense of reaping or cut-
ting the corn in harvest. On
the occasion of the first visit of
Queen Victoria and the Prince
Consort to the Highlands of
Scotland, it was duly stated in
the Court Circular that Her
Majesty visited the shearers, and
took much interest in their
labours. In the following week,
a newly-started pictorial journal,
in opposition to the Illustrated
London News, published a wood
engraving, in which Her Majesty,
the Prince, and several members
of the Court in attendance, were
represented as looking on at the
shee'p - shearing. The Cockney
artist, ignorant alike of the
seasons of agricultural opera-
tions and of the difference be-
tween the Scottish and English
idioms, and who had no doubt,
wished the public to believe
that he was present on the
occasion on which he employed
his pencil, must have been pain-
fully convinced, when his fraud
was discovered, of the truth
of the poetic adage, that •* a
little knowledge is a dangerous
thing ; " and that shearing and
reaping had different meanings
in England and Scotland.
In hairst, at the shearitig,
Nae youths now are jeering.
At fairs or at preaching,
Nae wooing and fleeching.
— The Flowers o' the Forest,
Sheuch, a drain, a furrow or
trench.
I saw the battle sair and teuch.
And reekin' red ran mony a sheuch.
—Burns : The Battle of Sheriffmuir.
Shiel or shielin, a hut, a shed, or
small cottage on the moor or
mountain for the shelter of
cattle or sportsmen ; derived by
Jamieson from the Icelandic
skalay a cottage ; probably a
corruption of shield, or shield-
ing, a place where one may be
shielded or sheltered from the
weather. Wintershielins, winter
quarters.
No ; I shall ne'er repent, Duncan,
And shanna e'er be sorry ;
To be wi' thee in Hieland shzel
Is worth the lands o' Castlecary.
— Ballad of Lizzie Baillie.
The craik among the clover hay,
The paitrick whirrin' o'er the lea,
The swallow jinkin' round my shiel.
Amuse me at my spinnin' wheel.
—Burns : Bess and her Spinnin IVheeL
Shfll. Appears to be a contraction
for the sake of euphony of the
harsher English'word shrill. The
etymology of shrill is doubtful,
though some derive it from the
Shilpit — Shot.
189
Scottish skirl, which they call
an onomatopeia, or imitation of
the sound. This also is doubt-
ful, more especially if the Teu-
tonic schreien, and the Dutch
and Flemish schreuicen, to cry
out discordantly, are taken into
consideration.
The westlin' wind blaws loud and skzli,
The night's baith mirk and rainy, O.
— Burns : My Nannie, O.
Shilpit, insipid, tasteless, dull,
stale, flat ; applied to liquor and
sometimes to persons, meta-
phorically to signify that they
are spiritless, timid, cowardly,
and of no account.
A shilpett {shilpit) wretch, a heart
stripped of manliness. — Jamieson.
The Laird of Balmawhapple pronounced
the claret shilpit, and demanded brandy
with great vociferation. — Scott : Waver-
ley.
According to Jamieson, shilpit
is used to designate ears of corn
that are not well filled. He
derives it from the German
schelp, signifying a reed, a
bulrush, which is possibly the
word that he referred to. But
neither schelp, which Jamieson
renders by the Latin putamen, a
paring, a husk, a shell, or schilp,
a bulrush, can be considered the
root of shilpit, as applied to the
insipidity or flatness of a liquor.
The origin of shilpit remains un-
known, though it may possibly
have some remote connection
with the Gaelic sile {shile), saliva,
or drivel.
Shool, a shovel.
If honest nature made you fools,
What sairs your grammars ?
Ye'd better ta'en up spades and shools
An' knappin' hammers.
—Burns : To Lapraik.
Shoon, the old plural of shoe,
still used in Scotland, though
almost obsolete in England.
If ever thou gave hosen or shoon,
Every night an awle,
Sit thee down and pass them on,
And Christ receive thy saule.
— Funeral Dirge, in use in England
before the Reformation, quoted
in Aubrey's Miscellanies.
Short, to divert, to amuse, to
shorten the time by agreeable
conversation; shortsome, divert-
ing, as opposed to langsome, or
longsome, tedious, wearisome.
In English, short is often applied
to a hasty or quick temper.
In Scottish parlance, shortly
or shortlie, signifies tartly,
peevishly, ill-naturedly.
Shot, shote, a puny or imperfect
young animal, especially a pig
or lamb. The Americans, who
have acquired many words from
the Scottish and Irish immi-
grants, have shote, a weakly
little pig, and apply the word
metaphorically to man or woman
as an epithet of contempt or
derision. It is derived from the
Gaelic seot (pronounced sheot, or
shote), a stunted animal, a short
tail, a tail that has been docked ;
and, generally, an incumbrance,
impediment, or imperfection ;
scotair signifies an idle, lazy,
190
Shouther — Simmer Couts.
useless person, a drone ; a
vaurien, a good-for-nothing.
Seth Slope was what we call down East
a poor shote, his principal business being
to pick up chips and feed the pigs. —
B artlett's Dictionary of A mericanisms.
Shouther, the shoulder; "High-
landers ! shouther to shouther ! "
the motto of some of the High-
land regiments in the British
service.
When the cloud lays its cheek to the flood,
And the sea lays its shouther to the shore.
— Chambers's Scottish Songs: Hew
Ainslie.
Shue, to play at see-saw ; shuggie-
shue, a swing.
Sib, related, of kin by blood or
marriage. Hence the English
gossip, from god-sib, related by
baptismal union. From the
German sippe, which has the
same meaning ; and sippschaft,
relationship.
He was sidie to Arthur of Bretagne.
— Chaucer.
He was no fairy born or std to elves.
— Spenser.
A boaster and a liar are right si5.
A' Stewarts are no szd to the king.
It's good to be sii to siller.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
We're no more sib than sieve and riddle.
Though both grew in the woods together.
— Cheshire Proveri.
Siccan, such ; sic like, such like,
or such a, as an adjective ; sic
like a time, such a time ; sic like
a fashion, in such a way or
fashion ; generally used in the
sense of inopportune, improper,
unseemly.
What the deil brings the laird here
At sic like a time ?
— The Laird o Cockpen.
Wi' siccan beauties spread around.
We feel we tread on holy ground.
— James Ballantine : Damick Tower.
Sicker, siccar, firm, safe, secure ;
sickerly, safely ; sickemess, safety,
security ; to sicker, to make cer-
tain; lock sickar, lock securely,
or safely — the motto of the
ancient Scottish family, the
Earls of Morton. Mak sickar is
another motto of historic origin
in Scotland.
Toddlin' down on Willie's mill,
Setting my staff wi' a' my skill
To keep me sicker.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Sick-saired, nauseated by reple-
tion, served with food to excess,
and to consequent sickness and
loathing.
Simmer (or summer) couts, the
gnats or midges which live for
one summer day, bom ere noon
and dying ere sunset, and which
seem to pass their brief life in
whirhng and dancing in the sun-
shine. The word, a summercout,
is often applied affectionately
to a very troublesome and merry
young child. Jamieson suggests
that couts may be a corruption
of colts, in which supposition he
is possibly correct, though the
comparison of the tiny midge
with so large an animal as a
young horse is not easy to ex-
plain. According to Wright's
Dictionary of Provincial English,
cote signifies a swarm of bees,
Sindle — Skeely.
191
which seems to approach nearer
to the idea of the midges. In
Gaelic, cuiha signifies frenzy,
delirium ; and cuihaich, frantic
dancing of the midges or other
ephemeral flies, allied in idea to
the phrase of Shakspeare — "a
midsummer madness." This may
be the real origin of the phrase.
Sindle, seldom ; from the Teutonic
sdten.
Kame sindle, kame sair.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Skalragf , of a shabby appearance ;
from the Gaelic sgail, to cover,
and rag, which is both Gaelic
and English. Skalrag is synony-
. mous, as Jamieson states, with
tatterdemalion, one covered with
rags, though he is incorrect in
the etymology from skail, to
scatter, and the explanation that
it signifies one who "gives his
rags to the wind."
Skedaddle, to disperse suddenly.
A long obsolete Scottish word,
revived unexpectedly in the army
of the Potomac during the great
American Civil War at the battle
of Bull's Run, in 1862, when
the Federal troops were seized
with unreasonable panic, or
alarm, and fled, when there
was no pursuit. The word is
said to be still occasionally used
in Dumfriesshire, and to be ap-
plied to the wasteful overflow,
of the milk in the pails, when
the milkmaids do not balance
them properly, when carrying
them from the byre to the
farm. It has been generally
considered to be an Ameri-
can coinage, on account of the
incident of the retreat at Bull's
Run, which brought it into noto-
riety, but was in reality em-
ployed either by the Gaelic-
speaking Irish or Scottish sol-
diers under General MacCleUan's
command, and derived from the
two Gaelic words sguit, to wan-
der, to disperse, and allta, wild,
irregular, ungovernable ; or else
from sgath {ska), to lop or cut
off, and adhl, a hook; though
some hold that it is derivable
from the Greek aKeda^ca, to dis-
perse. It is still doubtful
which of these derivations, or
either of them, is correct.
Skeigh, proud, scornful, disdain-
ful, mettlesome, insolent in the
pride of youth.
When thou and I were young and skeigh.
— Burns : Auld Farmer to his Auld
Mare, Maggie.
Maggie coost her head fu' heigh.
Looked asklent and unco skeigh.
— Burns : Duncan Gray.
From the Gaelic sgeig, to taunt,
deride, scorn ; sgeigeach, disdain-
ful. Jamieson has sheg, which
he says is not clear, though he
quotes "a skeg, a scorner, and
a scolder " — words which might
have helped him to the mean-
ing.
Skeely, for skilful, but implying
much more than the English
word ; sagacious, far-seeing.
192
Skeerte — Skelpie-Hmmer.
Out and spak Lord John's mother,
And a skeely woman was she,
" Where met ye, my son, wi' that bonnie
boy
That looks sae sad on thee ? "
-'Ballad of Burd Helen.
Where will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this ship o' mine ?
— Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens.
Skeerie, easily scared or fright-
ened, timid, shy ; from scare.
Skellum and blellum. These
words are directed against Tarn
o' Shanter by his wife, in Burns'
immortal poem :
She tauld thee weel thou wast a skellum,
A bletherin', blusterin', drunken blellum.
They are explained in the glos-
saries as signifying the first, " a
worthless fellow ; " the second,
** an idle, talkative fellow."
STcellum was used by English
writers in the seventeenth cen-
tury, among others by Taylor,
the water-poet, and by Pepys in
his diary. It is traceable to the
German, Dutch, and Flemish
schclm, a rogue, a rascal, a bad
fellow; and also to the Gaelic
sgiolam, a coarse blackguard ;
and sgiolomach, addicted to
slander and mischief - making.
Blellum is also from the Gaelic,
in which hlialum signifies inco-
herent, confused in speech ;
especially applied to the utter-
ances of a drunken man.
Skelp, to smack, to administer a
blow with the palm of the hand ;
to sTcelp the doup (breech), as
used to be the common fashion
of Scottish mothers.
I'm sure sma' pleasure it can gie.
E'en to a deil,
To skelp and scaud puir dogs like me,
And hear us squeal !
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
This word, of which the Eng-
lish synonym is spank, to strike
with the palm of the hand in a
quick succession of blows, ap-
pears to be derived primarily
from the Gaelic sgealhh, to dash
into small pieces, fragments, or
splinters ; and to have been ap-
plied afterwards, by extension
of meaning, to the blows that
might be sufficient to break any
brittle substance. The English
spank is to strike with the open
hand, and the Scottish spunk, a
match, signifies a splinter of
wood, in which the same exten-
sion of meaning, from the blow
to the possible results of the
blow, is apparent. Skelp also
means to walk or run at a smart
pace, and the slang English
phrase, "A pair of spanking
tits " (a pair of fast-trotting or
galloping horses), shows the
same connection between the
idea of blows and that of rapid
motion.
And, barefit, skelp
Awa' wi' Willie Chalmers.
— Burns.
Three hizzies, early at the road,
Cam skelpin' up the way.
—Burns: The Holy Fair.
Tarn skelpit on thro' dub and mire,
Despising wind and rain and fire.
— Burns : Taiti d Shanter.
Skelpie-limmer, a violent woman,
ready both with her hands and
, tongue.
Skene-occle — Skink.
193
Ye little skelpie-limmers face,
I daur ye try sic sportin'.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
Skene-occle, a dagger, dirk ; from
the Gaelic scjian, a knife, con-
cealed in the achlais, under the
arm, or in the sleeve ; achlasan,
anything carried under the arm ;
from whence the verb achlaisich,
to cherish, to fold to the bosom,
or encircle with the arm.
"Her ain sell," said Callum, "could
wait for her a wee bit frae the toun, and
kittle her quarters wi' his skene-occle" —
" Skene-occle I what's that ? " Callum un-
buttoned his coat, raised his left arm, and,
with an emphatic nod, pointed to the hilt
of a small dirk, snugly deposited under the
wing of his jacket.
— Scott: Wccverley,
Skin, a vituperative term applied
to a person whom it is wished
to disparage or revile. " Ye're
naething but a nasty skin.''
Jamieson suggests that this
word is a figurative use of the
English shin, as denoting a husk.
It is more likely to be a corrup-
tion of the Gaelic sgonn, a block-
head, a dolt, a rude clown, an
uncultivated and boorish person,
a dunce ; from whence sgonn
bhalaoch, a stupid fellow; sgon
signifies vile, worthless, bad ;
whence the English scoundrel —
from sgon, and droll, or droil,
an idle vagabond.
Skincheon o* drink, a drop of
drink, a dram ; a pouring out
of liquor. Skincheon is a mis-
print for skinkin\
Skink, to pour out; skinker, a
waiter at a tavern who pours
out the liquor for the guests, a
bar tender. From the Flemish
and German schenken, to pour
out. This word is old English
as well as Scotch, and was used
by Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, and
their contemporaries. Skink is
sometimes contemptuously ap-
plied to soup or broth when not
of the accustomed flavour or
consistency, imparted by vege-
table ingredients, such as bar-
ley, peas, &c.
Sweet Ned, I give thee this pennyworth
of sugar, clapt even now into my hand by
an under-ski'nker.
— Shakspeare: Henry IV.
Such wine as Gannymede doth skink to
Jove.— Shirley.
Ye powers wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare ;
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups i' luggies,
But if ye wish her grateful prayer,
Gie her a haggis.
—Burns : To a Haggis.
The wine ! there was hardly half a
mutchkin, — and poor fushionless skink it
was. — Sir Walter Scott.
In many of the editions of
Burns which have been printed
in England, the compositors, or
printers' readers, ignorant of the
word skink, have perverted it in
the ** Lines to a Haggis," into
stink.
Auld Scotland wants nae stinking wares.
— Complete Works <?/" Robert Burns,
edited by A lexander Smith. Lon-
don : Macmillan &' Co., 1868.
" These editions," says Mr
James M'Kie of Kilmarnock
in his Bibliography of Robert
Burns, "are known to collectors
as the stinking editions."
N
194
Skipper — Sklent.
Skipper, the captain of a ship, but
properly any sailor; s^/p-man,
a ship man. This word is fast
becoming English, and promises
to supersede captain as the de-
signation of officers in the mer-
cantile marine. STcipper is from
the Danish skiffer, the German,
Dutch, and Flemish schiffer.
The king sat in Dunfermline tower,
Drinking the blood-red wine ;
Oh whaur '11 I get a skeely skipper,
To sail this ship o' mine.
— Sir Patrick Spens.
It is related of the late eminent
sculptor, Patric Park, that, on
an excursion through the beau-
tiful lakes that form the chain
of the Caledonian Canal, he was
annoyed by the rudeness of the
captain of the steamer, and ex-
pressed his sense of it in lan-
guage more forcible than polite.
The captain, annoyed in his
turn, inquired sharply — "Do
you know, sir, that I'm the
captain of the boat?" "Cap-
tain be hanged ! " said the irate
man of genius, "you're only the
skipper, that is to say, you're
nothing but the driver of an
aquatic omnibus ! " The skip-
per retired to hide his wrath,
muttering as he went that the
sculptor was only a stone mason !
Skirl, to shriek, to cry out, or to
make a loud noise on a wind in-
strument.
Ye have given the sound thump, and he
the loud skirl {i.e., you have punished the
man, and he shows it by his roaring).
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
When skirlin weanies see the light.
Thou mak's the gossips clatter bright,
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
A family belonging to the Scottish Bor-
der, after spending some time at Florence,
had returned home, and, proud of the pro-
gress they had made in music, the young
ladies were anxious to show oflf their ac-
complishments before an old confidential
servant of the family, and accordingly sang
to her some of the finest songs which they
had learned abroad. Instead, however, of
paying them a compliment on their per-
formance, she showed what she thought of
it, by asking with much naivete— ^^ Eh,
mem ! Do they ca' skirling like yon,
singing in foreign parts?" — Dean Ram-
say's Reminiscetices.
Skirl-naked, stark naked ; naked
as a child that skirls or squalls
at the moment of its birth. Skirl
is allied to screech, shriek, and
shrill, and comes immediately
from the Gaelic sgreuch, a shrill
cry, and sgreucJiail, shrieking.
Sklent, oblique, slanting ; to de-
viate, to slant off the right line
of truth, to cast obliquely ;
to push away, to look away, to
squint.
Now, if yer ane o' warld's folk.
Who rate the wearer by the cloak,
And sklent on poverty their joke,
Wi' bitter sneer.
— Burns : To Mr. John Kennedy.
One dreary, windy, winter night,
The stars shot doun wi' sklentin light.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
The city gent
Behind a kist to lie and sklent.
Or purse-proud, big with cent, per cent.
An' muckle wame.
— Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Ye did present your smootie phiz
'Mang better folk,
And sklented on the man of Uz
Your spiteful joke.
— Burns : Address to the DeiU
Skrae — Skulduddery.
195
Skrae, or scrae, a thin, skinny,
meagre person, a skeleton ; skrae-
skankit, having skinny legs ; Eng-
lish scraff, and scraggy; Gaelic
sgraidh - teach {dk silent), shri-
velled, dried up ; sgraidht, a lean,
shrivelled, ugly old woman.
But gin she say, He still ye skrae.
That's Water Kelpie !
— Jamieson's Border Minstrelsy:
Water Kelpie.
In the glossary appended by
Sir Walter Scott to Jamieson's
ballad written in imitation of
the antique, skrae is glossed
as a skeleton.
Skreigh, or screigh, a shrill cry,
a shriek, a screech.
The skreigh o' duty, which no man
should hear and be inobedient.— Scott :
Rob Roy.
It's time enough to skreigh when ye're
strucken. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
When thou and I were young and skeigh,
An' stable meals at fairs were dreigh.
How thou would prance and snort, and
skreigh,
An' tak the road.
— Burns: Auld Farmer to his
Auld Mare, Maggie.
Skulduddery. This grotesque
word has been held to signify
indulgence in lust, or illicit
passion ; but it also signifies
obscene language or conversa-
tion, or, as it is sometimes called
in English, smut. Jamieson
suggests the Teutonic shuld,
fault or crime, as the origin of
the first syllable, and the Gaelic
sgaldruth, a fornicator, as the ori-
gin of the whole word. Scaldruth,
however, has long been obsolete,
and seems to have been a com-
pound of sgald, to burn or scald ;
and druis, lust ; whence the mo-
dern Gaelic di'uisear, a fornica-
tor. If the Gaelic etymology be
accepted, the word would resolve
itself into a corruption of sgald-
druis, burning lust, or burned
by lust. From the Gaelic druis
came the old Enghsh druery,
for courtship, intercourse of the
sexes, gallantry ; and drossel, an
unchaste woman. The French,
who have inherited many Celtic
words from their ancestors, the
Gauls, formerly used the word
dru for a lover {un ami), and
drue for a sweetheart [une amie).
BrxL, as an adjective, signified,
according to the "Dictionaire
de la Langue Romane" (Paris
1768), "un amant vigoureux et
propre au plaisir." Druerie, in
the sense of courtship and gal-
lantry, occurs in the "Roman
de la Rose." Another French
word, sgaldrine, still more akin
to the Scottish skulduddery, is
cited in the " Dictionaire Comi-
que de Le-Roux," as a "terme
d'injure pour une femme de
mauvaise vie ; femme publique
affligde d'une maladie bru-
lante."
And there will be Logan Macdonald —
Skulduddery and he will be there !
— Burns : The Election.
That can find out naething but a wee bit
skulduddery for the benefit of the Kirk
Treasury.— Scott : Rob Roy^
196
Skyhald — Slanky.
Skybald, apparently the same as
the English skeivbald and pie-
bald, terms to designate a horse
of two colours, marked as cows
and oxen more usually are.
Both skybald and piebald, as
well as the English skewbald,
have their origin in the Gaelic.
Sky and skew are corruptions of
sgiath, a shade, a dark shade ;
pie comes from pigke, a pie, or
magpie, a bird whose black
plumage is marked with a white
streak ; bald is derived from the
Gaelic ball, a mark or spot ;
whence skybald is shade-marked,
and piebald is marked like a
bird. Jamieson says that, in
Scotland, skybald signifies a
base, mean fellow, a worthless
person, and that it is also ap-
plied to a man in rags and
tatters. Possibly this metaphori-
cal use of the word arises from
the fact that the rags of such
a person [ are often of various
colours. Locke, the celebrated
English metaphysician, uses pie-
bald in a similar sense, "a pie-
bald livery of coarse patches."
In Yorkshire, according to
Wright's Provincial Dictionary,
skeyVd signifies parti-coloured,
which is apparently from the
same Gaelic root as sky and
skew.
Skjrre. Jamieson renders this
word, pure, mere, utter. The
Flemish and German schier sig-
nifies nearly, almost ; while the
Danish skier means clear, pure,
limpid. Thus the Danish, and
not the German or Flemish,
seems to be the root of this
Scottish word.
Skjrte or skite, to eject liquid for-
cibly, a flux, or diarrhoea. This
vulgar word is often, both in a
physical and moral sense, ap-
plied in contempt to any mean
person. A skyte of rain is a sud-
den and violent shower ; skyter
is a squirt, a syringe; so called
from the violent ejection of the
liquid. Bletherum skyte — more
properly, blether and skyte (see
Blether, ante) — is a colloquial
phrase very often employed by
people who are unaware of the
grossness of its original mean-
ing, and who are impressed by
its aptness as descriptive of the
windy trash of conversation and
assertion which it but too power-
fully designates. The word is
derivable either from the Eng-
lish scu<i,fast motion, or the Gae-
lic sgud, to cut, a cutting wind.
When hailstanes drive wi' bitter skyte.
—Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
Slack, slug, a pass, opening, or
gap between two hills ; from the
Gaelic sloe, and slochd, a hollow,
a cavity, a ravine. Slochd muigh,
or the gap of the wild swine, is
a wild pass in the Grampians
between Perth and Inverness.
But ere he won the Gate-hope slack,
I think the steed was wae and weary.
— Minstrelsy of the Border:
Annan Water.
Slanky, slimy.
Twa slanky stanes seemed his spule banes.
—Border Minstrelsy : The Water
Kelpie.
Slap — Sliver,
197
Slap, a breach, or casual opening
in a hedge or fence.
At sla^s the billies [fellows] halt a blink [a
little while],
Till lassies strip their shoon.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Slawpie, slaipie, indolent, slo-
venly ; derived by Jamieson
from the Icelandic dapr, ho-
muncio sordidus. It is rather
from the Gaelic sZa^Jac/i, slovenly,
slapair and slaopair, a slovenly
man, a drawler, an idler; and
slapaff, a slut, a lazy, dirty,
slovenly woman or girl; and
slapaireachd, slovenliness.
Sleuth-hound, a blood-hound, a
hound trained to follow by the
scent the track of man or beast.
From the Gaelic slaod, a trace,
a trail ; and slot, sliogach, subtle,
keen scented.
Wi' his sleuth-dog in his watch right
sure;
Should his dog gie a bark,
He'll be out in his sark,
And die or win.
—Ballad of The Fray 0/ Suport.
Slid, smooth ; sUddery, slippery.
Ye had sae saft a voice, and a slid
tongue.
— Allan Ramsay : The Gentle
Shepherd.
Sliddery, slippery ; from slide.
Slidder, unstable, changeable in
thought or purpose, not to be
depended upon.
There's a sliddery stane afore the ha'
door.
[It is sometimes dangerous to visit
great houses.]
— Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Though I to foreign lands must hie,
Pursuin' fortune's sliddery ba'.
—Burns: Farewell to his Native
Country.
Slink, a tall, idle person ; a term
of depreciation. The word is
usually associated with lang, as,
a lang slink. It is sometimes
written and pronounced slunk.
It is derived apparently from the
Teutonic schlang, the JDutch and
Flemish slang, a snake. Slinkcn
means to grow long, thin, and
attenuated ; and Jamieson has
the adjective slunk, lank and
slender ; and the substantive
slink, a starveling.
Slint or slinter, a slovenly, untidy,
awkward man, corresponding
with the English slut as applied
to a woman ; from the Gaelic
slaod, to draggle or trail lazily
along the ground ; slaodag, a slut ;
slaodair, a sluggard. Jamieson
derives it from the Teutonic
slodde, a dirty female ; but the
word is not to be found in Ger-
man dictionaries, though it pos-
sibly exists in the vulgar patois.
Sliver, a slice, a small piece. The
word was eiliployed in this sense
by Chaucer, and is akin to the
English slice, and to the Gaelic
slios, a side. Stormonth derives
it from the Anglo-Saxon slifan,
to cleave or split. Shakspeare
uses the word three times.
Slivered in the moon's eclipse.
— Macbeth, act iv. scene 1.
An envious sliver broke.
—Hamlet, act iv. scene 7.
Sliver and disbranch.
— Lear, act iv. scene a.
1 98
Slacken — Slounge.
Slocken, to slake, to allay thirst,
to extinguish.
Foul water may slocken fire.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
It slackened not my drouth, but aggra-
vated a thousandfold the torrent o' my
greed. — Nodes AmbrosiancF.
The Rev. John Heugh of Stirling was
one day admonishing one of his people on
the sin of intemperance : " Man 1 John I
you should never drink except when
you're dry." " Weel, sir," said John,
" that's what I'm aye doin', but I'm never
slocken'd." — Dean Ramsay.
Slogan, the war-cry of a High-
land clan.
Our slogan is their lyke-wake dirge.
— Sir Walter Scott.
When the streets of high Dunedin,
Saw lances gleam and falchions redden,
And heard the slogan s deadly yell.
Scott : Lay of the Last Minstrel.
Jamieson has this word as
slughorn, and derives it from the
Irish Gaelic sluagh, an army,
and arm, a horn. Jamieson
might have found the true ety-
mology in the Scottish Gaelic
sluagh, the people, the multi-
tude, the clan ; and gairm, a cry,
a shout, a loud call. The slogan
was not made on a horn ; and
arm does not signify a horn in
Gaelic. Slogan, the war-cry, has
been used by English writers
as synonymous with pibroch,
especially in a play that en-
joyed considerable popularity a
quarter of a century ago, on the
siege and relief of Lucknow dur-
ing the Indian Mutiny. When
General Havelock approaches
with his gallant Highlanders,
Jeanie, the heroine of the piece,
who hears the music of the
pibroch from afar, exclaims,
" Oh ! hear ye not the slogan?"
But the " pock puddings," as
one of Sir Walter Scott's char-
acters called the English, knew
no better, and always applauded
the slogan.
S logger, to swallow broth, por-
ridge, or spoon meat awkwardly
and voraciously; from the Gaelic
sluig, to swallow ; slugair, or
slogair, a glutton. Synonymous
with the local English slorp,
Sloom, a deep sleep, whence the
English word slumber, a light
sleep ; from the Flemish slui-
meren, to sleep ; sluimerig, sleepy.
Sloomy, lethargic.
Slorp, slotter, to eat or drink
greedily, and with a guttural
and vulgar noise ; from the
Flemish and Dutch slorpen,
which has the same meaning.
There's gentle John, and Jock the slorp,
And curly Jock, and burly Jock,
And lying Jock himsel'.
— Hogg's Jacobite Relics.
Slort, a sloven ; slotter, to work in
an idle, slovenly, and bungling
manner; akin to the English
slut, applied in the same manner
to a woman. From the Gaelic
slaodair, a sluggard ; a lazy,
careless person.
Slounge, to go idling about, to go
sorning (q.v.), or seeking for a
Slunk — Smervy.
199
dinner, lounging about and
coming into the house of a
friend or acquaintance at or
near dinner time, as if acciden-
tally. Apparently a corruption
of the Gaelic slugair, a glutton ;
sluganach, a voracious person,
and slugan, the gullet.
Slunk, sometimes written slung,
an Aberdonian word, which ac-
cording to Jamieson signifies a
tall, cadaverous-looking person
of inferior intellect, ** a lang,
toom, haiverilly kind o' chiel."
He derives it from the Icelandic
slani, an imbecile. The word,
however, seems akin to the
English slink, as its past par-
ticiple slunk, and to be derivable
from the German schlang, a
snake that slinks away, and is
hence, by association of ideas,
applied metaphorically, in the
same way as the English sneak,
which has a similar origin.
Sma' drink, a weak liquor ; the
English say small beer, for weak
beer or ale, and the French
petit vin, for inferior wine. To
"think nae sma' drink o' him-
sel'," is a phrase applied to any
one who thinks too much of his
own dignity or importance.
Smaik, a mean, low fellow, a
poltroon, a puny fellow, a per-
son of small moral or physical
account.
" Oh, I have heard of that smaik," said
the Scotch merchant ; " it's he whom your
principal, like an ohstinate auld fule, wad
male a merchant o' — wad he, or wad he
no ! " — Scott : Jiofi Roy,
This false, traitorous smaik. I doubt
he is a hawk of the same nest. — Scott :
Fortunes of Nigel.
From the Teutonic schmach,
insult, ignominy ; schmdchtig,
slender, lank.
Smeddum, spirit, pith, energy.
Also dust, powder ; from the
Gaelic smodan, small dust.
Now and then ye may overhaul an article
that's ower lang and ovver stupid, and put
some smeddum into it. — Nodes Ambro-
siance.
Oh, for some rank mercurial rozet,
Or pale red smeddum,
I'd gie ye sic a hearty dose o't
Wad dress your droddum.*
— Burns : To a Louse.
Smeerless, pithless, marrowless;
from the Gaelic smior, marrow.
I mark him for a sjneerless dolt.
Who'd jink to eschew a thunderbolt.
— George Beattie : John d Arnha.
Smergh, marrow, vigour, pith ;
strength either of body or of
mind; smergJders, weak, mar-
rowless, pithless, vapid, insipid;
from the Gaelic smior, marrow,
and smiorach, marrowy, or full
of marrow and pith. The Teu-
tonic mark, marrow, seems to
be of this origin, with the omis-
sion of the initial s, though
Jamieson traces it to the Teu-
tonic mergh, which does not
mean marrow, but marl.
Smervy, fat and marrowy.
They scum'd the cauldron, fed the fuel,
They steer'd and preed, the smervy gruel.
—George Beattie : John d Arnha'.
* Droddum, a ludicrous word for the
posterior of a child.
200
Sm iddle — Smook.
Smiddle, to work by stealth;
derivation uncertain, but pos-
sibly related to smith, smithy,
and smiddy.
Smird, to gibe, to jeer. Jamieson
derives this word from the Ice-
landic sma' (the Scottish sma'
and the English small), and ord,
a word, and supposes it to mean
small and contemptuous lan-
guage. It is more probably
from the Gaelic smioradh or
smiuradh, smearing, or besmear-
ing; used metaphorically for
larding with abuse or ill-natured
jests.
Smit, the noise, clash, or clank of
smitten metal ; from the English
smite.
As she was walking maid alane
Down by yon shady wood,
She heard a smt'i o bridle reins
She wished might be for good.
— Border Minstrelsy: Lord William.
Smitch or smytch, a term of
contempt or anger applied to
an impudent boy ; from smtit,
dirt, a stain, an impurity. Ger-
man schmiitzig, dirty ; Flemish
and Dutch smotsen, to soil, to
dirty, to defile ; the English
smudge.
Smirl, a roguish or mischievous
trick. Jamieson derives this
word from the German schmieren,
illudere ; but in the German
• dictionaries it is defined as "to
. smear." It is more probably
from the Gaelic smiorail, strong,
active, lively ; and "I'll play him
a smirl for that yet," as quoted
by Jamieson, simply means,
"I'll play him a lively trick for
that yet."
And in some distant place,
Plays the same sviirle.
— T. Scott.
Smirtle, a slight, or half -sup-
pressed laugh or smile.
And Norie takes a glack of bread and
cheese.
And wi' a smirtle unto Lindie goes.
— Ross's Helenore.
This word is akin to the Eng-
lish smirk, but without any de-
preciatory meaning.
Smolt, an epithet applied to the
weather when fair and calm,
with a blue sky.
Merry maidens, think na lang,
The weather is fair and smolt.
— Christ's Kirk on the Green.
This word is used, according
to Messrs. Halliwell and Wright,
in Sussex and other parts of
England. It is probable that
the root is the Teutonic schmalte^
deep blue, applied to the un-
clouded sky.
O'er Branxholme Tower, ere the morning
hour,
Where the lift is like lead so blue,
The smoke shall roll white on the weary
night,
And the flame shine dimly through.
— Border Minstrelsy : Lord Inglis.
Smook, to prowl stealthily about
a place, with a view to pilfer
small articles ; from the Flemish
smuig, furtive, secret.
Smookie — Sneck.
20 r
Smookie, addicted to petty lar-
ceny.
The smookie gipsy i' the loan.
—Ross's Helenore.
Smoor, abbreviation and corrup-
tion of smother.
What's the matter, quo' WilHe,
Though we be scant o' claes,
We'll creep the closer thegither,
An' we'll smoor a' the fleas.
— Wood an' Married an A '.
Smjrte, a small particle ; possibly
derived from the spark of an
anvil when smitten; smytrie, a
large collection of little things,
or little children'
A smytrie o' wee duddie weans.
— Burns.
Snack, a slight repast, a cut from
the loaf, refreshment taken
hastily between meals ; to go
snacks, to share with another.
From the Gaelic snaigh, to cut.
SnacTc, and to go snacks, are still
used in colloquial English, and
are derived by Worcester and
t others from snatch, i.e., as much
of a thing as can be snatched
hastily. An etymology which
may apply to snack, a lunch,
but scarcely applies so well as
the Gaelic snaigh, to the phrase
of go snacks, or shares in any
thing.
Snag, to chide, to taunt, to re-
prove, to snarl ; snaggy, sar-
castical, apt to take offence.
This word, with the elision of
the initial s, remains in Eng-
lish as nag, the form of scolding
. or grumbling, which is pecu-
liarly attributed to quarrelsome
women. It is one of the numer-
ous family of words commenc-
ing with m, which, in the
Scottish and English languages,
generally imply a movement of
the lips and nose, expressive of
anger, reproof, scorn, and in
inferior animals, of an inclina-
tion to bite ; such as snarl, snub,
sneer, snort, snap, snack, or
snatch (as an animal with its
jaws), and many others, all of
which, inclusive of snore, sniff,
snuff, sneeze, snigger, snivel,
snout, have a reference to the
nose. They appear to be de-
rivable primarily from the Gae-
lic sron, pronounced strone, the
nose. The Teutonic languages
have many words commencing
with schn, which also relate to
the action of the nose, and are
possibly of the same Celtic
origin.
Snag'gerel, a contemptuous term
for a puny, deformed child; from
snag, a broken bough.
Snash, impertinence, rebuff, re-
buke.
Poor bodies . . .
. . . thole (endure) a factor's snash.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Sneck or snick, the latch, bolt, or
fastening of a door. The ety-
mology is uncertain, and can-
not be traced to any branches
of the Teutonic, either High
Dutch, Low Dutch, or Danish
and Swedish. The English has
. snacket and snccket, a fastening.
202
Sneeshin^ — Snool.
a hasp; as well as sneck and
snick, with the same meaning
as the Scotch, but the words
are local, not general.
And you, ye auld sneck-dravf'ing dog,
Ye came to Paradise incog.
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Sneeshin', snuif; from sneeze;
sneeshin^ -mull, a snuff-box.
Snaped haddocks, wilks, dulse an'
tangles,
An' a mull o' gude sneeshin to prie ;
When weary wi' eatin' and drinkin'
We'll up an' we'll dance till we die.
— The Blithesome Bridal.
Snell, keen, bitter, sharp, quick ;
from the Flemish sneZZ, and the
German schneU, swift.
And bleak December's winds ensuing
Baith snell and keen.
— Burns : 7'<? a Mouse.
Sir Madoc was a handy man, and snell
In tournament, and eke in fight.
—M arte Arthur.
Shivering from cold, the season was so
snell.
—Douglas : Eneid.
The winds blew snell.
— Allan Ramsay.
Snelly the hail smote the skeleton trees.
— James Ballantine.
Snirtle, to laugh slily, or in a half
suppressed manner.
He feigned to snirtle in his sleeve,.
When thus the laird addressed her.
— Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
Snood or snude, a ribbon, a
band worn by young unmarried
women in or around the hair.
To tyne one's snude is a phrase applied
in Scotland to a young woman who has
lost her virginity. It is singular that the
ancient Romans had the same figure. —
Jamieson.
The word and the fashion
appears to be peculiar to the
Celtic nations. In Gaelic, snuadh
signifies beauty and adornment,
and thence an ornament, such
as the snood of the Scottish
maidens. The word appears in
Snowdon, the ancient name of
Stirling, which signifies the fair
or beautiful hill. The Kymric
and Welsh has ysnoden, a fillet, a
lace, a band, evidently from the
same root. The much despised
English patronymic Snooks,
sometimes alleged to be a cor-
ruption of sevenoaks, is probably
of Celtic origin, from snuadhach
{snu-ach), beautiful.
Snool, to flatter abjectly, to cringe,
to crawl. This word also means
to snub, to chide ill-naturedly
and unduly.
They snool me sair and haud me down,
And gar me look like bluntie, Tam ;
But three short years will soon wheel roun',
And then comes ane and twenty, Tam.
— Burns.
Is there a whim-inspired fool,
Ow're blate (shy) to seek, ow're proud to
snool.
—Burns : A Bard's Epitaph.
Your snools in love and cowards in war,
Frae maidens' love are banished far.
— John o' Amha.
The etymology of this word
is uncertain. It seems to have
some relation to the nose and
mouth, and expression of the
features in an unfavourable
sense ; like many words in the
English language commencing
withsn. (See Snag, an<6.) The
most probable derivation is that
given by Jamieson from the
Snoove — Sodger,
203
Danish snojle, to reprimand un-
necessarily, continually, and un-
justly — the French rabrouer.
Snoove, to glide away easily,
like a worm or snake ; to sneak.
Probably from the Gaelic sniomh
(pronounced sni-ov), to twist, to
twine, to wriggle,
But just thy step a wee thing hastit,
Then snoovt away.
— Burns : Auld Farmer to his
Auld Mare, Maggie.
Snowk, to snuff, to smell, to
scent.
Wi' social nose they snuffed and snowket.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Snuit, to go about in a careless,
half-stupefied manner; snuitit,
having the appearance of sleepy
inebriety.
He was gaun snuitin down the street ;
he came snuitin in. — Jamieson.
Jamieson traces the word to
the Dutch and Flemish &nuxt,
the snout. The Gaelic has snot,
to smell, to snuff up the wind,
to turn up the nose suspiciously ;
and snotach, suspecting, inclined
to suspicion.
Snurl, to ruffle the surface of the
waters with a wind; meta-
phorically applied to the temper
of man or woman.
Northern blasts the ocean snurl.
— Allan Ramsay.
Sockdologer, a heavy, knock-
down blow. This word is
usually considered to be an
Americanism. But it clearly
comes from the "old country,"
from the Gaelic sogh, easy ; and
dolach, destructive ; dolaidk,
harm, detriment, injury, de-
struction ; thus a sockdolager
means a blow that destroys
easily.
Sodger or sojer, a soldier ; sioad-
die or swad, a familiar and vulgar
name for a soldier.
My humble knapsack a' my wealth,
A poor but honest sodger.
—Burns.
The Scottish word sodger is
possibly not a mere corruption
or mispronunciation of the Eng-
lish soldier, or the French soldat,
as it is generally considered to
be. The old Teutonic for soldier
was Jcriegsman, warman, or man
of war ; a word which was not
adopted by the early English
of German, Danish, and Flemish
descent. The English soldiers
were called bowmen, spearmen,
archers, &c. The commonly
accepted derivation of soldier is
from solde, pay, — i.e., one who
is paid. But in early times,
before the establishment of
standing armies, people who
took up arms in defence of their
country were not mercenaries,
but patriots and volunteers, or
retainers of great territorial
chieftains. Sodger, as distin-
guished from soldier, dates from
a period anterior to the inven-
tion of gunpowder and the use
of fire-arms, when bows and
arrows were the principal wea-
pons of warfare over all Eu-
rope ; may be derived from the
204
Sokand Set'l — Sook.
Gaelic saighead, an arrow ; and
saighdear, an arrower, an archer,
a bowman ; the same as the
Latin saggitarius. Thus the
Scottish sodjer appears to be a
word of legitimate origin and of
respectable antiquity. Soldier,
from the French soldat, is com-
paratively modern, and does not
appear in the * ' Dictionary of the
First or Oldest Words in the
English Language, from the
Semi-Saxon Period from a.d.
1250 to 1300," by Herbert Cole-
ridge, published in 1862. It is
worthy of mention that Jamie-
son's Scottish Dictionary does
not contain sodger or sojer, but
has sodgerize, to act as a soldier,
or go a soldiering ; and the
strange term sodgertheed, which
he explains to be a low word
meaning one that has little or
no money, or having " the thigh
of a soldier ! " Had Jamieson,
before hazarding this sugges-
tion, looked to another page of
his own dictionary, he would
have found the word thig, to
beg, and might have explained
the phrase in the sense of a dis-
banded soldier, begging from
door to door, without any parti-
cular reference to his thigh.
Sokand sell. An old Scottish pro-
verb says, " Sokand sell is best."
Dean Ramsay, who quotes it,
defines it to mean, " The plough
and happiness is the best lot."
The translation is too loose to
be accepted. Soc is, indisput-
ably, a ploughshare, in Gaelic,
in French, in Flemish (in Latin
soccus), and other languages.
No trace, however, has hitherto
been discovered of its employ-
ment as a verb, signifying to
plough. It would seem, neverthe-
less, from the terminal syllable
in sockand, that it was in old
time so used in Scotland. Sell
is from the Gaelic sealbh, signify-
ing good fortune, good luck,
happiness, — whence the Teu-
tonic selig, happy. Ploughing,
in the proverb, may be taken to
mean labouring generally ; and
then the proverb might be ren-
dered, " Labouring happiness,
or the happiness that results
from labour, is the best."
Sonk, a stuffed seat, or a couch
of straw ; sonkie, a gross, coarse,
unwieldy man, of no more
shapely appearance than a sack
of straw. The root of these
two words seems to be the
Gaelic sonnach, anything thick,
bulky, or strong ; sonn is a stout
man, also a hero ; and sonnach,
a fat, ill-shaped person.
The Earl of Argyle is bound to ride,
And all his habergeons him beside,
Each man upon a sonk of strae.
— Introduction to Border Minstrelsy.
Sonse, happiness, good luck;
sonsie, strong, happy, pleasant ;
from the Gaelic sona, happy,
and sonas, happiness. Sonas agus
donas, happiness and unhappi-
ness.
His honest, sonsie, baws'nt face
Aye gat him friends in ilka place.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Sook, a suck, a drop, a sup or sip,
a taste of liquor. 8ooch or sook
Sool — Soss.
205
is defined by Jamieson as "a
copious, draught. "
There sat a bottle in a hole,
Ayont the ingle low ;
And aye she took the ither sook,
To drook the stoury tow.
— The Weary Fund 0' Tow.
Sool (sometimes written soul), a
sufficiency of food, also, a relish
taken with insipid food to ren-
der it more palatable. ' ' Sod to
a potatoe," often applied to a
finnan haddie, or a red herring ;
sometimes ludicrously used by
the Irish as, "potatoes and
point," a potato pointed at a
red herring hanging from the
roof, to whet the imagination
with the unattainable flavour of
the sool.
I have, sweet wench, a piece of cheese as
good as tooth may chaw.
And bread and wildings souling well.
— Warner : Albion s England.
Sool, anything eaten with bread, such as
butter, cheese, &c. — Wright's Dictionary
of Obsolete English.
Soul, French saouler, to satisfy with
food. Soul, silver, the wages of a re-
tainer, originally paid in food. — Idem.
The French have soul, full;
and sc souler, to get drunk, i.e.,
full either of meat or of liquor.
The Gaelic suit seems to be of
kindred derivation, and signifies
fat, full, replenished with good
things.
Sooth. Old English for truth, still
preserved in such phrases as,
" in sooth," *^ for-sooth," &c. In
Scottish, sooth is used as an ad-
jective, and signifies " true."
A sooth boord is nae boord (i.e., a jest
with too much truth in it may be no jest at
all). — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Sorn, to go to a person's house,
without invitation, and fasten
yourself upon him to feast or
lodge. The English synonym is
"to sponge upon;" a very in-
ferior form of expression, par-
taking of the character of
slang, and not to be compared
for force and compactness to
the Scottish word. Mr. John
Thompson, private secretary to
the Marquis of Hastings in
India, in his "Etymons of Eng-
lish Words," defines sorn to be
a corruption of sojourn. The
true etymon appears to be the
Gaelic saor, free, and saoranach,
one who makes free or esta-
blishes himself in free quarters.
It is related of a noble Scottish
lady of the olden time, who
lived in a remote part of the
Highlands, and was noted for
her profuse and cordial hospi-
tality, that she was sometimes
overburdened with habitual sor-
ners. When any one of them
out-stayed his welcome, she
would take occasion to say to
him at the morning meal, with
an arch look at the rest of the
company — " Mak' a guid break-
fast, Mr. Blank, while ye're
about it ; I dinna ken whar'
ye'll get your dinner." The
hint was usually taken, and the
sorner departed.
Soss, an incongruous, miscel-
laneous mixture of eatables.
206
Soudie — Spae.
Soss-poke, a ludicrous term for
the stomach ; usually derived
from sal and salsum, because the
ingredients are salted ; but the
word is more likely to have
originated in soss, tjie old French
sause, the Flemish sass, the
modern sauce, compounded of
several ingredients, all blend-
ing to produce a particularly
piquant flavour. Soss is used
in colloquial and vulgar English
in the >Scottish sense of a mixed
mess; and sorde, evidently a
corruption of soss, is, according
to Mr. Wright's Archaic Dic-
tionary, a v(rord used in the
East of England to signify " any
strange mixture."
Soudie, broth ; from the old
English seethe, to boil. (See
PowsouDiE, ante.)
Sowens, flummery ; a mixture of
oatmeal and sour milk.
Sowie, diminutive of sow. An
implement of war for demolish-
ing walls, which the English
call a ram, and the French un
helier, or a battering ram; the
Scotch call it a sow, from its
weight and rotundity.
They laid their sowies to the wall
Wi' mony a heavy peal ;
But he threw ower to them again
Baith pitch and tar -barrel.
— Scott's Border Minstrelsy :
Auld Maitland.
Sowth, to try over a tune with
a low whistle, to hum a tune to
one's self involuntarily.
On braes when we please, then,
We'll sit and sowth a tune,
Syne rhyme till't ; we'll time till't,
And sing't when we hae done.
—Burns : To Davie, a Brother Poet.
Sourocks, wild sorrel ; any sour
vegetable.
S outer, a shoemaker, a cobbler.
This word occurs in early Eng-
lish literature, though it is now
obsolete.
Ploughmen and pastourers,
And other common labourers,
Souters and shepherds.
— Piers Ploughman.
The devil males a reeve to preach,
Or a souter, a shipman, or a bear.
— Chaucer : Canterbury Tales.
"Mair whistle than woo,"
As the souter said when he sheared the
soo.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Souters wives are aye ill shod.
— Idem.
Sowther, or soother, to solder,
to make amends for, to cement,
to heal.
A towmond o' trouble, should that be my
fa',
Ae night o' good fellowship sowthers it a'.
—Burns : Contented wi Little.
Spae, to tell fortunes, to predict.
Etymology uncertain; derived
by Jamieson from the Icelandic,
but probably connected with
spell, a magic charm or enchant-
ment, or with s'pes, hope ; spae-
ivife, a fortune-teller ; spae-hooh,
magic book, a fortune-teller's
book.
The black spae-book from his breast he
took,
Impressed with mony a warlock spell ;
Spairge — Spartle.
207
And the book it was wrote by Michael
Scott,
He held in awe the fiends o' hell.
— Lord Soulis ; Border Minstrelsy.
S;pae, which in Scottish means
to prophesy, has no connection
with the English spae, written
by Johnson spay, to castrate a
female animal for the purpose
of producing barrenness.
Be dumb, you beggars of the rhyming
trade,
Geld your loose wits, and let the muse be
spay'd.
A singular misconception of
the true meaning of a spay'd, or
one who is spay'd, has led to a
current English proverb, that
will doubtless drop out of use as
soon as its true origin is under-
stood. In Taylor's works (1630),
quoted by Halliwell, occurs the
couplet : —
I think it good plaine English without
fraude
To call a spade a spade, a bawd a bawd.
The juxtaposition of hawd and
spade in this passage suggests
that the true reading should be
spayd. In Dr. Donne's satires,
anterior to the works of Taylor,
there appears the line : —
I call a bawd a bawd, a spaed a spaed.
Nares in his Glossary asks
very naturally, "why the spade
(rather than the poker, or hoe,
or plough, or pitchfork, or any
other implement) was especially
chosen to enter into this figura-
tive expression is not clear."
If he had known the true mean-
ing of the word spay'd or spae'd,
the obscurity would have been
cleared up.
Spairge, to sprinkle, to scatter
about as liquids. From the
French asperger, to sprinkle
with water.
When in yon cavern grim and sootie.
Closed under hatches,
Spairges about the brimstane cootie.*
— Burns : Address to the Deil.
Spank, to move rapidly ; spanker,
one who walks with a quick
and lively step ; spariky, frisky,
lively, sprightly. The phrase
"a spanking tit" is still em-
ployed by the sporting brother-
hood of the lower classes to
signify a fast horse. The Eng-
lish spank, to beat, to slap,
seems to be derivable from the
same idea of rapidity of motion
which pertains to the Scottish
word, and to be suggestive of
the quick and oft-repeated mo-
tion of the hands in spanking or
slapping the posterior. Spanker-
ing, nimble, active, alert. The
word is derived by Jamieson
from the Teutonic spannen, to
extend. The German word,
however, does not exactly mean
extend, but to put the horses to
a carriage, as the French dtteler.
Spargeon, plaister ; spargeoner,
a plaisterer ; from the French
asperger, to sprinkle.
Spartle, from the Flemish sparteln,
to move the limbs quickly or
* Cootie signifies a large dish, and also
the broth or other liquor contained in it.
208
Spatch'Cock — Spaul.
convulsively, to kick about help-
lessly or involuntarily. Sprattle,
to struggle or sprawl.
Listening the doors and windows rattle,
I thought me on the ourie cattle,
Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle
O' winter war,
And through the drift deep-lairing sprattle,
Beneath a scaur.
— Burns : A Winter Night.
No more was made for that lady,
For she was lying dead ;
But a' was for her bonnie bairn,
Lay spartling at her side.
. — Buchan's Ancient Ballads.
Spatch-cock, a fowl split open,
to be broiled in haste, on a
sudden demand for dinner from
an unexpected guest ; a corrup-
tion of o^ispaicA-cock, a cock
quickly cooked. The word is
\ common in the United States.
Spate, a flood or freshet, from the
overflow of a river or lake ; also
metaphorically an overflow of
idle talk.
The water was great and mickle o' spate.
— Kinmont Willie.
Even like a mighty river that runs down in
spate to the sea.
— W. E. Aytoun : Blackwood's Magazine.
He trail'd the foul sheets down the gait,
Thought to have washed them on a
stane.
The burn was risen out of spate.
— 'Rxrsoii's Caledonian Muse : The
Wife of A uchtermtichty.
While crashing ice, borne on the roaring
spate,
Sweeps dams an' mills an' brigs a' to the
gate.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
And doun the water wi' speed she ran,
While tears in spates fa' fast frae her e'e.
—Border Mmstrelsy : Jock d the Side.
The Laird of Balnamoon was a truly
eccentric character. He joined with his
drinking propensities a great zeal for the
Episcopal Church. One Sunday, having
visitors, he read the services and prayers
with great solemnity and earnestness.
After dinner, he, with the true Scottish
hospitality of the time, set to, to make
his guests as drunk as possible. Next
day, when they took their departure, one
of the visitors asked another what he
thought of the laird. "Why, really," he
replied, "sic a spate o' praying, and sic a
spate o' drinking, I never knew in all the
course of my life." — Dean Ramsay's Re-
miniscences.
Spate, or spaite, is from the
Gaelic speid, a mountain torrent
suddenly swollen by rain. In
the North of England, accord-
ing to Messrs. Halliwell and
Wright, a spait signifies a more
than usually heavy downpour of
rain ; and in the county of Dur-
ham it signifies a pool formed
by the rain.
Spaul, sometimes written spald, a
shoulder; from the French es-
paule, or ipaule, often used to
signify a leg or limb. " To
spaul," according to Jamieson,
"is to push out the limbs like
a dying animal."
The late Duchess of Gordon sat at
dinner next to an Englishman, who was
carving, and who made it a boast that he
was thoroughly master of the Scottish
language. Her Grace turned to him and
said, " Rax me a spaul o' that bubbly-
jock ! " The unfortunate man was com-
pletely nonplussed. — Dean Ramsay.
The gander being longer in the spauld.
— Noctes AtnbrosiancE.
Wi' spur on heel, or splent (armour) on
spauld.
— Border Minstrelsy : Kinmont Willie.
Spean — Spier.
209
The Scotch employ the French
word gigot for a leg of mutton ;
but they do not say a spaul of
mutton for a shoulder.
Spean (sometimes spelled spane or
spayn), to wean. The English
wean is derived from the Ger-
man wohnen, or entuohnen ; and
the Scottish spean from the
Flemish and Low Dutch speen,
which has the same meaning.
Speaning-brash, an eruption in
children, which often occurs at
weaning-time.
Withered beldams auld and droll,
Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,
Louping and flinging on a crummock,
I wonder did na turn thy stomach.
— Burns : Tarn o' Shunter.
The meaning of spean, as used
by Burns, implies that the hags
were so very hideous, that, had
they been brood mares, a foal
would in disgust have refused
to imbibe nourishment from
them.
Speer-windit or spier-windit, out
of breath or wind from asking too
many questions, tired of asking ;
a word most applicable to im-
pudent barristers cross-examin-
ing a witness; from speer, or
spier, to inquire.
Spell, an interval. The Scotch
and the Americans say : ** a
spell of work," " a speU of idle-
ness," "a spell of bad weather,"
^^ Si spell of good weather," "a
s'pell of amusement," &c. The
derivation of the word is sup-
posed to be from the Dutch and
Flemish spel, the German spide,
to play. Possibly, though not
certainly, the root is the Gaelic
speal, to mow, cut down ; and
thence a stroke, i.e., a stroke of
good or bad weather, &c. The
word has recently become cur-
rent in English.
Spence, a store-room next to a
kitchen, where the provisions
are kept ; an inner apartment in
a small house. The word is
supposed to be derived from
dispense, to distribute ; whence
dispensary, the place where me-
dicines are distributed.
Wi' tottering step he reached the spence.
Where soon the ingle blazed fu' hie ;
The auld man thought himself at hame,
And the tear stood twinkling in his e'e.
—Pickering : Domocht Sea^ or the
Auld Minstrel.
Our Bardie lanely keeps the spence
Sin' Mailie's dead.
— Burns : Poor Mailie's Elegy.
"Edward," said the sub-Prior, "you
will supply the English knight here, in
this spence, with suitable food and accom-
modation for the night." — Scott : The
Monastery.
The word is still used in the
north of England for a buttery,
also for a cupboard, a pantry,
and a private room in a farm
house.
Yet I had leven she and I
Were both togydir secretly
In some corner in the spence.
— Halliwell.
Spier, to inquire, to ask after;
of unknown etymology. The
derivation from the Gaelic speur,
clear, whence by extension of
210
Sperthe — Sphite.
meaning, an inquiry, to make
clear, is scarcely satisfactory.
Mony a ane spiers the gate he knows full
well. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
I am Spes, quoth he,
And spier after a knight,
That took me a mandement
Upon the mount of Sinai.
— Piers Ploughman.
I spiered for my cousin fu couthie and
sweet.
— Burns : Last May a Braw Wooer.
When lost, folks never ask the way they
want.
They spier the gait.
' — Robert Leighton : Scotch Words.
A very expressive derivation of spier is
back-spier, meaning to cross-examine. —
R. Drennan.
Her niece was asking a great many
questions, and coming over and over the
same ground, demanding an explanation
how this and that had happened, till at
last the old lady lost patience, and burst
forth — " I winna be back-spiered, noo,
Polly Fullerton." — Dean Ramsay.
Sperthe, a spear, a javelin, or,
more properly, a battle-axe; a
word that might well be rescued
from oblivion for the use of
rhymers, often hardly pushed for
a rhyme to earth, birth, girth,
and mirth — all well, or too well
worn.
His helmet was laced.
At his saddle girth was a good steel
sperthe,
Full ten pound weight and more.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Eve of
St. John.
Spin-drift, sometimes corruptly
written and pronounced s'peen-
drift^xA spune-drift, snow driven
by the wind in whirls or spin-
nings in the air, and finally
accumulates on the ground
when the force of the wind is
exhausted.
Spirlie, a person with slender legs ;
spindle-shanked, slim, thin, often
combined with lang ; as, "A
lang spirlie," a tall slender per-
son. From the Gaelic speir, a
shank, a claw ; speireach, having
slender limbs.
Spleuchan, a Highland purse ;
from the Gaelic spliuchan, an
outside pouch or receptacle of
small matters, and spliuch, any-
thing that hangs down.
Deil mak' his king's-hood [scrotum]
in a spleuchan.
—Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Splore, a riotously merry meeting ;
to make a splort, to create a
sensation. The Americans have
splurge, a word with the same
meaning. The derivation is un-
known.
In Poosie Nancy's held the splore.
Wi' quaffing and laughing,
They ranted and they sang.
—Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
The squads o' chiels that lo'ed a splore,
On winter evenings never ca' ;
Their blythesome moments now are o'er.
Since Rabbie gaed an' left them a'.
—Richard Gall : On the Death
of Bums.
Splute, to exaggerate in narrative,
to indulge in fiction. Jamieson
derives this word from the
French exploit, but it is more
probably a corruption of the
Gaelic spleadh, a romance, a
Spoacher — Sproage.
211
boast, a gasconade, a vain-
glorious assertion; spleadhaich,
hyperbolical.
Spoacher, a poacher, one who
steals game. The Scottish word
seems to have been the origi-
nal form, and to have become
poacher by the elision of the
initial s, a not uncommon result
in words from the Celtic, as the
Welsh hen, old, is the same as
the Gaelic scan; the English
nag is the same as snag, to snarl
or say provoking things, as is
the custom with spiteful women
if they wish to quarrel with
their husbands. The English
^poacher is usually derived from
poke, the French jpoc/ie, a pocket,
pouch, or bag, because the
poacher, like the sportsman,
lags his game. But if the Scot-
tish spoacher be the elder word,
it will be necessary to account
for the lost s. This is supplied
in the Gaelic spog, to seize vio-
lently, as birds of prey do with
their claws and talons, and
spogadh, seizure. Jamieson was
of opinion that the s was added
in the Scottish word ; but this
would be a singular instance,
contradicted by all previous ex-
perience of similar cases.
Spoutie, a word of contempt for
a too fluent orator, or a garru-
lous boaster ; one who, accord-
ing to a wealthy Scottish phil-
anthropist, is too plentifully
endowed with "the pernicious
gift of the gab — the curse of
all free countries, especially of
Great Britain and the United
States." To spout is a common
English vulgarism that signifies
to talk at an inordinate length
to a public meeting. The Ame-
ricans derisively call it to orate.
Sprack, lively, alert, animated;
common in Scotland and pro-
vinces in the south of England.
Spraikle, sprackle, sprauchle, to
clamber up a hill with great
exertion and difficulty. From
the Gaelic spracail, strong, ac-
tive. The English words sprawl
and sprag seem to be of the same
parentage.
I, rhymer Robin, alias Bums,
October twenty-third ;
A ne'er-to-be-forgotten day,
Sae far I sprachled up the iDrae,
I dinnered wi' a lord.
—Burns : The Dinner with Lord Doer.
Wad ye hae naebody spraickle up the
brae but yoursel, Geordie.— Scott : For-
tunes of Nigel.
Spring, a lively tune.
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
He played of spring
Beneath the gallows tree.
— Old Song : Macphersons Farewell.
Let him play a spring on his ain fiddle
{i.e., let him have his own way; let him
ride his own hobby.) — Dean Ramsay.
Ye are as lang in tuning your pipes as
anither man wad be in playing a spring. —
Scottish Proverb.
Sproage. This eccentric-looking
word signifies, according to
Jamieson, to go out courting at
night, to wander by the light
of the moon or stars. Alexander
Ross, in *' Helenore, or the
212
Spulzie — Spurtle.
Fortunate Shepherdess,
the lines : —
has
We maun marry now ere lang ;
Folk will speak o's, and fash us wi' the kirk.
Gin we be seen thegither in the mirk.
Neither Burns, Allan Ramsay,
nor Scott employs this word,
and its origin is wholly un-
known, unless the Gaelic sporach,
to incite, excite, or instigate,
may supply a clue.
Spulzie, to despoil, to ravage, to
devastate, to lay waste ; from
depouUZer, to spoil, or despoil.
Spulzie him, spulzie him ! said Craigievar,
Spulzie him presentlie,
For I wad lay my lugs in pawn,
He'd nae gude will at me.
—'Buchat^'s Ancient Ballads: The
Death of John Seton.
Spune-hale, in such restored
health as to be able to take
one's ordinary food, one's kail or
parritch, with a good appetite.
Parr itch-hale and meat-hale are
synonymous.
Spung, a purse that fastens with
a clasp ; sporan, the large purse
worn by the Highlanders on full-
dress occasions.
Rut wastefu' was the want of a',
Without a yeuk they gar ane claw.
When wickedly they bid us draw
Our siller spunk's.
For this and that to mak them braw
And lay their tongues.
— Allan Ramsay : Last Speech of
a Wretched Miser.
Spunk, a match, a spark ; spunkie,
fiery, high spirited ; also an
"ignis fatuus" or will o' the
wisp. The word is derived by
Jamieson from the Gaelic spong,
rotten wood, or tinder, easily
inflammable ; but it is question-
able whether the root is not
the Teutonic /wn^, a sparkle of
light] funkeln, to sparkle; and
ausfunkeln, to sparkle out, to
shine forth. Ausfunk is easily
corrupted into sfunk and spunk.
Erskine, a spunkie Norland billie,
And mony ithers ;
Whom auld Demosthenes and Tully,
Might own as brithers.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
If mair they deave us wi' their din
O' patronage intrusion ;
We'll light a sfunk, and every skin
We'll rin them aff in fusion.
Like oil some day.
—Burns : The Ordination.
And oft from moss-traversing spunkies.
Decoy the wight that late and drunk is.
—Burns : Address to the Deil.
Spurtle or parritch spurtle, a
rounded stick or bar of hard
wood, used in preference to a
spoon or ladle for stirring oat-
meal porridge in the process of
cooking. Jamieson — who sel-
dom dives deeper than the Teu-
tonic — derives the word from
spryten, the Latin assula. The
Gaelic has sparr or sparran, a
little wooden bar or bolt ; and
the Flemish has sport, with the
same meaning; and also that
of the rung of a ladder (a bar of
wood which a Scottish house-
wife, in default of any better
spurtle, might conveniently use
for the purpose). Good bairns
in the olden times when oatmeal
porridge was the customary food
Staffa — Stank.
213
of the peasantry, were often re-
warded by having the spurtle to
lick in addition to their share of
the breakfast.
Our gudeman cam' hame at e'en,
And hame cam' he ;
And there he saw a braw broad sword,
Where nae sword should be.
How's this ? gude wife,
How's this, quo he,
How came this sword here
Without the leave o' me 7
A sword ! quo she.
Aye, a sword, quo he ;
Ye auld blind doited bodie,
And blinder may ye be,
'Tis but a parritch spurtle,
My minnie gied to me.
Far hae I travelled.
And muckle hae I seen,
But scabbards upon sj>urtles.
Saw I never nane !
— Our Gudeman.
Staffa, the name of the well-
known island of the West that
contains the ** cave of Fingal."
Colonel Robertson, in " The
Gaelic Topography of Scot-
land," has omitted to give the
etymology of the word. Many
people suppose it to be Eng-
lish, and akin to Stafford. It
is, however, pure Gaelic, and
accurately descriptive of the
natural formation of the cave,
being compounded of stuadk {dh
silent), a pillar or pillars, column
or columns; and uamh {uav or
uaf), a cave, whence stua-uaf
or staffa, the cave of pillars or
columns.
Staig, a young, unbroken stallion.
In the North of England, this
word stag, or staig, is applied to
any young male quadruped, and,
in contempt, to a strong, vulgar,
romping girl, whose manners are
masculine. The word is also
applied to the Turkey cock and
the gander. From the German
steigen, to mount, to raise, to
stick up, to stand erect. In the
old Norse, steggr signifies male.
It's neither your stot nor your staig I
shall crave.
But gie me your wife, man, for her I
must have.
— Burns : The Carle o> Kellyburn
Braes.
Stance, situation, standing-place,
or foundation. This word has
not yet been admitted into the
English dictionaries.
No ! sooner may the Saxon lance.
Unfix Benledi from his stance.
— Scott : Lady of the Lake.
We would recommend any Yankee be-
liever in England's decay to take his
stance in Fleet Street or any of our great
thoroughfares, and ask himself whether it
would be wise to meddle with any member
of that busy and strenuous crowd. — Black-
woods Magazine, June 1869.
Stank, a pool, a ditch, an en-
trenchment filled with water
for the defence of a fortress.
This word, with the elision of
the initial letter, becomes the
English tank, a receptacle for
water. StanJdt, entrenched.
From the French etaing, or
estaing; the Gaelic staing, a
ditch, a pool ; staingichte, en-
trenched.
I never drank the Muses stank,
Castilia's burn and a' that ;
But there it streams, and richtly reams,
My Helicon, I ca' that.
—Burns: The /oily Beggars,
214
Stanners — Steenies.
Clavers and his Highland men
Cam down among the raw, man ;
Ower bush, owerbank, ower ditch, ower
stank.
She flang amang them a', man.
— Battle of Killiecrankie.
Stanners, gravel, small stones on
the banks of a stream, shingle
on the sea shore.
Yestreen the water was in spate,
The stanners a' were curled.
— Border Minstrelsy : Water Kelpie.
Stark, strong ; from the German.
The word, however, is English,
with a different meaning, as in
the phrase, %tark naked, utterly
naked.
Fill fu' and hand fu' males a stark man.
^Old Proverb.
Staumrel, a stupid person;
saumer, to stutter, to be inco-
herent in speech, to stammer;
from the German stumme, dumb ;
and stumpf, stupid, the Flemish
and Dutch stumper, a fool, a silly
and idle person.
Nae langer, thrifty citizens, an' douce,
Meet owre a pint or in the council house,
But staumrel, corky-headed gentry,
The herriment and ruin of the country.
— Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
The lad was aye a perfect stump.
— Jamieson.
Staves. "To go to staves " is a
proverbial expression used in
Scotland to signify to go to
ruin, to fall to pieces like a
barrel, when the hoops that
bind the staves together are
removed.
Staw, to surfeit, to disgust. Ety-
mology uncertain ; not Flemish,
as Jamieson supposes, but pro-
bably from the Gaelic stad or
stadh (pronounced sta), to desist,
or cause to desist.
Is there that o'er his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow.
— Burns : To a Haggis.
Curryin's a grand thing, when the edge
o' the appetite's a wee turned, and ye're
rather beginnin' to be stawed. — Nodes
A mbrosiance.
Steek, to close, to shut, to fasten
with a pin.
Sages their solemn e'en may steek.
— Burns : Cry and Prayer.
Steek the awmrie.
— Sir Walter Scott : Donald Caird.
Ye're owre bonnie ! ye're owre bonnie I
Sae steek that witchin' e'e,
It's light flees gleamin' through my brain.
— James Ballantine.
Your purse was steekit when that was
paid for.
When the steed's stown steik the stable-
door.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Steeks, the interstices of any wo-
ven or knitted fabric, stitches ;
steek, probably from stitch, as kirk
from church.
He draws a bonnie silken purse,
As lang's my tail, where, through the steeks,
The yellow-lettered Geordie [guinea] keeks.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Steenies, guineas, foreign or other
gold coins ; derivation unknown,
unless the term be a mock de-
preciation of the precious metal,
from stone, or stein, applied upon
the same principle that money
is called dross or filthy lucre.
Steeve — Steward.
215
What though we canna boast of our
guineas, O,
We've plenty of Jockies and Jeanies, O,
An' these, I'm certain, are
More daintier by far
Than a pock full of yellow steenies, O.
—Rev. John Skinner : The Old
Mans Song.
Steeve, or steive, firm, erect,
stout; from the English ztiff,
and the Flemish zti^f.
Sit ye steeve in your saddle seat,
For he rides sicker who never fa's.
—James Ballantine.
Sten, to spring to one side, a sud-
den motion in the wrong direc-
tion ; to turn away, to twist, to
bend; stennis, a sprain. From
the Gaelic staon, awry, askew ;
and staonaich, to bend, to twist,
to turn. Jamieson erroneously
derives sten from extend.
Yestreen at the valentines' dealing,
My heart to my mou' gied a sten,
For thrice I drew ane without failing,
And thrice it was written Tam Glen.
— Burns : Tam Glen.
Stevin or steven. Before the in-
troduction from the Latin vox,
and the French voix, of the
word voice into the English and
Scottish languages, the word
stevin was employed. It was
used by Chaucer in England,
and by Gawin Douglas in Scot-
land. From its resemblance
to the Teutonic stimme, a voice,
and stimmen, voices, the Flemish
stem, it is probable that it was a
corruption or variation of that
word.
With dreary heart and sorrowful steven.
— Morte Arthur.
Betwixt the twelfth hour and eleven,
I dreamed an angel cam frae heaven.
With pleasant stevin sayand on hie,
Tailyiors and soutars, blest be ye !
— Dunbar : Allan Ramsay's
Evergreen. •
Lang may thy steven fill with glee
The glens and mountains of Lochlee.
— Beattie : To Mr. Alexander Ross.
Quoth Jane, " My steven, sir, is blunted
sair,
And singing frae me frighted off wi' care ;
But gin ye'll tak' it as I now can gie't,
Ye're welcome til't— and my sweet blessing
wi't."
—Ross's Helenore.
The rhymes to "heaven" in
Scottish and English poetry are
few, and stevin would be an
agreeable addition to the num-
ber if it were possible to re-
vive it.
Steward, a director, a manager,
an administrator. As a patro-
nymic, the word is sometimes
spelled Stewart and stuart, and
has been derived from the Teu-
tonic stede-ward, one who occu-
pies the place delegated to him
by another ; or from the Ice-
landic stia, work, and weard, a
guard or guardian. It seems,
however, to have an indigenous
origin in the Gaelic stiuir, to
lead, direct, guide, steer, super-
intend, manage, &c. ; and ard,
high or chief. The ''Steward
of Scotland " was in early times
the chief officer of the crown,
and next in power and dignity
to the king. There was a simi-
lar functionary in England : —
The Duke of Norfolk is the first,
And claims to be high Steward. .
2l6
Stey — Stirk,
The attributes of the ^^ Steward
of Scotland" are set forth by
Erskine as quoted in Jamieson ;
and the last holder of the office
— who became king of Scotland
— gave the name of his function
to his royal descendants. In its
humbler sense, of the steward of
a great household, or of a ship,
the name is still true to its
Gaelic derivation, and signifies
the chief director of his parti-
cular department.
It has been suggested in the
" Gaelic Etymology of the Lan-
guages of Western Europe,"
that the true etymon of stew or
stu (the first syllable of steward
and Stuart) is the Gaelic stuth,
pronounced stu, which signifies
any strong liquor, as well as
food, sustenance, or nourish-
ment for the body; and that
consequently s^ewarchneans chief
butler, or provider of the royal
household. There is much to
be said in favour of this hypo-
thesis, but the derivation from
stiur seems preferable.
The Irish Gaelic spells steward
in the English sense stiohhard.
The Scottish Gaelic has it stiuh-
liard ; but the words thus writ-
ten have no native etymology,
and are merely phonetic render-
ings of an obsolete Gaelic term,
re-borrowed from the modern
English. The suggested Teu-
tonic etymology of steward from
stede-ward, has no foundation in
the Teutonic languages. Ste-
ward in Germany is Verwalter,
administrator or director; and
Jfaushofmeister, master of the
household. In Flemish, hestieren
signifies to administer, to direct ;
and hestierder, an administrator,
a director, a steward.
Stey, steep, perpendicular. In
Cumberland and Westmoreland,
a mountain of peculiar steepness
is called a sty ; and in Berkshire,
sty signifies a ladder. Stey and
sty are both from the German
stiegen, and the Flemish stijgen,
to mount, to climb.
Set a stout heart to a stejf brae. — Allan
Ramsay's Scois Proverbs.
The stey est brae thou wouldst hae face't at.
— Burns : The Auld Farmer to His
A uld Mare, Maggie^
Stickit minister, a term of oblo-
quy in Scotland for a candidate
for holy orders who has failed
to pass the necessary examina-
tion, or to give satisfaction to
the congregation before whom
he preached the probationary
sermon. The phrase is akin to
the vulgar English — "old siick
in the mud."
Puir lad ! the first time he tried to
preach, he stickit his sermon. — Jamieson.
A speech is stickit when the si>eaker
hesitates and is unable to proceed. — Idem.
Still. This word is sometimes em -
ployed in the Scottish vernacular
in a sense which it possesses no
longer in English, that of taci-
turn, or reticent of speech. " A
stiil dour man," signifies a taci-
turn, reserved, and hard man.
Stirk, a bullock; stirJcie, a bull
calf.
Stob — Stoup,
217
There's aye water where the stirkie
drowns (r.*., there's a reason or cause for
everything ; or there's never a smoke with-
out fire).
Stob, to push the foot accidentally
against a stone or other impedi-
ment in the ground. " I have
stobhed my toe," said the late
President Lincoln, in explana-
tion of his temporary lameness ;
from the Gaelic stob, a stake, a
thrust, or anything thrust in
the ground ;. a stick, a stump,
any stalk broken or cut and still
projecting from the ground ;
whence the English word stubble.
Stoit, to stagger.
And aye as on the road he sioiiii,
His knees on ane anither knockit
[knocked together].
-^George Beattie : John d Amhd.
Stound, a moment, a very short
space of time ; also, a quick
sudden momentary pain. From
the German stund, an hour.
Gang in and seat you on the sunks a'
round,
And ye'se be sair'd wi' plenty in a
stound.
— Ross's Helenore.
And aye the stound, the deadly wound,
Came frae her e'en sae bonnie blue.
— Burns : / Gaed a Waefu Gate.
Stoup or stoop, a flagon, a pitcher,
a jug. Pint-stoup, a bottle or
jug containing a pint. This
word was used by Shakspeare,
Ben Jonson, and other drama-
tists of the Elizabethan era ; it
has long been obsolete in Eng-
land, but survives with undi-
minished vitality in Scotland.
Come, [Lieutenant ! I have a stoop of
wine, and here without are a brace of
Cyprian gallants, that would fain have a
measure to the health of black Othello.—
Othello.
Set me the stoup of wine upon that table.
—Hamlet.
And surely ye'll be yo\xx pint-stoup,
As sure as I'll be mine.
— Burns : A uld Lang Syne.
Waitr-stoups ? quo' he ;
Aye, water-stoups, quo' she —
Far hae I ridden,
And muckle I hae seen ;
But silver spurs on ■waX&r-stoups
Saw I never nane !
— Herd's Collection : Our
Guidman.
The etymology of stmji'p or
stoo'p has long been contested.
Johnson derives it from the
Dutch and Flemish sto-p, a cork
or stopper of a bottle ; the Ger-
man stopsel ; but this can
scarcely be the origin of the
Scottish word, for a mUk-stoup,
a water-s^oM^, a can, a pitcher,
a bucket, a pail,. are not corked
or stopped. In some Scottish
glossaries a stoup is said to be a
tin pot, and in others it is de-
fined as a jug with a handle ;
while in Northumberland, ac-
cording to Wright's Provincial
Dictionary, a stoop signifies a
barrel. In Gaelic, stop means a
wooden vessel for carrying water,
a measure for liquids, or a flagon ;
and stopan signifies a small
flagon. Between the Flemish
and Gaelic derivations it is diffi-
cult to decide ; but the Gaelic,
which applies the word to wide
and open utensils, seems to be
preferable, at least in compre-
hensiveness.
2l8
Stour — Strappan.
Stour, dust in motion, and meta-
phorically trouble, vexation, or
disturbance ; stourie, dusty. The
word is akin to the English stivy
and in its metaphorical sense is
synonymous with the Scottish
steer, as in the song " What's a
the steer, kimmer ? " what's the
disturbance, or in the broad
vernacular, what's the row ?
" To kick up a dust" is a slang
expression that has a similar
origin.
Yestreen I met you on the moor.
Ye spak na, but gaed by like stour;
Ye geek at me because I'm poor.
—Burns : Tibbie, I hae Seen
the Day.
After service, the betheral of the strange
clergyman said to his friend the other
betheral, "I think our minister did weel.
He aye gars the stour flee out o' the
cushion." To which the other replied,
with a calm feeling of superiority, " Stour
out o' the cushion ! Hoot ! our minister,
sin' he cam' wi' us, has dung [knocked or
beaten] the guts out o' twa Bibles." — Dean
Ramsay.
How blithely wad I bide the stoure,
A weary slave frae sun to sun,
Could I the rich reward secure
Of lovely Mary Morrison.
— Burns.
Burns uses the word in the
sense of mould, earth, or soil, as
in his "Address to the Daisy : " —
Wee, modest, crimson-tippet flower,
Thou'st met me in an evil hour.
For I man crush amang the stour,
Thy slender stem.
Stour, in the sense of strife,
was a common English word in
the time of Chaucer and his
predecessors.
Stowlins, stownlins, by stealth,
stealthily, or stolen moments
unobserved, or expecting to be
unobserved.
Rob stowlins pried her bonnie mou,
Fu' cosie in the neuk for't
Unseen that night.
— Burns : Hallowe'en,
Stoyte, stoiter, to stagger,
stumble, or walk unsteadily ;
from the Flemish stooten, to
push against, to stumble or
cause to stumble.
When staggirand and swaggirand,
They stoyter hame to sleep.
— Allan Ramsay : The Vision.
Blind chance let her snapper and stoyte
on the way.
—Burns : Contented w£ Little.
At length wi' drink and courtin' dizzy,
He sioitered up and made a face.
— Burns : The Jolly Beggars.
To stoitle over, in consequence of in-
firmity, without being much hurt. To
tyne or lose the stoyte, is a metaphor for
being off the proper line of conduct —
Jamieson.
Strae death, straw death, death
in bed, natural death. This
strong but appropriate expres-
sion comes from the Middle
Ages, when lawlessness and
violence were chronic.
Strappan or strappin', strong, tall,
burly, well-grown ; the English
strapping, a strapping youth.
The miller was strappin, the miller was
ruddy.
—Burns : Meg o' the Mill.
Wi' kindly welcome Jenny brings him
ben,
A strappin' youth— he taks the mother's
eye.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Streik — Study,
219
This word comes from the
Gaelic streap, to climb up, i.e.,
in stature, to grow tall.
Stroop, a spout. Stroopie, the
spout of a kettle ; also a gutter
or watercourse.
Streik, to stretch ; from the Dutch
and Flemish strekken, German
strechen, to extend. This word
is used in a variety of ways, un-
known to or unf requent in Eng-
lish ; as, " Tak' your ain streik"
take your own course ; streikin,
tall and active ; streik, to go
quickly, i.e., to stretch out in
walking; tight or tightly drawn,
i.e., excessively drawn, stretched
out, or extended.
Strone or stroan, a ludicrous word
for the habitual urination of
dogs when out on their rambles.
It is introduced by Burns in his
description of the rich man's
dog, Caesar, the fine Newfound-
land, who was the friend and
companion of Luath, the poor
man's dog : —
Though he was of high degree,
The fient o' pride, nae pride had he.
Nae tauted tyke, though e'er sae duddie.
But he wad stan't as glad to see him,
And stroan t on stanes and hillocks wi'
him.
The word seems to have been
originally applied to the action
of the dog in first smelling the
place where another dog has
been before for a similar pur-
pose, and to be derived from
the Gaelic srone (pronounced
strone), a nose ; and sronagaich,
to trace by the scent as dogs
do.
Struishle, to struggle pertinaci-
ously, and in vain, against con-
tinually recurring difficulties ;
from the Femish struikelen, to
stumble, to fall down.
A tradesman employed to execute a very
difficult piece of carved work, being asked
how he was getting on, answered — " I'm
struishling awa' like a writer [lawyer]
tryin' to be honest ! "—Laird of Logan.
Strunt, alcoholic liquor of any
kind ; a fit of ill-humour ; also,
an affront, or a sturdy, arrogant
walk.
Strunt and sturt are birds of ae feather.
And aft are seen on the wing thegither.
— Scots Proverb.
Burns makes the disagreeable
insect that he saw on a lady's
bonnet at church " strwni rarely
over her gauze and lace." The
word, in this sense, seems to be
a corruption of the English strut.
Stront is a low Teutonic word for
stereus humanum; but this can
scarcely be the root of strunt in
any of the senses in which it is
used in the Scottish language ;
though strunty, an epithet ap-
plied to any one in a fit of such
ill-humour as to be excessively
disagreeable to all around him,
may not be without some remote
connection with the Teutonic
idea.
Study or brown study. This ex-
pression seems to have first
appeared in literature in the
220
Stug^^Sugh.
" Case Altered " of Ben Jonson,
who was of Scottish parentage,
though born in London :—
Faiks ! this brown study suits not with
your black ; your habit and your thought
are of two colours.
(See Bkown Study, ante, p. 19.)
Stug-. This Scottish word is used
in a variety of senses— all allied
to the idea of stiffness, erect-
ness, rigidity, hardness, prickli-
ness, &c., as the English stiff,
stick, stock, stuck up, and the
corresponding verb derived from
the noun ; as stug, to stab or stick
with a sharp weapon ; stug, the
trunk or fragment of a decayed
tree projecting above the ground;
stug, a hard, masculine woman ;
stug, obstinate; stugger, an ob-
stinate person; stug, a thorn;
stugs, stubble. From the Dutch
and Flemish stug, inflexible, stiff,
obstinate ; the German stick, to
stab, to pierce ; stichdn, to prick,
to sting.
Sturt, strife, contention, disturb-
ance ; also, to strive, to con-
tend ; a word apparently akin
to stour in its poetical sense of
confusion. It is akin to, and
possibly derived from, the Ger-
man sturzen, to disturb, to over-
throw.
And aye the less they hae to siurt them,
In like proportion less will hurt them.
—Burns : Tke Twa Dogs.
I've lived a life oi sturt and strife,
I die by treachery,
—Macpherson s Farewell.
Styme, a particle, an iota, an
atom; the least possible quantity;
a blink, a gleam, a glimpse.
He held, she drew, fu' steeve that day.
Might no man see a styme.
—Christ's Kirk on tke Green.
I've seen me daz't upon a time,
I scarce could wink or see a styme.
—Burns: Naething like
Nappy.
The faintest form of an object ; a glimpse
or transitory glance, as, "There's no a
styme o' licht here."— Jamieson.
From styme is formed stymie,
one who sees indistinctly ; and
stymel, which, according to
Jamieson, is a name of reproach
given to one who does not per-
ceive quickly what another
wishes him to see. Jamieson
hints, rather than asserts, that
stym^ is from the Welsh ystum,
form, or figure; but as styme
is the absence of form and
figure, something faint, indis-
tinct, and small, rather than a
substantial entity, the etymo-
logy is unsatisfactory. The word
seems to have some relationship
to the Gaelic stim, or st'iom, a
slight puff, or wreath of smoke ;
and thence to mean anything
slight, transitory, and indis-
tinct.
Sugh, or sough, a sigh, a breath.
Greek psyche, the breath of life,
the soul. To keep a calm sugh,
is to be discreetly silent about
anything, not to give it breath ;
sugh-siller, erroneously printed
sow-siller by Jamieson, means
hush-money.
Sunkets — Swacken.
221
Sunkets, scraps of food, scrans
(q. v.).
In Scotland there lived a humble beggar,
He had neither house nor hauld nor
hame,
But he was weel likit by ilka body,
And they gied him sunkets to rax his
wame ;
A nievefu' o' meal, a handfu' o' groats,
A daud o' a bannock, or pudding bree,
Cauld parritch, or the licking o' plates,
Wad mak him as blithe as a body
could be.
— Tea Table Miscellany.
Sunket-time is meal-time. The ety-
mology of sunket is uncertain. Herd de-
rived it from something. — Jamieson.
Whenever an uncertain ety-
• mology in English or Lcwland
Scotch is avowed, it would be
well if the dubious philologists
would look into the Gaelic,
which they seldom do. In the
case of sunket they would have
found something better in that
language than the English some-
thing. ^SanntocA signifies adainty,
or something that is desired,
coveted, or longed after ; and
sanntaichte, that which is desired.
This word would be easily con-
vertible by the Lowland Scotch
into sunket. Halliwell, in his
Archaic Dictionary, has sun-cote,
a dainty, which he says is a
Suffolk word.
Sumph, a stupid or soft-headed
person. Jamieson derives the
word from the German sumpf,
and Flemish somp, a bog, a marsh,
a morass ; a possible but not a
convincing etymology. Halli-
well has sump, a heavy weight,
whence he adds, a heavy stupid
fellow is so called.
The soul of life, the heaven below,
Is rapture-giving woman ;
Ye surly sumphs who hate the name,
Be mindfu' o' your mither.
— Burns.
Sumph, an admirable word. — Noctes
■A mbrosiante.
Swack, to deal a heavy blow ;
akin to the vulgar English whaclc,
to beat severely ; a swashing
blow, a heavy blow ; etymology
uncertain. The Teutonic schwach^
weak, has an opposite meaning,
though there may be some con-
nection of idea between a heavy
blow and a blow that weakens
him on whom it falls.
When Percy wi' the Douglas met,
I wat he was fu' fain.
They swakkit their swords till sair they
swat,
And the blood ran doun like rain.
— Battle of Otterboume.
In another stanza of this vi-
gorous old ballad, occur the
lines : —
Then Percy and Montgomery met.
That either of other were fain ;
They s%vappit swords, and they twa
swat.
And the blood run doun between.
Here swappit seems employed
in the same sense as swakkit, and
is possibly a variation of swoop,
to come down with a heavy
blow.
Swacken, to grow weak ; from
the German schwach, weak.
Wi' that her joints began to s^vacken.
And she scour'd like ony vtaukin (hare).
—George Beattie : John o' Amha\
222
Swagers — Swarf.
Swagers, men married to sisters.
Jamieson goes to the Swedish
and Icelandic for the derivation
of this word, but it is to be
found nearer home in the Flem-
ish zwager, and the German
sekwager, a brother-in-law.
Swank, active, agile, supple ;
swanhie, an active, clever young
fellow, fit for his work, and not
above it ; from the Flemish and
German. Halliwell says that
swanky is a northern English
word for a strong, strapping
fellow; and swanking for big,
large.
Thou ance was in the foremost rank,
A filly, buirdly, steeve, and swank.
— Burns : The A uld Farmer to his
Auld Mare, Maggie.
At e'en at the gloaming,
Nae swankies are roaming,
Bout stackin' the lassies at bogle to play.
— The Flowers of the Forest.
The etymological root of
swankie is apparently the Teu-
tonic schwank, droll ; used in a
sense equivalent to the French
drdle, which means a funny
fellow, a droll fellow, or a fel-
low in a contemptuous and de-
preciatory sense. Mr. Thomas
Wright, in his Archaic Diction-
ary of Local and Provincial
English, says that swankie is a
northern word for a strapping
fellow ; and that swamp signifies
lean, unthriving, which suggests
that possibly swain-pie is a cor-
ruption of swankie, with a slight
shade of difference in the phrase ;
the meaning for "a strapping
fellow," though suggestive of
strength, may be also suggestive
of tallness and leanness. The
Danish has svang, withered,
lean ; but it also has svanger,
which means large-bellied, and
is apphed to a pregnant woman ;
the Flemish and Dutch have
swanger with the same meaning.
Swankies young in braw braid claith, ^
Are springin' owre the gutters.
— Burns : The Holy Fair.
Swarf, to faint, to swoon, to
stupefy, or be stupefied ; also, a
fainting fit, a swoon.
And monie a huntit poor red coat.
For fear amaist did swarf, man !
—Burns : The Battle of Sherriff-Muir.
He held up an arrow as he passed, me ;
and I swarf d awa wi' fright. — Scott:
The Monastery,
Ye hae gar'd the puir wretch speak till
she swarfs, and now ye stand as if ye
never saw a woman in a dwam before. —
Scott : St. Ronan's Well.
The etymology of swarf is
uncertain; the author of "Piers
Ploughman " has swowe, to swoon,
akin apparently to the Gaelic
suain, to fall asleep. By some
swarf has been derived from the
Teutonic auswerfen, to throw
out, or throw off ; and as to fall
in a fainting fit is to throw off
temporarily the semblance of
life, it is probable that the de-
rivation is correct. Dwam, in
the same sense as used by
Sir Walter Scott, was formerly
written dualm, and dwalm. These
latter words are evidently allied
to the old English dwale, one
of the popular names of the
plant bella donna, or deadly
Swatch — Swtff.
223
night-shade ; a word employed
by the early poets Gower and
Chaucer, and still in use in the
Lowlands of Scotland, and the
Northern counties of England.
Swatch, a specimen, a sample.
Etymology uncertain.
On this side sits a chosen swatch,
Wi' screwed-up, grace-proud faces.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
ITiat's just a swatch o' Hornbook's way ;
Thus goes he on from day to day,
Thus does he poison, kill, and slay,
An's weel paid for't.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Swats, new ale or beer.
Tarn had got planted unco right
Fast by an ingle bleezing finely,
Wi' reaming swats that drank divinely.
— Burns : Tarn o Shanter.
I gie them a skelp as they're creeping
alang,
Wi' a cog o' guid swats and an auld
Scottish sang.
— Burns : Contented wi Little.
This word seems to be a ludi-
crous derivation from the Gaelic
iuath, to mix liquids, to rub or
press barley; and suaihadh, a
mode of threshing barley ; and
thence, by extension of mean-
ing, the juice of the barley.
According to Jamieson, swats, or
swaits, signifies new ale only.
He derives it from the Anglo-
Saxon swate, ale or beer; but
the anterior root seems to be
the Gaelic siiath.
Sweer, diflScult, heavy, slow,
wearied ; from the German
schwer, heavy, hard, difficult.
Sweer to bed, and sweer up in the morn-
ing.— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Sweere - arse and sweer - tree
are, according to Jamieson, the
names of a sport among Scottish
children, in which two of them
are seated on the ground, and,
holding a stick between them,
endeavour each of them to draw
the other up from the sitting
posture. The heaviest in the
posterior wins the game.
Sweine, a swoon, a trance ; from
the Gaelic suain, sleep.
Sometimes she rade, sometimes she gaed
As she had done before, O,
And aye between she fell in a sweine
Lang ere she cam to Yarrow.
— The Dowie Dens 0' Yarrow.
Swick orswyke, to deceive; also,
a trick, a fraud, a deception ;
swicky and swickful, deceitful.
Apparently from the Danish
svige, to deceive, to cheat, to
defraud; and svig, fraud, im-
posture.
"He played them a swick; I had nae
swick o't," I had no blameableness in it. —
Jamieson.
Swiff, the English whiff, a puff of
smoke, a breath, a short inter-
val, as a smff of sleep amid
pain, a passing odour ; swiff, the
sound of an object passing
rapidly by, as of an arrow or
bullet in its flight. Whether
the English whiff, or the Scot-
tish swiff, were the original form ,
it is hopeless to inquire. The
Scottish word seems to be a
variety of the old English smppe,
which Halli well's Archaic Dic-
tionary defines, to move rapidly;
and swipper, nimble, quick.
224
Swine — Syne.
Swine. * * The swine's gone through
it," is a proverbial expression
which signifies that a marriage
has been postponed or unduly
delayed. Why the swine should
have anything to do with a mar-
riage is so incomprehensible as
to suggest that the word does
duty for some other, of which
it is a corruption. Such a word
exists in the Gaelic suain, a
sleep, a deep sleep, a lethargy,
whence the English swoon. Suain
also signifies to entwine, to wrap
round, to envelop, to tie up, to
twist a cord or rope round any-
thing ; and hence may, in the
proverbial saying above cited,
signify an impediment. Either
of the two meanings of suain
would meet the sense of the
phrase better than swine.
Swipes, a contemptuous term for
small and weak beer ; probably
first given to it on account of
its thinness, and the difficulty,
or impossibility, of getting drunk
upon it. From the Flemish
zuipen, to drink to excess ; the
German saufen, to drink as ani-
mals do, who, however, wiser
in this respect than men, never
drink to excess. Sowf, to drink,
to quaff, and souffe, a drunkard,
are Scottish words from the
same root.
Die Juden sind narren die fressen kein
schwein,
Die Turken sind narren die saufen kein
wein.
[The Jews are fools, they eat no swine ;
The Turks are fools, they s%vite no wine.]
— Old German Song; attributed to
Martin Luther.
Swirl, to turn rapidly, to eddy, to
curl.
His tail
Hung o'er his hurdles wi' a swirl.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
The mill wheel spun and swirl d.
And the mill stream danced in the morning
light,
And all its eddies curl'd.
— The Lump of Gold.
Swither, fear, doubt, perplexity,
hesitation, dread. The etymo-
logy is doubtful, but is possibly
from the German zwischen, be-
tween, i.e., between two con-
flicting opinions.
I there wi' something did foregather,
That put me in an eerie swither.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Syde, long or low, largely ap-
plied to a gown or dress,
Jeanie she gaed up the gate,
Wi' a green gown as syde as her smock,
Now, sirs, Jeanie has gotten her Jock.
—Chambers's Scottish Songs.
Syke, a ditch, a northern English
word, according to Halliwell,
for a gutter; probably a cor-
ruption of soak or suck. A sike,
according to Jamieson, is g, rill,
or a marshy bottom with a small
stream in it.
Through thick and thin they scoured
about.
Plashing through dubs and sykes.
— Allan Ramsay : Continuation of
Christ's Kirk on the Green.
Syne, since, time past, a time
ago. (See Auld Lang Syne,
P-3-)
Here's a health to them that were here
short syne,
And canna be here the day.
Johnson's Musical Museum.
Tabean Birben — Tait.
225
Tabean birben, a comb ; probably
a side-comb for the adornment
of a woman's hair. It occurs
in the ancient version of the
song entitled " Lord Gregory."
Jamieson is of opinion that the
phrase, a ^^ tabean birben kame"
means a comb made at Tabia, in
Italy. " Shall we suppose," he
adds, "that birben is a corrup-
tion of ivour, or ivory-bane (or
bone) ? " Shall we not rather
suppose, as Tabia was not known
as a place of manufacture for
combs, that the word is of
native Scotch origin, and that,
uncouth as it looks, it is re-
solvable into the Gaelic taobh,
a side ; taobhan, sides ; bior, a
pin, a point, a prickle, the
tooth of a comb ; and bean, a
woman, whence taobhan bior bean
(corrupted into tabean birben),
the side-comb of a woman ?
Tack, a lease, a holding; tacks-
man, a leaseholder ; from tack,
to hold, to fasten.
Nae man has a tack o' his life,
— Allan Ramsay's Scois Proverbs.
Taigle, to tease, to perplex, to
banter; from the Gaelic tea-
gamh, doubt, perplexity.
Two irreverent young fellows determined
to taigle the minister. Coming up to him
in the High Street of Dumfries, they ac-
costed him with much solemnity, " Maister
Dunlop, hae ye heard the ne ws ? " "What
news?" "Oh, the deil's dead!" "Is
he ? " replied Mr. Dunlop. " Then I maun
pray for twa faitherless bairns." — Dean
Ramsay's Reminiscences.
Taigle, "to tease, perplex, banter." I
never heard these meanings ; — teigle is to
delay, to hinder— dinna taigle me— I was
sair taigled the day. In the quotation
from Dean Ramsay, I suspect that taigle
is improperly put for tackle, or, as pro-
nounced in Scotland, tackle, meaning to
seize upon, lay hold on. In a description
of a meeting of the U.P, Presbytery of
Edinburgh, that had what is called the
Dalkeith heresy case before it, it was stated
that Dr. Peddie proceeded to tackle Mr.
Ferguson upon his heretical views. — R.
Drennan.
Tairge, or targe, to cross-ques-
tion severely and rigidly; of
uncertain etymology, though
possibly connected with the
Gaelic tagair, to plead, to argue,
to dispute.
And aye on Sundays daily, nightly,
I on the questions tairge them tightly ;
Till, fack, wee Davock's grown so gleg.
Though scarcely larger than my leg,
He'll screed you aff Effectual Calling
As fast as ony in the dwalling.
— Burns : The Inventory.
I'll gie him a ^a/^«'.— Jamieson.
Tait, joyous, gay; a word used
by the old Scottish poet,
Douglas, in his translation of
the " Eneid." Jamieson derives
it "from the Icelandic teilr^
hilares, exultans ; " but its more
obvious source is the Gaelic
taite, which has the same mean-
P
226
Taity — Tangle.
ing. The English exclamation
of hoity-toity, or hoite cum toite,
the name of a favourite dance
in the reign of Charles II., is
from the same Gaelic root —
aite chum taite — in which aite
and taite are almost synonymous,
and signify joy, merriment,
pleasure. Hoyt, in the sense of
revelry, was used by the Eliza-
bethan writers, Donne, Beau-
mont and Fletcher, and others.
Hoity-toity, whisking, frisking,
— BiCKERSTAFFE : Lffve in a Village.
He sings and hoyts and revels among his
drunken companions. — Beaumont and
Fletcher.
The modern English slang
tight, applied to a person who
is joyously intoxicated, or semi-
intoxicated, seems to be of the
same Gaelic derivation.
Taity, taitey, matted like hair,
entangled. Tait (sometimes
written tate and iett), a lock
of matted hair.
At ilka tait o his horse's mane
There hung a siller bell,
The wind was loud, the steed was proud,
And they gied a sindry knell.
— Ballad of Young Waters.
Her skirt was o' the grass-green silk.
Her mantle o' the ermine fine,
At ilka tett d the horse^s mane
Hung fifty siller bells and nine.
— Ballad of True Thomas.
The etymology of this word
is uncertain, unless it is to be
found in the Gaelic taod, a
rope, a string ; from the ropy,
stringy appearance of hair in
this condition. There is an old
Scottish song entitled " Taits o'
Woo'."
Tak' tellin', take telling ; a phrase
that implies that a person either
requires or is amenable to advice
or admonition, or the reverse.
He wad na tak tellin, he would not be
advised. . . . She's a clever servant in a
house, but she taks tellin, i.e., she needs
to be reminded of what ought to be done.
— Jamieson.
Tandle {sometimes written tawnle),
a bonfire ; from the Gaelic tein,
fire, and deal, friendly. From
the root of teine comes teind,
or tynd, to kindle ; and tin-erjin
(sometimes rendered by the Teu-
tonic neid-fire), a fire of emer-
gency, produced by friction of
two pieces of dried wood. Neid-
fire also means a beacon ; pos-
sibly a misprint for *' need-fire."
Jamieson translates tin-egin, a
force fire, but gives no etymo-
logy. Egin is from the Gaelic
ei'jin or eiginn, force, violence,
compulsion. See Beltane, ante.
Tangle, long, tall, and feeble, not
well jointed ; from the Gaelic
tean, long, thin, drawn out, ex-
tended ; and giUe, a lad ; also the
popular name of the long sea-
weed, tangle, often used in con-
junction with dulse, for sea-
weed generally. Dean Kamsay
quotes the saying of an old
Scottish lady, who was lifted
from the ground after a fall,
happily not severe, by a very
tall, young lieutenant, who ad-
dressed him when she after-
Tangleness — Tapetlcss.
227^
wards met him— "Eh, but ye're
a lang lad 1 "
The English tangle and en-
tangle are words of a different
meaning, and probably a cor-
ruption of the Gaelic seangal, to
tie up, to fasten, to enchain, to
fetter. The American phrase
applied to whisky or other
spirit, when indulged in too
freely, of tangle-foot and tangle-
footed, unable to walk steadily
from intoxication, is both hum-
orous and appropriate.
Tangleness, contradiction, confu-
sion, dishonesty, entanglement
of truth and falsehood.
Donald's the callant, that brooks nae
tangleness,
Whiggin' and priggin' and a' new Tangle-
ness,
They maun be gane, he winna be baukit,
man,
He maun hae justice, or faith he will tak
it, man.
— James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd,
Tanterlick, a severe beating. Pro-
bably this word is derivable from
the Gaelic deann {teann, see Tan-
trum), or dian, fierce, hot. This,
combined with lick, the English
slang to beat (a good lick-
ing, a good beating), and the
Gaelic leach, a stone, would sig-
nify, in the first instance, a ston-
ing, one of the earliest methods
adopted in the quarrels of boys
for the conquest or punishment
of an opponent.
Tantin', hard pressing, squeez-
ing ; rantin'-tantin\ ranting and
raving ; or ranting and pressing
hard upon or against, from the
Gaelic teantann, a pressing, a
squeezing. A minister in his
Sabbath service, asked by his
congregation to pray for fine
weather during a long continu-
ance of rain that threatened to
be injurious to the harvest, put
up the following prayer : —
" O Lord, we pray thee to send us wind,
no a rantin -tantin, tearin' wind, but a
soughin' (sighing), winnin' wind." More
expressive words than these could not be
found in any language.— Dean Ramsay.
Tantrum. This word, borrowed
by the English from the Scotch,,
is generally used in the plural ;
and the phrase, **to be in the
tantrums," most commonly ap-
plied to a woman, signifies that
she is in a violent fit of ill-
temper. Jamieson explains it
as "high airs," and derives it
from the French tantrans, nick-
nacks. This etymology cannot
be accepted — firstly, because
there is no such word in the
French language ; and secondly,
because if there were, the mean-
ings are not in the slightest
degree related. The "English
Slang Dictionary" derives it
from a dance called, in Italy,
the tarantula, because persons
in the tantrums dance and caper
about 1 The word is composed
of the Gaelic deann, haste, vio-
lence, hurry; and trom, heavy,
whence violent and heavy, ap-
plied to a fit of sudden passion.
Tapetless, heedless, foolish ; pro-
bably from the Gaelic tapadh,
228
Tap-oure-tail — Tapthrawn.
activity, cleverness ; and ta-
paidh, quick, active, manly,
bold, with the addition of the
English less, want of cleverness
or activity.
The tapetless, ramfeezled hizzie,
She's saft at best, and something lazy.
— Burns: To John Lapraik.
Tap-oure-tail, top-over-tail, or
topsy-turvy (erroneously printed
in Jamieson tap-owr-tail), has
the same meaning as tapml-
teerie, and the English head-over-
heels.
Tappiloorie, top-heavy ; or tappie-
tourie, round at the top. From
the Flemish, Dutch, and Eng-
lish top; and the Flemish and
Dutch loer, French lourd, heavy ;
tourie, from the Flemish, toere,
round about ; the French tour
and autour.
Tappit-hen, a crested hen, or a
hen with a top tuft of feathers ;
a phrase applied to a large bottle
or jar of wine or spirits.
Blythe, blythe, and merry was she,
Blythe was she but and ben,
Weel she loo'ed a Hawick gill,
And leuch to see a tappit-hen.
— Tea Table Miscellany : Andrew
and his Cuttie Gun.
Come, bumpers high, express your joy,
The bowl we maun renew it,
The tappit-hen gae bring her ben.
To welcome Willie Stewart.
— Burns.
Their hostess appeared with a huge
pewter measuring pot, containing at least
three English quarts, familiarly termed a
tappit-hen. — Scott : Waverley.
Blithe, blithe, and merry are we.
Pick and wale o' merry men,
What care we though the cock may crow.
We're masters o' the tappit hen.
— Charles Gray : Whistle Binkie.
"This term," says Jamieson,
" denoted in Aberdeen a large
bottle of claret, holding tlyee
magnums or Scots pints ; " but
as regards the quantity opinion
differs. All agree, however,
that a tap-pit-hen held consider-
ably more than an ordinary
bottle.
Tapsalteerie, in confusion, up-
side down, topsy-turvy. Pos-
sibly from the Gaelic toabh, the
side ; and saltair, to tread, to
trample. Topsy - turvy is ap-
parently from the same source,
and not from "top-side the
t'other way," as some etymolo-
gists have suggested.
Gie me a cannie hour at e'en.
My arms about my dearie, O,
And warldly cares and warldly men
May a' gang tapsalteerie, O I
— Burns.
In an excellent translation into
German of B urns' s " Green grow
the rashes, O 1 " appended as a
note in Chambers's "Scottish
Songs," the two lines in which
tapsalteerie occurs are well ren-
dered : —
Mag Erdenvolk and Erdenplag,
Kopfuber dann, Kopfunter gehen.
Tapthrawn, perverse, obstinate,
unreasonably argumentative ;
from tap, the head or brain,
metaphorically the intellect ;
and thrawn, twisted wrongly.
Tartar — Tavern Sign of the Dog and Duck. 229
Tartar. To catch a Tartar, to be
overpowered in argument or in
fight, by one whose prowess had
been denied or unsuspected;
to get the worst of it. Tartar,
says the Slang Dictionary, is
"a savage fellow, an ugly cus-
tomer." To " catch a T'artor,"
is to discover, somewhat un-
pleasantly, that a person is by
no means so mild or good tem-
pered as was supposed.
This saying originated from the story
of an Irish soldier in the imperial service,
who, in a battle against the Turks, called
out to his comrade that he had caught a
Tartar. "Bring him along then," said
he. " He won't come," said Paddy.
"Then come along yourself," replied his
comrade. "Bedad!" said he, "but he
won't let me ! " A Tartar is also an adept
at any feast or game. " He is quite a
tartar at cricket or billiards." — Grose's
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar
Tongue.
Grose's story was evidently in-
vented. Philology had no need
to travel into Tartary to explain
the source of a peculiarly British
phrase, which has no equivalent
in any language but English and
Scotch : inasmuch as it is of
native origin, from the Gaelic
tartar, a great noise, clamour,
bustle, confusion ; tartarach,
bustling, noisy, uproaring, un-
manageable.
Tartarian is a word used by the
dramatists of the Elizabethan
era to signify a strong thief, or
a noisy blustering villain.
Tass, a small heap of earth or
cluster of flowers ; from the
French tas, a parcel or pack.
There lived a lass in Inverness,
She was the pride of a' the toun,
Blythe as the lark on gowan tass
When frae the nest it's newly flown.
— Allan Cunningham.
Tatshie, according to Jamieson,
signifies dressed in a slovenly
manner ; and tattrel, a rag.
Tatterdemalion, a ragged, miser-
able object. A colloquial word
introduced into England by the
Scotch ; and supposed by Eng-
lish philologists to be from the
Icelandic tctur, a torn garment.
The roots, however, are de-
rivable from the Gaelic ; that of
tatter is from dud, a rag ; from
whence the provincial English
dud, meaning a scarecrow.
Motion comes from meall and
meallan, a lump, a heap of con-
fused objects ; from whence the
primary meaning of tatterde-
malion would seem to be a
*' heap of rags," applied con-
temptuously to the wearer of
them. Mr. James M'Kie, of
Kilmarnock, quotes in his Bib-
liography of Burns, " The Jolly
Beggars, or Tatterdemalions, a
cantata by Robert Burns. Edin-
burgh, Oliver & Boyd, 1808."
Tavern sign of the Dog and
Duck. This is usually ex-
plained in the English sense of
a "Dog" and a " Duck," with
a representation on the sign-
board of a sportsman shooting
wild ducks, followed by a dog
ready to spring into the water.
It is probable, however, that the
sign is of greater antiquity than
230
Tavey's Locker
the conquest of England by the
Danes and Saxons ; and that it
dates from the Celtic period,
and was originally Deoch an
Diugh, or "Drink to-day," an
Invitation to all travellers and
passers by to step in and drink ;
and that it was not by any
means confined to the shooters
of ducks, or to the watery dis-
tricts in which such sports were
possible. The perversions of
the word deoch (drink), by the
English and Lowland Scotch, are
very numerous. One of them
in particular deserves to be cited,
dog's nose, which is, or used to
be, a favourite drink of the
populace in London, composed
of beerandgin. Charles Dickens,
in Pickwick, describes dogs
nose as a warm drink ; but the
compiler of Hotten's Slang Dic-
tionary affirms it to be a cold
drink — so called, because it was
" as cold as a dog's nose." The
true derivation is most probably
from the Gaelic deoch and nos,
custom ; and nosag, customary,
or usual ; and thus signifies the
"usual drink." Another com-
mon and equally ludicrous per-
version of the Gaelic is " Old
Tom," which is used by the
publicans of London, illustrated
by a large tom-cat sitting on a
barrel of gin. The origin of the
phrase is ol, drink, and taom, to
pour out ; whence, to pour out
the favourite liquor.
Tavey's locker, Davy's locker,
Davy Jones's locker. These
singular phrases, used princi-
pally among sailors, all signify
death simply, or death by drown-
ing in the sea. Their origin has
never been very satisfactorily ex-
plained or accounted for; and
no one has yet told the world
whether Tavey or Davy was a
real or a fabulous person, or
who Jones was, and what was
signified by his locker. The Teu-
tonic roots of the English and
Scotch languages fail to give
the slightest hint or clue to the
etymology of the expression,
and thus compel inquirers to
look to the Celtic for a possible
solution of the mystery. In
Gaelic is found taimh {taiv or
taif), death ; and tamh {tav), the
ocean ; ionadh, a place ; and
lochd, sleep, or a closing of
the eyes. Taimh or tamh may
account for the corruption into
Tavey or Davy, ionadh for Jones,
and lochd for locker. This ex-
planation supplies an intelli-
gible and appropriate meaning
to Davy Jones's locker, the gro-
tesque combination of words in
Scotch and English which has
become proverbial among sea-
faring people.
According to Wright's "Pro-
vincial English Dictionary,"
David Jones is a name given by
sailors to a "sea-devil." But
whether the "sea-devil" had
or had not a locker we are not
informed. Nares, in his Glos-
sary, says that one " Davy " was
a proficient in sword and buck-
ler exercise, celebrated at the
close of the sixteenth century.
It does not appear, however
Tawdy — Teind.
231
that any of these allusions can
shed any light on the origin of
Davy^s locker.
Tawdy, a term of contempt for
a child ; tawdy-fee, a fine for
illegitimacy; also, a deprecia-
tory epithet for the podex. The
etymology is unknown, but may
be connected with the Gaelic
todhar, excrement, and, by ex-
tension of meaning, to the senses
in which it is applied to the
podex, or to a child. Todhar
also signifies a field manured by
folding cattle upon it. Taudis,
in French, signifies a miserable
and dirty hole or hovel. In Irish
Gaelic, tod or todan signifies a
lump, a clod, a round mass,
which may also have some re-
mote connection with the idea
of the podex.
Ta-wie, tame, peaceable, friendly,
easily led. Gaelic taobhach {tao-
vach), friendly, partial, inclined
to kindness ; erroneously derived
from tow, a rope, or to be led by
a rope.
Hamely, tawie, quiet, cannie.
An' unco sonsie.
— Burns : Auld Farmers Address.
Tawpie, a foolish person, especi-
ally a foolish girl,
Gawkies, tawpies, gowks and fools.
— Burns : Verses Written at Selkirk.
This word is usually derived
from the French taupe, a mole
— erroneously supposed to be
blind; but the Gaelic origin is
more probable, from iaip, a
lump, a lumpish or clumsy per-
son.
Dans le royaume des taupes, les borgnes
sont xois.— French Proverb.
Teen, tene, teyne, provocation,
anger, wrath, From the Gaelic
teine, fire ; teintidh, fiery, angry.
Last day I grat wi' spite and teen,
As poet Burns cam' by :
That to a bard I should be seen,
Wi' half my channel dry.
—Burns : Humble Petition of Bruar
Water.
Teethie, crabbed, ill-natured,
snarling ; applied metaphori-
cally from the action of a dog
which shows its teeth when
threatening to bite. The Eng-
lish word toothsome, which has
no relation in meaning to teethie^
is often used instead of dainty^
from the erroneous idea that
dainty is derived from dens, a
tooth. The real derivation of
dainty is from the Gaelic deanta,
complete, perfect, well formed,
and finished. When Shakspeare
speaks of his ''dainty Ariel,"
or a man praises the dainty hand
or lips of his beloved, he does
not mean that the teeth should
be employed upon them, but
that they are well-formed, com-
plete, or beautifully perfect.
Teind, a tax, a tribute, a tithe,
a tenth ; teind-free, exempt from
tithes or taxation.
But we that live in Fairy Land
No sickness know, nor pain,
I quit my body when I will,
And take to it again ;
And I would never tire, Janet,
In Elfin land to dwell :
^32
Tendal knife — Terihus Ye Teri Odin.
But aye at every seven years' end,
They pay the teind to hell ;
And I'm sae fat and fair of flesh,
I fear 'twill be mysel.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Young
Tamlane.
Tendal knife. Jamieson cites
from an inventory, ** two belts,
a tendal knife, a horse comb,
and a burning' iron ; " and at a
loss to account for the word,
asks : ** Shall we suppose that
knives celebrated for their tem-
per had been formerly made
somewhere in the dale, or val-
ley of Tyne, in England ? It
might, however, be the name
of the maker ? " These are, no
doubt, ingenious suppositions,
but both appear to be wrong if
tested by the Gaelic, in which
tean signifies long and thin ; and
tail, or tailc, strong ; whence
tendal knife, a knife with a long,
thin, strong blade.
Tent, to take heed, to act
cautiously and warily, to be
attentive. From the French
tenter, to try, to attempt. Ten-
tie, cautious, wary ; to tak tent,
to take care, to beware ; tentless,
careless.
When the tod preaches tak ient o' the
lambs.
— Allan Ramsay : Scois Proverbs,
But warily tent when ye come to court me,
And come na unless the back yett be ajee.
Syne up the back stair and let naebody see,
And come as ye were na comin' to me.
— Burns : Oh Whistle and I'll come to
you, my Lad.
I rede you, honest man, tak tent.
Ye '11 show your folly.
—Burns : Epistle tojatnes Smith.
The time flew by wi' tentless heed.
Till -twixt the late and early,
Wi' sma' persuasion she agreed
To see me through the barley.
— Burns : Corn Rigs and Barley Rigs.
See ye take tent to this !
— Ben Jonson : Sad Shepherdess.
Teribus ye teri odin, the war cry
of the men of Hawick at the
battle of Flodden, and still pre-
served in the traditions of the
town. The full chorus is often
sung at festive gatherings, not
only in the gallant old border
town itself, but in the remotest
districts of Canada, the United
States, and Australia, wherever
Hawick men and natives of the
Scottish Border congregate to
keep up the remembrance of
their native land, and the haunts
of their boyhood.
Teribus ye teri odin,
Sons of heroes slain at Flodden,
Imitating Border bowmen,
Aye defend your rights and common.
Attempts have been frequently
made to connect this Border
ballad with the names of the
Scandinavian and Norse demi-
gods, Thor and Odin ; but these
heroes were wholly unknown to
the original possessors of the
Scottish soil, and but very par-
tially known to the Danish and
Saxon invaders, who came after
them. The ballad, of which these
mysterious words form the bur-
den, is one of patriotic *' defence
and defiance" against the in-
vaders of the soil. Terihus ye
teri odin is an attempt at a
phonetic rendering of the Gaelic
Teth — Thack and Raip.
233
Tir a buaidh's, tir a dion, which,
translated, means ** Land of
victory, and Land of defence."
Teth, spirit, mettle, humour, tem-
per, disposition; usually em-
ployed in the sense of high-
spirited. The word was Eng-
lish in the Elizabethan era, and
was pronounced and written
tith, from the Gaelic teth, hot.
She's good mettle, of a good stirring
strain, and goes tt'ik. — Beaumont and
Fletcher.
Take a widow— a good staunch wench
that's ii'tk. — Idem.
Ill-tetk'd, ill-humoured. — Jamieson.
Teuch, a drink, a draught of
liquor. This word has been de-
rived by Jamieson and others
from the Teutonic tog, and
ieur/he, to draw or pull. As no
such words are to be found in
the Teutonic languages, it is
possible that Jamieson meant
the German zug, the English
tug, to pull or draw ; whence,
in vulgar language, a long pull
at the bottle or tankard, a deep
draught. It seems more prob-
able, however, that the Lowland
Scotch word is a corruption of
the Gaelic deoch, a drink, as in
the phrase, " deoch an' doruis,"
a drink at the door, a stirrup
cup. (See Deuk, aw<e, p. 42.)
Tevoo. This nearly obsolete word
was formerly used by women
in contemptuous depreciation
of a male flirt, fond of their
society, but who was never seri-
ous in his attentions to them.
It has been supposed to be
somehow or other derived from
the French, but no word similar
to it appears in that language.
It is probably from the Gaelic
ti, a person, a creature ; and fu,
an abbreviation of fuachaidh, a
flirt, a jilt, a deceiver.
Tew is a word of many meanings
in Scotland, but most commonly
signifies to work hard. It also
signifies to struggle, to strive,
to fatigue, to overpower, to make
tough. ' ' Sair tews " signifies old
or sore difficulties or troubles ;
teioing on, toiling on; sair tewd,
greatly fatigued, are common
expressions. Jamieson derives
the word from the French ttier,
to kill ; Nares cites instances in
which it is used in the sense of
tow, to pull along by a rope.
Possibly, however, it is but a
misspelling of the Scottish teuch
(with the omission of the
guttral j, the English tough, in
which the omitted guttral is re-
placed by the sound of /, as
tuff). The Gaelic tlugh, thick,
stiff, strong, is doubtless an
allied word.
Thack and raip, from the thatch
of a house ; and rope, the bind-
ing or fastening which keeps
the thatch in its place. Hence,
metaphorically, the phrase ap-
plied to the conduct of an un-
reasonable and disorderly per-
son, that he acts "out of a'
tJiacJc and raip,'' as if the roof
of his house were uncovered,
and let in the wind and weather ;
234
Thairms — Them^ They, Those,
or, in vulgar slang, as if he had
"a slate or a tile loose."
Thairms, the strings of a violin,
harp, or other instrument for
which wire is not used, called
in England cat-gut. The word
is derived from the German,
Dutch, and Flemish darm, gut,
intestines ; the German plural
ddrme.
Oh, had M'Lachlan, tIia{rm-\T\?.^\nr\g
sage.
Been there to hear this heavenly band en-
gage.
—Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
Come, screw the pegs wi' tunefu' cheep.
And ower the thairms be trying.
— Burns : The Ordination.
The word, though immediately
derived from the Teutonic, may,
in the sense of gut or entrails,
have some connection with the
practice of divination by the
ancient Augurs, who studied
the intestines of sacrificed birds
to foretell future events. But
this is a -mere conjecture foun-
ded upon the fact, that the
Gaelic tairm^ or thairm, signifies
divination.
Fiomthairm, string made from
gut, may probably come the
Scottish words thrum, to play on
a stringed instrument, and, in a
contemptuous sense, thrummer,
an inferior fiddler. Possibly the
English strum is a corruption and
euphemism of thrum.
Thane, a very ancient title of no-
bility in Scotland, equivalent in
rank to an English earl. Mac-
beth, according to Shakspeare,
was Thane of Cawdor. Jamie-
son suggests its derivation from
the Anglo-Saxon thegn, a servant ;
but as the title was peculiar to
the Gael, whoUy unknown to
the Saxon, and implied rather
mastery and dominion than ser-
vitude, a Celtic etymology is
most probable ; that etymology
is found in tanaistear, a gover-
nor, a lord, a prince ; one second
in rank to the king or sovereign ;
and tanaisteach, governing, act-
ing as a thane, or master.
The noo, or the no'w, a common
Scotticism for just now, imme-
diately, presently, by and by.
Theak, theek, to thatch a house.
Greek 6r)K7} [theke), a small house,
a repository ; German dach, a
roof ; old English theccan, to
cover; Gaelic tigh and teach, a
house.
Bessie Bell and Mary Gray,
They were twa bonnie lasses.
They biggit a bower on yon burn brae,
And theekit it o'er wi' rashes.
—Ballad: Bessie Bell and Mary Gray.
Ye'll sit on his white hause bane,
And I'll pike out his bonnie blue een ;
Wi' ae lock o' his gowden hair
We 11 theek our nest when it grows bare.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border:
The Twa Corbies.
The cozy roof theekit wi' moss-covered
Strae.
— James Ballantine.
Them, they, those. These plural
pronouns are often used in Scot-
land instead of the singular it,
especially when applied to oat-
meal porridge, brose, hotch-
potch, and broth, or soup. The
Then-a- days — Thig,
235
idea of plurality seems to be
attached to porridge, from the
multiplicity of the grains of
meal, of which the dish is com-
pounded, and to hotch-potch,
barley broth, and other soups,
for the same reason of their
numerous ingredients.
Why dinna ye sup ye're parritch, Johnnie ?
Johnnie — I dinna like them.
— Galt.
Once at the annual dinner to his tenants,
given by the Duke of Buccleuch, the
Duchess pressed a burly old farmer, to
whom she wished to show attention, to
partake of some pea-soup. " Muckle
obleeged to your Grace," said the farmer,
" but I downa tak' them. They're owre
wundy ! " — The Ettrick Shepherd.
Each true-hearted Scotsman, by nature
jocose.
Can cheerfully dine on a dishfu' o' brose,
And the grace be a wish to get plenty of
those ;
And it's O for the kail brose o' Scotland,
And O for the Scottish kail brose.
— Alexander Watson : Old Song.
Then-a-days, in former time, as
opposed to the English and
Scottish phrase, now-a-days, in
the present time.
Thepes, gooseberries, or more
properly gorse or thorn berries ;
in Dutch and Flemish doom, or
thorn-berries. Mr. Halliwell, in
his Archaic Dictionary, cites
thepes as an Eastern Counties
word, used in Sir Thomas
Brown's works. It is also cur-
rent in the Lowlands of Scot-
land. The derivation is un-
known.
Thetes, traces or harness of a
horse drawing a vehicle. To
be " out of the traces," is to
be out of rule, governance, or
control.
To be quite out of the thetes, i.e., to be
disorderly in one's conduct. ... To be
out of thete is a phrase applied to one who
is rusted as to any art or science from want
of practice. — Jamieson.
The word is derived by Jamie-
son from the Icelandic thatCr, a
cord, a small rope ; but is more
probably from the Gaelic taod ;
aspirated thoad, a rope.
Thief - like, ugly, disagreeable.
This Scottish phrase does not
signify dishonest-looking, but
simply repulsive, or disagree-
able ; possibly because the Low-
land Scotch who made use of
it suffered but too often from
the incursions of the Highland
cattle-stealers into the pastures
and sheep-folds, associated in
their minds with all that was
most offensive, morally and phy-
sically.
That's a thief-like mutch ye have on,
i.e., that's an ugly cap you have on. —
Jamieson.
Thief-like occurs in two common pro-
verbial phrases — the thiefer-like the better
soldier ; the aulder the thiefer-like. Ye're
like the horse's bains, the aulder ye grow
the thiefer-like.— ] AMiESOii.
Thig, to beg or borrow; some-
times written thigger.
The father buys, the son biggs (builds),
The oye (grandson) sells, and his son
thigs.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
And if the wives and dirty brats,
E'en thigger at your doors an' yetts.
—Burns : Address of Beelzebub.
or T
^^"VeRs|Ty
OF
236
Thtnk-lang — Thrang.
Think-lang, to grow weary, to be
impatient of another's absence ;
to think the time long.
But think na' lang, lassie, tho' I gang awa',
The summer is comin', cauld winter's
awa',
And I'll come back and see thee in spite
o' them a'.
— Song : Logic o' Buchan.
Thistlecock or thrustlecock, the
thrush, more poetically called
the mavis, both in Old English
and Scottish poetry.
The primrose is the fairest flower
That springs on muir or dale ;
An' the thistlecock is the bonniest bird
That sings on the evening gale.
— Ballad of Proud Lady
Margaret.
Thivel, a cudgel, a large shil-
lelagh. Etymology unknown.
An' for a thivel they did use
A sturdy stump o' knotty spruce,
— John o' A mho!.
Tholeable, tholesome, tolerable,
that may be endured ; tlwlance,
sufferance, endurance. Thole is
doubtless from the same root
as the Latin tolerare, and the
Gaelic dolas, sufferance, dolour,
pain.
Thowless. Perhaps a corruption
of thewless, weak ; without thews
and sinews. Gaelic tiugh, thick,
strong ; whence thotcless, with-
out strength or thickness.
For fortune aye favours the active and
bauld,
But ruins the wooer that's thozvless and
cauld.
—Allan Ramsay.
Her dowflF excuses pat me mad,
Conscience — saj's I, ye thowless jad,
I'll write, and that a hearty blaud
This very night.
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Thraine. According to Jamieson,
this word signifies to be con-
stantly harping on one subject,
and is derived from the Teu-
tonic or Swedish traegen, assi-
duous. He is of opinion also that
rane, to cry the same thing over
and over again, is synonymous,
and of the same origin. But
more probably, in the sense of
harping continually on one sub-
ject, of complaint, thraine is
from the Greek threnos, a lamen-
tation. Jiane is probably from
the Gaelic ran, to roar.
Thram, to thrive, to prosper.
Etymology uncertain. Jamieson
supposes it to be from the Ice-
landic.
Well wat your honour, thram for that,
quo' she.
— Ross's Helenore.
Can you expect to thram.
That hae been guilty o' so great a wrang ?
—Ibid.
Thrang-, busy, crowded with work
or occupation ; from the Eng-
lish throng, to crowd, and the
German drang, pressure, drdn-
gen, to press, and the Flemish
dringen, to press, to squeeze.
Upon a bonnie day in June,
When wearin' through the afternoon,
Twa dogs that were nae thrang at hame,
Foregathered ance upon a time.
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Thrapple — Through.
237
The deil sat grim amang the reek,
Thrang bundling brimstone matches !
—Jacobite Song : Aiva\ye IVhigs,
Atvct.
Thrapple, the throat ; akin to the
English throttle.
As murder at his thrapple shored ;
And hell mixed in the brulzie [broil].
— Burns : Epistle to Robert Graham.
When we had a Scots Parliament, — deil
rax their thrapples that reft us o't.
Scott : Rob Roy.
Thraw, a twist, a fit of ill-
humour ; thrawn, twisted, con-
torted. Thrawn-gabbit, with a
twisted or contorted gab, or
mouth; and, metaphorically, a
cantankerous, morose person
who is always grumbling. Gab-
bit is from the Gaelic gab, a
mouth ; . whence the English
slang, "the gift of the gab,''
the gift of eloquence, or power
of much speaking. Thrawarty
perverse, obstinate ; thraw, to
contradict ; thraws, throes, twists
or contortions of pain ; also, a
little while, or a turn of time, a
twist.
She turns the key wi' cannie thraw.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
When I a little thraw had made ray moan.
Bewailing mine misfortune and mischance.
— The King's Quair.
There are twa hens into the crib,
Have fed this month and mair;
Make haste and thraw their necks about,
That Colin weel may fare.
— MiCKLE : There's nae Luck About the
House.
He's easy wi' a' body that's easy wi'
him ; but if ye thraw him, ye had better
thraw the deevil. — Scott : Rob Roy.
Thraw seems akin to the Eng-
lish throe, a throb, a twist of
pain, and is probably from the
Teutonic.
Threpe, or threap, to argue, to
contend pertinaciously in argu-
ment, to assert obstinately in
spite of reason ; from the Gaelic
drip, or trip, to contend, to
fight.
It's not for a man with a woman to threep.
Unless he first give owre the plea :
As we began we'll now leave off—
I'll tak my auld cloak about me.
— Old Ballad, quoted by Shakspeare.
Some herds, weel learned upon the beuk.
Wad threap auld folk the thing mistook.
—Burns: Epistle to Simpson.
Threapins no' provin'.
— Allan Ramsay.
This is na threapin ware \i.e., this is
genuine ware, not to be argued about].—
Allan Ramsav.
Thrimle, thrimmel, to press, to
squeeze ; thrimp, thrump, to press
as in a crowd, to push. Ety-
mology uncertain, but possibly
from the Flemish drempel, an
entrance — whence to force an
entrance, to press through, to
push through.
Through. This word, the Gaelic
troiinh, the Kymric t7'io, and
the Teutonic durch, enters more
largely into its structure of
Scottish compound terms and
phrases, than was ever the case
in England. Thus the Scotch
have through-gang, perseverance ;
through-gaun, and through-gang-
ing, persevering, also waste-
ful, prodigal, going through
238
Throwther — Tift.
one's means ; through-pit, acti-
vity, energy, that puts a thing
through; through-fare, or through-
gang, a thoroughfare; through-
ither, confused ; through- stone,
a stone as thick as the wall ;
through-pittin, or through-hearin',
a bare subsistence, enough to
get through the world with ;
and the verb to through, or thruch,
to penetrate, to go through.
Sir Walter Scott uses through-
gaun in Rob Roy, in the sense
of a severe exposure of one's
life and conduct, during a rigid
cross-examination^
Throwther, higgledy - piggledy,
helter - skelter, in confusion ;
possibly a corruption of through-
ither, or through-each-other.
Till— skelp— a shot ! they're aff a'
throwther,
To save their skin.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
Thrum, a musical sound, also
a thread. Gray thrums, the
popular phrase in Scotland for
the purring of a cat, the sound
of a spinning-wheel, the thread
remaining at the end of a web ;
apparently derived from the
Gaelic troimh, through.
Come out wi' your moolins, come out wi'
your crumbs,
And keep in slee baudrons [the cat] to
sing ye gray thrums.
— James Ballantine: A Voice from the
Woods.
Thud, a dull, heavy blow: ety-
mology unknown. Lord Neaves
considered it a comic word,
though it is difficult to see
why, especially when such
serious use of it was made
by Gawin Douglas and Allan
Ramsay : —
The fearful thuds of the tempestuous tide.
— Gawin Douglas : Translation of
the Enid.
The air grew rough with boisterous thuds.
Allan Ramsay : The Vision.
Swith on a hardened clay he fell,
Right far was heard the thud.
— Hardyknute.
Tid, tid-bit, tydy. All these
words, like the Enghsh tide, are
derivable from the idea of time,
the German zeit, the Dutch
and Flemish tijd. Tid, in the
Scottish language, signifies sea-
son ; the English tid-bit is a
seasonable bit. Bit is from
the Gaelic biadh, food, and not
from the Enghsh bite, or that
which is bitten. The French
morceau, the English morsel, is
unquestionably derived from
mordre, to bite. Tydy, season-
able ; " a tydy bride " is a phrase
applied to an unmarried girl who
is about to become a mother,
and in that state is married and
taken home to her bridegroom's
house, in order that the coming
child may be born after wed-
lock, and thus become legiti-
mised.
Tift, English tiff, a slight quar-
rel, a fit of ill-humour ; tip, a
slang word for money given to
a servant as a small gratuity
to procure drink or otherwise ;
called by the French a pour
boire, and by the Germans trink-
Tig — Timmer.
239
geld. No English or Scottish
etymologist has succeeded in
tracing these words to their
sources. Jamieson derives tift
from the Icelandic tyfla, to
chastise ; Johnson declares tiff, a
quarrel, to be " a low word, with-
out etymology;" Richardson has
tiff, a drink, which he thinks a
corruption of ti'p^le, an allied
word ; Ash defines tiff to be a
corruption of the Teutonic te^d,
a dug or teat, while the ancient
author of "Gazophylacium Angli-
canum " surpasses all his prede-
cessors and successors in in-
genuity by deriving tijisy and
ti'p^ple from the Latin tipula, a
water-spider, because that in-
sect is always drinking ! Mr.
Halliwell, without entering on
the etymological question, says
that in English provincial dia-
lects tiff has three meanings —
small beer, a draught of any
liquor, and to fall headlong from
the effects of drink.
There are several derivatives
in the Scottish language from
tift, a quarrel, viz., tij'ty, quarrel-
some, apt to take offence ; tift-
ing, an angry scolding ; and "to
be in a tifter," i.e., in a difficult
and disagreeable position where
one is likely to be severely repri-
manded. Possibly the Scottish
tift (a quarrel), the English tiff
(a fit of ill -humour), are as
closely allied in meaning as they
are in sound.
Tig, a twitch, a touch, a sharp
stroke; also a slight fit of ill-
temper ; possibly, in both senses,
derived from the Gaelic taoig,
anger, and taoigeach, angry, and
as such disposed to strike a
blow.
A game among children. He who in
this game gives the stroke, says to the
person to whom he has given it, " Ye bear
my //]?-."— Jamieson.
Tillie-soul. According to Jamie-
son, this word signifies " a place
to which a gentleman sends the
horses and servants of his guests,
when he does not choose to en-
tertain them at his own ex-
pense." He derives it from the
French tillet, a ticket ; and solde,
pay. There is, however, no
such word as tillet, a ticket, in
the French language. There is
tiller, which means, "detacher
avec la main les filaments du
chanvre," i.e., to remove with
the hand the filaments of hemp.
But this operation has certainly
nothing to do with the ex-
planation given to tillie-soul.
The true derivation appears to
be from the Gaelic till, to turn
away ; and suit, feeding, fatness,
good bodily entertainment ;
whence tillie-soul or till suit, to
turn away for entertainment
elsewhere.
Timmer, timber; from the
Flemish timmer. This word is
used not alone as signifying
wood, but in the sense of build-
ing or constructing out of wood ;
and, by extension of meaning,
into constructing or fashioning
generally; and, by still wider
extension, into doing or per-
240
Tine — Tinsel.
forming. "To give one a tim-
merin' " signifies to beat one
with a stick (or piece of timber).
Timmer-'bveQks, and iimmer-sark
were ludicrous terms for a coffin.
Timmerman, in the Flemish, and
Zimmerman, in the German,
signified a carpenter, an artificer
in wood, and also a woodmonger,
or woodman.
Tinuner up the flail, i.e., to wield the
flail ; timmerM^ the floor with a dishclout,
i.e., to clean it. . . . To timmer up the
lesson, i.e., to be busily employed in learn-
it. . . . Oh, as he timmers up the Latin !
i.e., what a deal of Latin he employs. —
Jamieson.
And who in singing could excel
Famed Douglas, Bishop of Dunkel' ;
He timmer d up, though it be lang,
In gude braid Scots a Virgil's sang.
— Ingram's Poems.
Tine, to lose; tint, lost. This
ancient English word has long
been confined to Scottish litera-
ture and parlance.
What was tint through tree.
Tree shall it win.
— Piers Ploughman.
He never tint a cow that grat for a
needle.
Where there is nothing the king tines his
right.
All's not tint that's in danger.
Better spoil your joke than tine your
friend.
Tine heart — all's gone.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Next my heart I'll wear her,
For fear my jewel tine. — Burns.
Tinkle - sweetie. According to
Jamieson, tinkle-sweetie was a
name formerly given in Edin-
burgh to a bell that was rung
at eight o'clock in the even-
ing. A previous bell, which
was rung at two in the after-
noon, was called the " kail bell,"
i.e., the dinner bell. Tinkle-
sweetie was superseded as a
phrase by the " aucht hour bell."
Jamieson, at a loss for the ety-
mology, says "it was thus de-
nominated because the sound
of it was siveet to the ears of
apprentices and shopmen, be-
cause they were then at liberty
to shut up for the night." The
conjecture is no doubt ingeni-
ous ; but it maybe asked whether
the kail or dinner bell might
not have been as justly entitled
to be called sweet as the bell
that announced the cessation of
labour ? The word is apparently
a relic of the very old time when
the kings and nobles of Scot-
land and the merchants of Edin-
burgh all spoke or understood
Gaelic. In that language diun
(d pronounced as t) signified to
shut up, to close ; glaodh (pro-
nounced glao) signified a cry, a
call ; and suaiteachd, labour,
work, toil ; whence duinglao
{tuinglao, quasi tinkle) and suai-
teachd corrupted into sweetie.
Thus the phrase would mean a
call or summons, to cease from
labour, or, in modern parlance,
" to shut up shop."
Tinsel, loss ; from tine, to lose.
My profit is not your tinsel.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
Tippenny — Tittie'billie.
241
Tippenny, from twopence ; whence
tippenny, at the price of two
pence ; twopenny ale.
Wt' tippenny we'll fear nae evil,
Wi' usquebae we'll face the devil.
— Burns : Tarn o Shunter.
Mr. Lo^ve Weimaurs, a once
noted French author, who tran-
slated or paraphrased Burns
into French, rendered the first
of these lines by "Avec deux
sous, nous ne craindrons rien,"
with twopence we'll fear no-
thing, thus leaving the ale out
of the question.
Tirl, to turn the knob, the pin, or
other fastening of a door. The
word is of constant occurrence
in the ballad poetry of Scot-
land.
Oh he's gone round and round about
And tirled at the pin.
— Willie and May Margaret.
Tirl, to spin round as in a
whirlwind, to unroof with a
high wind.
Whyles, on the strong-winged tempest
flying,
Tirling the kirks.
— Burns : Address to the Dei I.
This word has been supposed
to be a corruption of the English
twirl, to turn round ; and, by
extension of meaning, ''tirling
the roof of the kirk," i.e., send-
ing the materials whirling or
twirling in the storm. To tiii
the pin or knob of a door, is
doubtless from twirl, in the
English sense; but to tirl the
roof of a kirk, as in the line of
Burns, is more probably from
the Gaelic tuirl, and tuirlin, to
rush rapidly with a great noise.
Tirlie-wirlie, intricate or trifling
ornaments.
Queer, tirlie-wirlie holes that gang out
to the open air, and keep the air as caller
as a kail-blade. — Scott : The Antiquary.
It was in and through the window broads
And a' the tirlie-wirlies o't.
The sweetest kiss that e'er I got
Was frae my Dainty Davie.
— Herd's Collection : Dainty
Davie.
From the English twirl and
whirl, though Jamieson goes to
the Swedish in search of the
etymology.
Tirr, a fractious child ; tirran,
one of a perverse and complain-
ing humour ; tirrie, querulous,
peevish. These words seem all to
be derived from the Gaelic tuir,
to moan, to lament, to weep ;
and tuireadh, moaning, com-
plaining, lamentation. Jamie-
son, however, derives tirr from
the Greek tyrannos, a tyrant, or
the Teutonic terghen, to irritate ;
though the latter word is not to
be found in German or in any
of its dialects. Tire lire is often
used in French poetry for the
song or lament of the nightin-
gale.
Tittie, a sister.
He had a wee tittie that loved na me
Because I was true and trim as she
— LadyGrizzel Baillie.
Tittie-billie, according to Jamie-
son, who denounces it as vulgar.
Q
242
Tocher — Tod.
This phrase signifies an equal, a
match, as in the proverbial say-
ing which he quotes, *' Tarn's a
great thief, but Willie's tittie-
billie wi' him ; " and derives it
from tittie, a sister ; and billie, a
brother. The true meaning of
billie is a fellow ; from the
Gaelic balaoch, a mate, or close
companion ; and tittie, in all pro-
bability, is a corruption of taite,
joyousness, jolliness. Tittie-bilUe
would thus be synonymous with
the English phrase, " a jolly
good fellow." (See Billies, ante,
page 8.)
Tocher, a dowry, but principally
used as applicable to the for-
tunes of persons in the middle
and lower ranks of life, who are
too poor to give their daughters
dowries. A tocher may be either
a large or a small one. There
is no other Scotch word for a
daughter's portion. TocheiiesSj
fortuneless.
A cow and a calf,
An ox and a half,
Forty good shillings and three ;
Is not that enough tocher
For a shoemaker's daughter ?
— J. O. Halliwell : Nursery
Rhymes of England.
The bonnie lass tocherless has mair
wooers than chances of a husband.
The greatest tochers make not ever the
greatest testaments.
Marry a beggar and get a louse for your
tocher.
Maidens' tochers and ministers' stipends
are aye less than they are ca'd.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Oh meikle thinks my love o' my beauty,
And meikle thinks my love o' my kin,
But little thinks my love I ken brawly,
My tochers the jewel has charms for him.
— Burns.
Philologists are at variance
as to the origin of tocher, which
is purely Scottish, and has no
relation to any similar word
in the Teutonic or in the Ro-
mance languages of Europe.
The French has dot, the German
braut-schdtz (bridal treasure),
and the Dutch and Flemish
bruid schat. Dr. Adolphus Wag-
ner, editor of a German edition
of Burns (Leipzig, 1825), sug-
gests " the Icelandic tochar,"
which he thinks is either cor-
rupted from the Latin douarium,
or from daughter, the German
tochter, or the Greek dvyar-qp.
The real root of the word is the
Gaelic tacar or tocar, provision
or store, a marriage portion ;
tocharachd, well or plentifully
dowered ; toic, wealth, fortune ;
toic ard, high fortune ; and toic-
each, rich.
Tod, usually considered to signify
a bush ; ivy tod, a bush or bunch
of ivy. The derivation seems
to be from the Dutch and Fle-
mish tod, a rag, a fringe ; and
the Gaelic dud, a rag ; or taod, a
string ; from the string-like and
ragged appearance of ivy when
it has grown as high as possible
on the supporting tree or wall,
and has then fallen downwards.
Tod also signifies a fox; tod-
Laurie is a jocose word for the
same animal
Ye're like the tod; ye grow grey before
you grow guid.
Toddy — Toman.
243
The tod ne'er sped better than when he
gaed on his ain errand.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The King rose up, wiped his eyes, and
calling, " Todlaurie, come out o' your
den [Fox, come out of your hole]," he pro-
duced from behind the arras the length of
Richie Moniplies, still laughing in unre-
strained mirth. — Scott : Fortunes of
Nigel.
Toddy, a mixture of whisky with
hot water and sugar. It has
been generally supposed that
the name was introduced into
Scotland by some retired East
Indian, from toddy, a juice ex-
tracted from various species of
palm trees, especially from the
cocos nocifera, which, when fer-
mented and distilled, was known
as arrack. But this is doubtful.
In Allan Kamsay's poem of
" The Morning Interview," pub-
lished in 1 72 1, occurs a de-
scription of a sumptuous en-
tertainment or tea-party, in
which it is said "that all the
rich requisites are brought from
far ; the table from Japan, the
tea from China, the sugar from
Amazonia, or the West Indies j
but that
Scotia does no such costly tribute bring.
Only some kettles full of Todian spring."
To this passage Allan Ramsay
himself appended the note —
"The Todian spring, i.e.. Tod's
well, which supplies Edinburgh
with water." Tod's well and
St. Anthony's well, on the side
of Arthur's seat, were two of the
weUs which very scantily sup-
plied the wants of Edinburgh ;
and when it is borne in mind
that whiskey (see that word)
derives its name from water, it
is highly probable that Toddy
in like manner was a facetious
term for the pure element. The
late Robert Chambers, when
this etymology was first pro-
pounded to him by the present
writer, rejected the idea, but
afterwards adopted it on the
strength of Allan Ramsay's
poem.
Tol-lol, a slang expression, com-
mon to Scotland and England,
as a reply to an inquiry after
one's health. " How are you ? "
"Oh, tol-lol!" i.e., pretty well.
The word is usually supposed to
be a corruption of tolerable, or
tolerably well. Perhaps it comes
more probably from the Gaelic
toUeil, substantial, solid, sound,
in good condition.
Toman or tommack, a small
hill, a hillock, a mound of earth ;
from the Gaelic torn, a hiU. This
primitive monosyllable is widely
spread over all the languages of
Western Europe, and enters into
the composition of numberless
words that imply the sense of
swelling above the surface; as
in the Latin tumulus, a mound
of earth that marks a grave ;
the English tomb, the French
tombeau, the Keltic and Kymric
tom^ a mound, a heap; the Latin
tumor, tumefaction, a pimple, a
swelling of the flesh ; tumescere,
to swell up; the English and
French dome, the Italian duomo,
244
Tongue-ferdy — Toot
the German, Dutch, 'andFlemish
dom, the Latin and Greek doma,
the rounded roof or cupola,
swelling over a church or ca-
thedral, and also the cathedral
itself; as "il dwowo" at Milan,
and the ' ' Doni kirke " at Cologne.
Tom, in the secondary sense,
signifies large, from the primary
idea of that which is swollen ; a
torn cat is a large cat ; torn noddy
is a great noddy or simpleton ;
torn fool is a great fool ; and Cow-
boy, when applied as a reproach
to a romping or noisy girl, sig-
nifies that she acts more like a
great boy than like a girl.
Singing a song to the Queen o' the
Fairies, among the tomans d the ancient
woods. — Nodes Arnbrosiance.
Tongue-ferdy, glib of tongue,
loquacious, over ready of speech.
From the German zung, Flemish
and Dutch long, the tongue ; and
fertig, ready.
Tongue-tack it, tongue-tied,
either from natural impediment,
or from nervous timidity and
inability to speak when there is
occasion to declare one's self ;
also, undue reticence, when
there is a necessity for speaking
out.
Toora or tume, empty, poured
out ; from the Gaelic taom, to
pour out, the English teem, to
produce, to pour out progeny.
Toom - handit, empty - handed ;
<oowi-headit, brainless, empty-
headed ; a too7n pock, an empty
purse. The word is used in
Lancashire, according to Tim
Bobbin's Glossary.
Better a toom house than an ill tenant.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Scotland greetin' owre her thrissle.
Her mutchkin stoup as toom's a whistle.
— Burns : Earnest Cry and Prayer.
Mr. Clark of Dalreoch, whose head was
vastly disproportioned to his body, met
Mr. Dunlop one day. " Weel, Mr. Clark,
that's a great head o' yours." "Indeed,
it is, Mr. Dunlop ; I could contain yours
inside o' my own." "Just so," echoed
Mr. Dunlop, "I was e'en thinking it was
gey an toom." — Dean Ramsay.
On being called upon to give his vote
in the choice of a chaplain to the prison
of Dunfermline, David Dewar signified
his assent to the election of the candidate
recommended by the Board, by saying,
" Weel, I've no objection to the man, for
I understand that he has preached a kirk
toom already ; and if he be as successful
in the jail, he'll maybe preach it vacant as
weel." — Dean Ramsay.
A toom pouch maks a sair heart. But
why should it? Surely a heart's worth
mair than a pouch, whether it's toom or
brimming ower ?— Donald Cargill.
" Set on them, lads ! " quo' Willie, then,
" Fie, lads ! set on them cruellie,
For ere they win to the Ritterford
Mony a toojn saddle there sail be."
— James Telfer : Border Minstrelsy.
Toot, or tout, to noise a thing
abroad, to spread a rumour or
a scandal ; also, to blow a horn.
It was tootit through a' the country.
. . . The kintra claiks were tootit far and
wide. — Jamieson.
But now the Lord's ain trumpet touts.
Till a' the hills are rairin'.
— Burns : Jhe Holy Fair.
An auld tout in a new horn.
Every man can tout best on his ain horn.
It's ill making a touting horn of a tod's
tail.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Tooth ills — Totum.
245
In English slang, a tout is one
stationed outside of a shop or
place of amusement, to entice
people to enter ; metaphorical
for blowing the trumpet, i.e.,
praising the goods, or entertain-
ment, to be had within. From
the Gaelic dud, a trumpet ;
dudair, a trumpeter. The Ger-
mans call the bagpipe a ditdd-
sacJc, i.e., a trumpet sack.
Toothills — or hills where in early-
times a horn was blown to give
warning of danger — are fre-
quently mentioned in old re-
cords, and the name still sub-
sists. TothiU or Toothia Fields
in London was so called from
an eminence of the kind in the
borough of Southwark.
Tory, a word of contemptuous
anger for a child, equivalent
to hrat. Jamieson cites it as
an Ayrshire expression — '* Get
out of my sight, ye vile little
tory." It is obvious that the
word has no political origin,
and is possibly from the Gaelic
torrach, pregnant, and toradh {dh
silent), the fruit or produce of
pregnancy, i.e., a child.
Tosh, neat, trim, cozy, comfort-
able ; toshach, a neat, tidy-look-
ing girl ; tossie, warm and snug,
— almost synonymous with cozie.
Of uncertain etymology. Jamie-
son derives it from the Flemish
dossen, to dress, to adorn ; but
the Gaelic offers dos, a bush, a
thicket, a bield, a shelter, which
has become slang among Eng-
lish tramps and vagrants, to
signify a lodging. It is possible
that the idea of comfortable
shelter, in the sense of the pro-
verb, "Better a wee bush than
nae bield," lies at the root of tosh
and tozie.
She works her ain stockings, and spins her
ain cleedin',
And keeps herself iosh frae the tap to the
tae,
—James Ballantine : Auld Janet.
Tot, a fondling name for a child
that is learning to walk ; from
whence tottle, and toddle, to walk
with slow, feeble, and uncertain
step. From the Gaelic tuxJt, to
falL (SeeToTDM.)
Tottie, warm, snug, comfortable.
From the Gaelic teih, warmth ;
teodh, to warm ; and teodhaichte,
warmed ; whence also totUe, to
boil, or the bubbling noise made
by boiling liquids.
Totum, a term of affection for a
child just beginning to walk,
and sometimes falling in the
process ; from the Gaelic tuit,
to fall. From the same root
comes the name of the spinning
and falling toy, the teetotum;
and English tot, a child.
Twa-three toddlin' weans they hae,
The pride o' a' Strabogie ;
Whene'er the totums cry for meat,
She curses aye his cogie.
—Song : There's Cauld Kail in A berdeen.
The Scotch have carried the
word totum with them to the
United States. It occurs in a
246
ToufUs Bairn — Towdy.
ridiculous rhyme concerning the
negroes —
De Lord He lub de nigger well,
He know de nigger by um smell ;
And when de nigger totums cry,
De Lord He gib 'em possum pie.
The English word teetotum, is
a child's toy, or kind of top to
be twisted round by the fingers
and spun on a table. Stor-
month's Dictionary defines it,
in addition to its ordinary use
as a toy, to mean " any small
thing in contempt," and sug-
gests that the word is probably
imitative of its unsteady move-
ments when nearly spent. Tee-
totum is an amplification of the
Gaelic, from its tendency to
fall ; tuiteam, let me fall.
Toun's Bairn, a name affection-
ately applied to the native of a
town or city, after he has risen
to distinction and established a
claim to the respect of the in-
habitants.
Toustie, quarrelsome, irascible,
contentious, twisty. From the
Gaelic tuas, and tuasaid, a quar-
rel ; tuasaideach, quarrelsome.
Mr, Treddles was a wee toustie, when
you rubbed him against the hair, but a
kind, weel-meaning man, — Scott : Chro-
nicles of the Canongate.
Touttie, totey, irritable, irascible,
of capricious and uncertain tem-
per. Derived by Jamieson from
the Flemish tog tig, windy, a word
which is not to be found in the
Dutch or Flemish dictionaries.
Tove, to associate kindly as
friends or lovers ; to " tove and
crack," to hold amorous or
friendly discourse. Tovie, com-
fortable ; a tovie fire, a snug,
cozy, or comfortable fire. From
the Gaelic taobh (pronounced
taov), a side, a liking, partial-
ity, friendship ; taobhach, kindly,
friendly. Tovie is an epithet
sometimes used to signify that
a man is garrulously drunk.
Tow, a rope, also the hemp of
which ropes are made ; to pull
by a rope. Towing-path by a
canal, the path by which men
or horses tow or pull the vessels
through the water. To wallop
in a toiv, to dangle from the gal-
lows.
And ere I wed another jade,
I'll wallop in a tow.
—Burns : The Weary Fund
o Tow.
I hae another toiv on my rock [I have
other business to attend to], — Scots Pro-
verb.
Jamieson derives tow from
the Swedish tog, the substance
of which ropes are made. It
is more likely from the Gaelic
taod, a rope, a string, a halter.
Towdy, a jocular term for the
breech, fundament, podex, or
doup, especially when abnor-
mally large. From this word
comes the EngUsh dowdy, ap-
plied to an ill-dressed and un-
shapely woman, large in the
hips. The derivation is possibly
from the Gaelic doideach, fleshy,
muscular.
Towhead — Trattle.
247
Towhead, a head with flaxen or
very light - coloured hair. A
term used in America, accord-
ing to Bartlett's Dictionary of
Americanisms, for "a flaxen-
headed urchin."
Towmond, a twelvemonth.
How 'twas a towmond auld, sin' lint was
i' the bell.
— Burns : Cotters Saturday
Night.
Surrounded wi' peat an' wi' heather,
Where muircocks and plovers were rife,
For mony a long towmond together
There lived an auld man an' his wife.
— Andrew Scott : Symon and
Janet.
Towzie, rough, hairy, shaggy;
whence towzer, the name some-
times applied in England to a
terrier.
His touzie back
Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
A touzie tyke, black, grim, and large.
To gie them music was his charge.
— Burns : Tajn d Shanter.
Toy, a woman's cap. This word
is probably from the Gaelic toil,
pleasure, applied to the finery
with which it is the ^pleasure,
and often the toil, of women to
adorn or attire themselves, and
was originally given to the ordi-
nary match or indoor head-dress
when bedizened with ribbons.
Toyte, to dawdle, to take things
easily ; from the Gaelic taite,
ease, pleasure.
We've won to crazy years thegither,
We'll toyte about wi' ane anither,
Wi' tentie care I'll flit thy tether
To some hain'd rig.
Where ye may doucely rax your leather
Wi' sma' fatigue.
—Burns : Auld Farmer to his Auld
Mare, Maggie.
Traik, to lounge, to gad about, to
follow idly after women ; from
the Flemish trekken, to walk, to
draw or pull along.
There is not a huzzy on this side of thirty
that ye can bring within your doors, but
there will be chiels, writer lads, 'prentice
lads, and what not, come traiking after
them for their destruction. — Scott : Heart
of Midlothian.
Trattle. The resemblance of this
word to prattle, from prate, has
led Jamieson and others to sup-
pose that its meaning is identi-
cal. But it is by no means clear
that the supposition is well
founded, or that trattle, prattle,
and rattle are related in mean-
ing, notwithstanding the simil-
arity of sound. The word seems
to be akin to, or to be derived
from, the German trotzen, the
Flemish trots, to dare, to defy,
to be arrogant or presumptuous ;
trotzig, violent.
Oh better I'll keep my green cleiding
Frae gude Earl Richard's bluid,
Than thou canst keep thy clattering tongue
That trattles in thy head.
—Earl Richard : Border
Minstrelsy.
Against the proud Scots clattering
That never will leave their trattling.
— Skelton : Against the Scottis,
quoted by Sir Walter Scott
in Border Minstrelsy.
The German and Flemish trot-
zen would more fully meet the
meaning and spirit of the
248
Treacherous as Garrick — Trolollay.
epithet than any derivation from
•prattle could pretend to.
Treacherous as Garrick, false
as Garrick, deep as Garrick.
These phrases are current in
England as well as in Scotland,
and can have no possible con-
nection with the name of Gar-
rick, or to the renowned actor
who bore it in the last century.
The true origin is unknown.
It is possible, however, that
treacherous as Garrick may
mean treacherous as a caolreayh
(or caoireach), Gaelic for a
blazing fire. This suggestion is
ofleied f ante de mieux. A High-
lander, however, is of opinion
that Garrick is a corruption of
coruisg, a deep, gloomy, and
treacherous loch in the island
of Skye. "Who shall decide
when doctors disagree ? "
T r i £•, neat, clean, attractive ;
usually derived from the Eng-
lish trick or tricky, which has
not the same meaning. Also,
a fop, or a person giving too
much attention to his personal
appearance.
It is my humour : you are a pimp and a
trig,
An Amadis de Gaul, or a Don Quixote.
— Ben Jonson : The Alchemist.
And you among them a', John,
Sae trig from top to toe.
— Burns : John Anderson.
The word seems to be derived
from the Dutch and Flemish
trek, to attract. Though Jamie-
son derives it from the English
trick, or trick out, to dress
gaudily or finely, it is possibly
either from the Welsh or Kym-
ric trig, firm-set, or the Gaelic
triathach {th silent, triac), splen-
did.
Trimmer, trimmie, disrespectful
terms applied to a scolding or
irascible woman. From the
Gaelic dream, or tream, to snarl,
to grin angrily ; dreamach, mo-
rose, peevish, ill-natured ; drea-
mag, or dreimeag, a vixen, a
shrew.
Trog'gin, wares exchanged with
servant girls for the odds and
ends of a household by travel-
ling pedlars ; trog, old clothes ;
trogger, or trocker, a pedlar, one
who deals in old clothes. It is
doubtful whether these words
are from the French troquer, to
barter, the English truck, or
from the Dutch and Flemish
troggden, to beg under pretence
of selling trifles that nobody
requires. The word appears as
troke in HalliweU's Archaic Dic-
tionary.
Buy braw troggin,
Frae the banks o' Dee ;
Wha' wants troggin.
Let him come to me.
—Burns : An Election Song.
Trolollay, a term which, accord-
ing to Jamieson, occurs in a
rhyme sung by young people in
Scotland at Hogmanay, the last
day of the old year, and the
morning of the new. " It has,"
he says, •' been viewed as a cor-
ruption of the French trois rois
Tron — Tryste.
249
aUais, three kings are come 1 "
In this sentence the word aUais
is ungrammatical and incorrect,
for trois rois sont venus. But in-
dependently of the bad French,
the etymology is entirely wrong.
The word, or words, are part of
a very ancient Druidical chorus,
sung two thousand years ago
at the dawning of the day, in
honour of the sunrise : trd, let Id !
From the Gaelic trdth {tra),
early ; and Icl, day, signifying
not "the three kings are come,"
but " Day ! early day ! " equi-
valent to the " Hail, early
morn ! " of a well-known modern
song.
Tron. There is a Tron Church
in Edinburgh and another in
Glasgow ; but the Scottish Glos-
saries and Jamieson's " Scottish
Dictionary " make no mention of
the word. It would appear from
a passage in Hone's " E very-day
Book " that Tron signified a pub-
lic weighing-machine, or scale
in a market-place, where pur-
chasers of commodities might,
without fee, satisfy themselves
that the weight of their pur-
chase was correct. Hence a
" Tron Church" was a church
in the market-place near which
the public weighing-machine
was established. The word is
derived from the Gaelic trom,
heavy, or a weight.
Tronic, a tedious story that has
been often repeated, and that
causes a sense of weariness in
the person condemned to listen
to it. From the Gaelic trom
or tron, heavy, tedious. The
same epithet is applied to a
boy who is unable to learn his
lessons.
Trow or drow, the evil one.
From the Gaelic droch, evil,
bad, wicked. Sea trowes, evil
spirits of the sea; to trow, or
drow, to wish evil, to impre-
cate.
Trullion, a low, base, dirty fellow.
The English has trull, the femi-
nine of this word, applied to an
immoral woman of the lowest
class. The origin is the Gaelic
truaill, to pollute, to debase ;
and truilleach, a base, dirty per-
son.
Tryste, an appointed place of
meeting, a rendezvous ; of the
same origin as trust, or confi-
dence, from the idea that he
who appoints a tryste with an-
other trusts that the other
will keep or be faithful to it.
The word occurs in Chaucer,
and in several old English MSS.
of his period; but is not used
by Spenser, Shakspeare, or later
writers. " To bide tryste,'' to be
true to time and place of meet-
ing.
"You walk late, sir," said I. "I bide
tryste," was the reply, "and so I think do
you, Mr. Osbaldistone ? "— Sir Walter
Scott : Rob Roy.
The tenderest-hearted maid
That ever bided tryste at village stile.
—Tennyson.
250
Tuath de Danaan — Tulcan.
By the wine-god he swore it, and named
the trysting-ddiy.
— Lord Macaulav.
No maidens with blue eyes
Dream of the trysting hour
Or bridal's happier time.
— Under Green Leaves.
When I came to Ardgour I wrote to
Lochiel to tryste me where to meet him.—
Hogg's Jacobite Relics : Letter frotn Rob
Roy to General Gordon.
Tuath de Danaan. This name
has been given to a colony of
northmen who early settled in
Ireland, and afterwards passed
into Argyllshire. From tuath,
north ; tuathach, northern ; and
dan, bold, warlike ; and danfher,
(dan-er), a warrior, a bold man ;
and also a Dane. Tuath de Da-
naan is a corruption, in which
the second word de ought to
have no place of tuathaich and
dan or dana. The Very Kev.
Canon Bourke, in his work on
the Aryan origin of the Gaelic
language, says ' ' The Tuath de
Danaans were a large, fair-
complexioned, and very remark-
able race, warlike, energetic,
progressive, musical, poetical,
skilled in Druidism," &c. Mr.
Pym Yeatman, in "The Origin
of the Nations of Europe," who
quotes these and other passages,
is of opinion that the Tuath de
Danaans were Scandinavians, a
supposition which their Gaelic
designation fully corroborates.
Of course they brought with
them their own language, many
of the words of which were in
course of time incorporated
with the speech of the people
with whom they amalgamated.
This accounts for the many
Danish words both in modern
Gaelic and in Lowland Scotch.
Tuilyie or toolzie, a broil, a
struggle, a quarrel ; tuUiesome,
quarrelsome ; tuilzeour, a quar-
relsome person, a wrangler.
Though Jamieson derives tuilzie
from the French fowiVZer— a word
which is not to be found in the
French dictionaries — to stir or
agitate water, it is probably de-
rived from the same source as
the quasi-synonymous English
tussle, and akin to the Gaelic
tuisleach, a tumult, a quarrel
among several persons ; and
tuileas, riot ; whence, also, towzle,
to pull about roughly, to dis-
hevel or disorder.
A toolying {toolzieing) tyke comes limp-
ing hame, — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
The toolzie s teugh 'tween Pitt and Fox,
And our gude wife's wee birdie cocks.
Burns : Elegy on the Year 1788.
But though dull prose folk Latin splatter
In logic tulzie,
I hope we bardies ken some better
Than mind sic brulzie.
— Burns : To William Simpson.
What verse can sing, what prose recite,
The butcher deeds of bloody fate
Amid this mighty tulzie.
—Burns : Epistle to Robert Graham.
Tulcan. Mr. Gladstone, during
his electioneering raid into Mid-
lothian, in November 1879, ex-
plained at Dalkeith the meaning
of tulcan.
My noble friend, Lord Rosebery, speak-
ing to me of the law of hypothec, said that
the bill of Mr. Vans Agnew on hj-pothec
is a Tulcan Bill. A tulcan, l, believe, is
Tumbler — Tunag.
251
a figure of a calf stuffed with straw, and
it is, you know, an old Scottish custom
among farmers to place the tulcan calf
under a cow to induce her to give milk.
Jamieson writes the word
tulchanCy and cites the phrase
a tulchane bishop, as the desig-
nation of one who received the
episcopate on condition of as-
signing the temporalities to a
secular person. In some parts
of Scotland the people say a
tourkin calf, instead of a tul-
can calf, and it is difficult to
say which of the two words
is the more correct, or in
what direction we must look for
the etymology. Tulcan, in the
Gaelic, signifies a hollow or
empty head, that of the mocked
calf stuffed with straw, from
toll, hoUow, and cean, a head ;
while tourkin would seem to be
derived from tU7', to invent,
and cean, a head; therefore
signifying a head invented for
the occasion, to deceive the
mother.
A tourkin calf, or lamb, is one that
wears a skin not its own. A tourkin lamb
is one taken from its dam, and given to
another ewe that has lost her own. In this
case, the shepherd takes the skin of the
dead lamb, and puts it on the back of the
living one, and thus so deceives the ewe
that she allows the stranger to suck. —
Jamieson.
Tumbler, a drinking-glass of a
larger size than is ordinarily
used for wine. The derivation
may be from tumble, to fall over ;
as in the deep drinking days,
happily passed away, glasses
were round at the base, without
stems, and a drinker who held
one full in his hand had to
drink off the contents, before
he could set it down, without
spilhng the liquor. "Tak' a
tumbler," i.e., take a glass of
toddy, is a common invita-
tion to convivial intercourse,
"Three tumblers and an eke"
were once considered a fair
allowance for a man after din-
ner, or before retiring to rest.
A Highland writer once sug-
gested that the derivation was
from taom, pour out or empty,
and leor, enough. This was
apt, and may perhaps be the
true etymology. Jamieson has
tumbler, the French tombHl, a
cart ; but this can have no re-
lation to the convivial glass.
Tum-deif. Jamieson suggests
that perhaps this word means
swooning, and refers it to the
Icelandic tumba, the English
tumble, to fall to the ground.
It seems, however, to be no
other than a mis-spelling of
dumb-deaf, or deaf and dumb.
Tumph, a blockhead. From the
German dumm, stupid, the Dutch
and Flemish dom. Tumfie, or
tumphie, is diminutive of tumph.
Lang Jamie was employed in trifling
jobs on market days, especially in holding
horses for the farmers. He was asked his
charge by a stranger to the town. *' Hoot !
I hae nae charge ; sometimes a tumph
offers me twa bawbees, but a gentleman
like you always gies me a saxpence ! " —
Laird of Logan.
Tunagf, a kind of jacket worn
by women in the Highlands
252
Turnimspike — Tuttiy tatie.
of Scotland and in Ireland,
and covering the shoulders,
back, and hips ; a tunic. " If
not derived from the Latin
tunica," says Jamieson, " it may
he from, the same root." It is
from the same root in a lan-
guage much older than the Latin
— the Celtic and Gaelic ton, the
posterior, the hips. The Greeks
called that part of the body
TTvyT}, whence, in the learned
slang of the English universities,
the coat-tails were called "py-
gastoles," and by some irreve-
rent undergraduates, " bum
curtains." The word in Scottish
Gaelic is tonag, and in Irish
Gaelic tonach.
Turnimspike, a name given by the
Highlanders to a high road or
turnpike road when first made
to the north of Inverness. Great
consternation is said to have
been excited in Koss-shire when
a sheriff's officer and a toll-
collector first appeared in Tain.
"Lord preserve us 1 " said one
townsman to his neighbour,
" what'U come next ? The law
has reached Tain I "
Another law came after this,
She never saw the like, man,
They mak a lang road on the crund
(the ground)
An' ca' him tumhnsptke, man.
But she'll awa to Highland hills
Where deil a ane can turn her,
And no come near to tumhnspike.
Unless it be to burn her.
— Jacobite Songs and Ballads.
Tutti, tatie, according to Jamie-
son, is an interjection equiva-
lent to the English psJiaw ! But
Hey ! tuttie tatie is the name of
an old Scottish martial air, to
which Burns adapted his noble
song of " Scots wha hae wi'
Wallace bled." To this spirited
melody, according to tradition,
the troops of King Robert Bruce
marched to the great victory of
Bannockburn. The words are
derived from the Gaelic, familiar
to the soldiers of Bruce, aite
dudach taite ! from dudach, to
sound the trumpet, and taite,
joy, and may be freely trans-
lated, " Let the joyous trumpets
sound ! " The battle of Ban-
nockburn was fought in an age
when the bagpipe had not be-
come common in Scotland, and
when the harp was pre-emi-
nently the national instrument
in peace as the trumpet was in
war. Jamieson, not quite sure
of Pshaw as an interpretation,
adds that " the words may have
been meant as imitative of the
sound of the trumpet in giving
the charge."
It may be remarked that pos-
sibly there may be a remote
connection between Jamieson's
idea of Pshaw and that of the
blast of trumpets. Fanfare in
French signifies a blast on a
trumpet, and a fanfaron is a
braggadocio, a vain boaster, a
braggart, or one who blows the
trumpet of his own praises.
For such a one in the full flow
of his self-laudation, the im-
patient interjection. Pshaw !
would be equally appropriate
and well-merited.
Tut^mute — Tyke.
253
When you hear the trumpet sound
Tutti tatti to the drum,
Up your sword, and down your gun,
And to the loons again 1
—Jacobite Relics : Wheatley's
Reduplicated Words in the
English Language.
Tut-mute and tuilzie mulzie, de-
scribed in Wheatley's Dictionary
of Reduplicated Words " as a
muttering or grumbling between
parties that has not yet assumed
the form of a broil." This odd
phrase, signifying a fierce quarrel
that had but slight beginning,
is presented in the proverb—
It began in a laigh tute-mute,
An' it rose to a wild tuilzie mulzie.
— Jamieson.
Tut is the Gaelic dud, the sound
or toot upon a wind instrument,
a horn, a flute, a whistle or a
trumpet — and mute is a corrup-
tion of maoth, soft, gentle. Tuil-
zie is a brawl, a scuffle, a fight,
from the Gaelic tuaileas, riot,
disorder, conflict, tumult ; tuail-
easag, a quarrelsome, foul-
mouthed woman ; a scold, and
mileadh, battle. The proverb
expresses a meaning similar to
that in Allan Ramsay — " It be-
gan wi' needles and pins, and
ended wi' horned nowte."
Twasome, threesome, foursome.
The numerals two, three, and
four, with the addition of the
syllable some, are used in a sense
of which they are not suscep-
tible in English. A twasome
walk, or a twasome interview,
is often rendered in English by
the French phrase tite-d-tSte.
Threesome and foursome reels,
dances in which three or four
persons participate.
There's threesome reels z.nd/oursome reels,
There's hornpipes and strathpeys, man,
But the best dance in a' the toun
, Is the Deil's awa' wi' the Exciseman.
—Burns.
Tway, a pair, a couple, the
English twain; two, sometimes
written twa.
Every knight had a lady bright,
And every squire a May ;
Her own self chose Lord Livingstone —
They were a lovely tway.
—Bvchan's Ancient Ballads : Lord
Livingstone.
Twime and thrime, a couplet and
a triplet. These are words that
have not yet been admitted into
the dictionaries.
Twine, to rob, to deprive ; to
part with, to relinquish. Ety-
mology uncertain ; supposed to
be from the English twain, two,
thence to separate into two.
The fish shall swim the flood nae mair.
Nor the corn grow through the day,
Ere the fiercest fire that ever was kindled
Twine me and Rothiemay.
—Ballad of the Fire of Frendraught.
My duddie is a cankert carle
Will no twine wi' his gear.
— James Carnegie.
Brandy . . .
Twines many a poor, doylt, drucken hash
Of half his days.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
Tyke, a mongrel, a rough dog ;
originally a house dog ; from
the Gaelic tigh, or taigh, a
house. The word is common
254
Tyke-iyrit — Unco.
in Yorkshire, and in all the
Northern Counties of Eng-
land.
Tyke-tjrrit or tired. Tired or
wearied, as a dog or tyke after
a long chase.
Base tyke, call'st thou me host ?
— Shakspeare : Henry V,
Nae tawted (uncombed) tyke.
—Burns : Tfu Twa Dogs.
He was a gash and faithful tyke.
— Idem.
I'm as tired of it as a tyke of lang kail.
You have lost your own stomach and
found a tyke's,
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
U
Ug, ugg, to feel extreme loath-
ing or disgust. Ugsome, fright-
ful ; ugsomeness, frightfulness,
horror.
They would ug a body at them.
— Jamieson.
Ugsome to hear was her wild eldrich shriek.
The ugsomeness and silence of the night.
—Douglas : Translation of the Enid.
Who dang us and flang us into this ugsome
mire.
—Allan Ramsay : The Vision.
This word seems to be akin
to the English ugly, which all
the philologists who ignore the
Gaehc as one of the sources
of the English language, derive
either from the Danish huggern,
to shiver, or from other equally-
improbable Teutonic roots. In
Gaelic aog (quasi ug), signifies
death, a ghost, a skeleton, and
aogaii, ghastly, deathlike, ugly.
Ultimus eekibus, the very last
glass of whisky toddy, or eke,
one drop more at a convivial
gathering before parting for the
night J the last of the ekes.
Umbersorrow, hardy, rough,
rude, uncultivated. This cor-
rupt word, of which Jamieson
cites a still corrupter, " a num-
ber sorrow" is clearly derived
from the Flemish and Teutonic
unbesorgt, uncared for, wild,
neglected, growing in the
strength of nature without hu-
man assistance. Jamieson cites
its use in the Lothians in the
sense of " rugged, of a surly
disposition," applied to one
whose education has been ne-
glected, and who is without
good manners.
Umquhile or umwhile, at one
time, formerly ; used also in the
sense of departed or late, in
such phrases as, " my late hus-
band," " my departed wife,"
my umquhile husband, my um-
quhile wife ; from the Flemish
om, past, and wijl, a short time,
the same as the English while,
a short time past, a short while
ago.
Unco, strange, unknown, a won-
der, a strange thing ; an abbre-
Unfurthersome — Uisg.
255
viation of uncouth. Unco guid,
extremely good, very good.
The unco guid, and the rigidly righteous.
— Burns.
An unco cockernony. — Galt.
Nae safe wading in unco waters.
Like a cow in an unco loan.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Each tells the uncos that he sees or hears.
— Burns : Cotter's Saturday Night.
Unfurthersome, unpropitious; ap-
plied to the weather, if too cold,
or too rainy, and preventing the
due ripening of the crops.
Ungainly, awkward, uncouth, in-
sufficient, clumsy ; gaivly, plea-
sant, fit, proper, pleased ; gane,
to serve, to suffice, to fit, to be
appropriate ; unganed, inappro-
priate. Oainly and ungainly
are not exactly synonymous in
Scottish parlance with the Eng-
lish word. Oainly is nearly
obsolete in England ; and un-
gainly merely signifies awkward,
clumsy. The root of the words
in the Scottish sense is the Gae-
lic gean, good-humour, fitness,
comeliness ; geanail, comely, fit,
proper, pleasant, serviceable.
In the following quotation gane
means to serve or suffice : —
But there is neither bread nor kale
To gane my men and me.
—Battle o/Otterboume, Old Version.
Unkensome, not to be known or
recognised, not to be traced.
A smith ! a smith ! Dickie, he cries,
A smith, a smith right speedilie !
To turn back the caukers o' our horses'
shoon
For its unkensome we wad be.
— Border Minstrelsy : Archie 0' Ca'Jield.
Unmackly, mis-shapen, deformed.
Up then sterts the stranger knight,
Said Ladye be not thou afraid,
I fight for thee with this grim Soldan
Though he's sair unmackly made.
—Ballad oj Sir Cauline.
Untholeable, intolerable, unen-
durable, insufferable ; from thole,
to endure.
He got untholeably divertin', and folk
complained o' pains in their sides wi
laughin'. — Nodes Ambrosiance.
Updorrock, worn out, bankrupt.
According to Jamieson, a Shet-
land word, which he derives
from " Icelandic opp and throka,
also thruTca, urgere, primere."
It seems to be rather from the
Flemish op di'ogen, dried up,
exhausted.
Uppil, to clear up ; applied to the
weather.
When the weather at any time has been
wet, and ceases to be so, we say it is uppled.
— Jamieson.
From the Teutonic aufhellen —
auf, up ; hellen, to become clear,
to clear up.
Upon luck's head, by chance.
" I got it on luck's head," I got
it by chance.
Urisk, according to Jamieson,
was a name given in the High-
lands of Scotland to a satyr. It
was in reality the name given
to a Brownie or Puck, the Robin
Goodfellow of Englith fairy my-
thology ; from the Gaelic uirisy,
a goblin. (See Wirey-cow.
256
Vanquish — Wabster.
Vanquish, a disease among sheep
and lambs, caused by their eating
a certain unwholesome grass.
Jamieson says the disease is so
called because it vanquishes the
sheep I He might as well account
for the name of Kilmarnock, by
stating that one Marnock was
killed there. Vanquish is a cor-
ruption of the Gaelic uain, pale
green, and cuiseach or cuiscag, a
species of rank grass with a
long stalk that grows on wet
soil and is deleterious to cattle,
and especially to sheep. Cuiseach
is possibly the same as coixch
grass, described in Halliwell's
Archaic and Provincial Dic-
tionary as a kind of coarse
grass that grows very quickly,
and is sometimes called twitch
grass.
Vaudy or vaudie, gay, showy ;
a corruption of the English
gaudy.
Our land shall be glad, but the Whigs
shall be sorry
When the King gets his ain, and heaven
gets the glory ;
The rogues shall be sad, but the honest man
vaudie
When the throne is possessed by our ain
bonnie laddie.
—Jacobite Relics of Scotland.
Vauntie, proud, vain, also a brag-
gart ; from the French vantcr^ to
boast.
Her cutty sark
In longitude though sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie.
— Burns : Tarn d Shanter.
Vir, force, vigour. Sometimes
written hir, a vein; from the
Latin vis, vires. Possibly the
English hurly^ strong, is of kin-
dred origin.
Swith with vir he whirled her round.
— George Beattie : John d Amha.
Wi'vengefulz'/r,and Norland twang Ibid.
Vlonk, or Wlonk, splendidly
dressed, richly attired ; from
the "Anglo Saxon" or old Eng-
lish vlonke, which has the same
meaning. Possibly this may be
the origin of the modern word
■flunlcey, in contemptuous allu-
sion to the grayish colours of
the liveries of male servants in
great ostentatious families. (See
Flunkey, ante, p. 60).
W
Wa', abbreviation of wall. " His
back is at the toa'," i.e., he is
driven into a corner ; his back
is at the wall, fighting against
opposing enemies or creditors.
Wabster, a weaver ; from weave
and web.
Willie Wastle dwalt on Tweed,
The spot they ca'd it Linkum-doddie,
Willie was a wabster gude.
Burns.
An honest wabster to his trade.
Whose wife's twa nieves were scarce weel
bred.
■-Burns : Death and Dr.
Hornbook.
Wad— Waff,
257
Wad, to wager, to bet ; from the
Flemish wedden, which has the
same meaning. Wads also sig-
nify forfeits ; a game at wads, a
game at forfeits ; wad-set, a
mortgage ; wad, a pledge.
The gray was a mare and a right good
mare,
But when she saw the Annan water,
She could not hae ridden a furlong mair,
Had a thousand merks been wadded at
her.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border:
Annan Water,
Wads are nae arguments.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
My Sunday's coat she has laid it in ivad.
And the best blue bonnet e'er was on my
head;
At kirk or at market I'm covered but
barely,
Oh that my wife would drink hooly and
fairly.
— Herd's Collection : The Drucken
Wife o' Galloway.
Waddie, vigorous, willing, alert,
ready to do.
What fee will you give me for now and
for aye —
Was e'er a young laddie sae waddie as I.
— Buchan's Ancient Ballads : The
Rigwoodie Carlin'.
Wae's I woe is ; unlucky, unhappy,
in ill plight.
Woes the wife that wants the tongue,
but wee's the man that gets her.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
And aye the o'erword o' his sang
Was — wae's me for Prince Charlie.
—Jacobite Song.
Waesuck I wae's-heart I wae's-
me! Interjections or expres-
sions of surprise or sorrow, like
alas I
Waesuck I for him that gets nae lass,
Or lasses that hae naething.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
The derivation of wae's-heart
and wae's-me, from wae, sorrow,
is obvious ; that of waesuck is
not so clear. It is probably
from the Flemish wee, sorrow or
love, and sugt or zucht, a sigh.
Jamieson derives it from the
Danish usig, woe to us ; vae no-
bis, woe to us. The word, how-
ever, is not to be found in Dan-
ish dictionaries.
Waff, wauf, waft. A freak, a
whiff, a wave of sound or of
wind, a sudden and slight im-
pression upon the senses, a tran-
sient glance, a glimpse, a passing
odour. ''A waff o' cauld" is a
slight attack of cold. "I had
a waff o' him i' the street ; " I
had a glimpse of him. *' There
was a 2vaff 0' roses ; " there was
a sudden odour of roses. The
primitive idea at the root of the
word is sudden and of short
duration, rising and subsiding
like a wave.
Waff, worthless, or shabby in
appearance and conduct ; idle,
dissipated ; waffe, a loafer, an
idler, a vagrant, a vagabond ;
waff-like, resembling a vaga-
bond in manners and appear-
ance ; waffinger, a confirmed va-
grant and idler. These words
are of uncertain etymologj-,
though it is probable that they
are all from the same root as
the English waif, a stray, a
vagrant, one who, like the
S,
258
Wa^gang — Waith.
Italian traviato and traviata, has
gone astray from the right and
respectable path, and formed
on the same principle from way
off, or off the way. Another
possible root is the Flemish
zwtrfen (with the elision of the
initial z), to go astray, to vaga-
bondise.
Wa'gang or awa'-gang, depar-
ture ; ganging awa\ going away ;
an escape.
Winter's ivdgang.
— James Ballantine.
A wa'gang crop is the last crop gathered
before a tenant quits his farm ; also the
name given to the canal, through which
the water escapes from the mill wheel. —
Jamieson.
Its dowie in the end o' hairst,
At the wa'gang o' the swallow,
When the wind grows cauld and the burn
grows bauld,
And the weeds are hanging yellow ;
But oh, it's dowier far to see
The wa'gang o' her that the heart gangs
wi'.
— Hew Ainslie.
Waghorn. In the North of Scot-
land it is a proverbial phrase
to say of a great liar that " he
lies like Waghorn," or is " waur
than Waghorn, ^^ that "he is as
false as Waghorn, and Waghorn
was nineteen times falser than
the devil." Jamieson records
that ** Waghorn is a fabulous
personage, who being a greater
liar than the devil, was crowned
King of Liars." Why the name
of Waghorn, any more than that
of Wagstaffe, both respectable
patronymics, should be selected
to adorn or to disfigure the
proverb is not easy to explain,
except on the supposition that
the traditionary " waghorn " is a
corruption of a word that has
a more rational as well as a
more definite meaning. And
such it is found to be. In
Gaelic uaigh (quasi wag) signifies
the grave, the pit, and iutharn
{iuarn, quasi horn) signifies hell,
whence he lies like Waghorn,
would signify he " lies like
heU " or like the " pit of hell,"
consequently worse than the
devil, who is supposed to be but
one, while the other devils in
the pit are supposed to be
multitudinous.
Waif, a derelict, a wanderling ;
one found by accident after
having been lost or gone astray.
The word in this sense has
lately been adopted into Eng-
lish literature as a noun ; but
in Scotland it is employed both
as a noun and an adjective.
Wi' her I will get gowd and gear,
Wi' thee, I sail get nane ;
Ye cam to me as a wa^ woman,
I'll leave thee as the same.
— Herd's Collection: Fair Annie.
This word, sometimes written
and pronounced waff, waffle, and
waffinger, signifies a wanderer,
a strolling vagabond, lost to
civilised life and society; waff-
like, of vagabond and disreput-
able appearance.
Waith, to wander, a wandering
and straying. The English waif,
waifs and strays, things or per-
sons that have wandered or gone
Wale— Wallop.
259
astray. The etymology is doubt-
ful; perhaps from waft, to be
blown about by the wind, or
carried by the waters.
Wale, to choose, to select, a
choice ; waly, choice. From the
German wahlen, to choose.
Scones, the Tvale o* food.
—Burns : Scotch Drink.
There's auld Rob Morris that wons in yon
glen,
He's the king o' guid fellows and ivale
o' auld men.
—Burns.
The Laird of Balnamon, after dinner at
a friend's house, had cherry brandy put
before him in mistake for port. He liked
the liquor, and drank freely of it. His
servant Harry or "Hairy" was to drive
him home in a gig. On crossing the moor,
whether from greater exposure to the blast,
or from the Laird's tmsteadiness of head,
his hat and wig fell to the ground. Harry
got off to pick them up and restore them
to his master. The Laird was satisfied
with the hat, but demurred to the wig.
"It's no my wig, Harry lad ; it's no my
wig." "Ye'd better tak it, sir," said
Harry; "for there's nae wale o wigs on
the moor." — Dean Ramsay's Reminis-
cences.
He wales a portion wi' judicious care,
And let us worship God, he says, wi'
solemn air.
—Burns : Cotters Saturday Night.
Wallageous. This obsolete word
is used by the ancient Scottish
poet, Barbour, in the sense of
sportive, wanton, lustful. It is
evidently a corruption of the
Gaelic uudlach, which has the
same meaning ; uallacMs, cheer-
fulness, gaiety, frolicksomeness,
conceitedness, wantonness ; ual-
lachag, a coquette.
Wallle, a toy ; a bonnie wallie, a
pretty toy ; from rvale, choice ;
from the Teutonic wahlen.
Walloch, a name applied in the
Lowlands to the Highland fling,
or other dance, and not to the
reel, which is less active and
boisterous. The word also means
a frisk or kich The word seems
to be derived from the Gaelic
uallach, joyous, frisky.
I wat she was a cantie quean,
And weel could dance the Highland
walloch.
—Roy's Wife of Aldivalloch.
Auld Roy look'd as he gaed by,
And oh ! he gaed an unco walloch;
And after them he soon did hie,
And followed through the braes of
Balloch.
— Buchan's Collection of Old Scottish
Ballads.
The word is sometimes written
waUop, as in the favourite song
of " Maggie Lauder " : —
Meg up and wallop' d o'er the green.
For brawly she could frisk it.
Walloch-goul, an abusive epithet
applied to a wanton or arrogant
blusterer ; from the Gaelic ual-
lach, and guil, to cry out. (See
Yowl.)
Wallop, to dangle, to hang, to
sway about with quick motion,
to swing.
Now let us lay our heads thegither.
In love fraternal ;
May Envy wallop in a tether,
Black fiend, infernal !
—Burns: To Lapraik,
260
Wallow — Wame.
Wallo-w, to fade away ; wallowed,
faded, withered by cold, blight,
or natural decay ; the etymon
doubtless of the word wilt, in
common use in America, and in
some parts of England, of which
a ludicrous example is given by
the humorist, Artemus Ward :
*' I said to her, wilt thou? and
she wilted" The derivation is
uncertain, though probably from
the Teutonic wdken.
The last time that I saw her face
She ruddy was and red,
But now, alas ! and woe is me,
She's wallowed like a weed.
—Scott's Border Minstrelsy : Ballad
of the Gay Goss-Hawk.
Waly! waly! an interjection of
sorrow ; alas ! or, woe is me !
Derived from wail, to lament,
or wail ye ! lament ye ; the
Teutonic weh, woe, and wehlich,
woful.
Oh waly ! waly ! but love is bonnie,
A little time while it is new ;
But when it's auld it waxes cauld,
And fades'awa' like morning dew.
— Ballad of the Marchioness of
Doitglas.
Oh waly! waly I up the bank.
And %valy ! waly ! down the brae,
And waly ! waly ! yon burn side,
Where I and my love wont to gae.
• — Lady Anne BothwelFs Lament.
Wame, the belly ; also the Eng-
lish word womb, which is from
the same etymological root. The
Scottish derivatives of wame are
numerous ; among others, wamie,
having much wame, i.e., cor-
pulent ; wamieness, corpulency ;
wamyt, pregnant ; wame-tow, a
belly-band or girth, from wame,
the belly, and tow (the Gaelic
taod), a rope, a band ; wamefu\
a bellyfull.
I never liked water in my shoon ; and
my wavies made o' better leather.
Wae to the wame that has a wilfu
master.
— ^Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Food fills the wavie, and keeps us livin'.
Though life's a gift no worth receivin',
When heavy dragged wi' pine and
grievin'.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
A wamefu is a wamefu', whether it
be of barley-meal or bran. — ScOTT : St.
Ronan's Well.
Wame has disappeared from
English literature, but still sur-
vives in the current speech of
the northern counties. Womb, in
English, was formerly applied
to the male sex, in the sense
of the Scottish wame, or belly,
as appears from Piers Plough-
man : —
Paul, after his preaching,
Paniers he made,
And wan with his handes
What his wombe needed.
(Gained with his hands what
his belly needed.) In recent
times the word is restricted in
its meaning to the female sex,
though used metaphorically and
poetically in such phrases as
the ''wcmh of Time."
The earth was formed, but in the womb
as yet
Of waters, embryon immature.
— Paradise Lost.
Caves and womby vaultages of France
Shall chide your trespass.
— Shakspeare : Henry V.
Among the three interpreta-
tions of the word, as given by
Wan — Wanchancie.
2l6l
Johnson, the last is " a cavity."
The only traces of anything like
wame, or womh, that appears in
any of the Teutonic languages,
or in high or low Dutch, is the
Swedish warn, signifying tripe.
Though Johnson derives womb
from the Anglo-Saxon and from
Icelandic, it may be suggested
that the more ancient Celtic and
Gaelic provides the true root of
both wame and womb in uaimh
and uamh, a cavity, a cave, a
hollow place. The Shakspearean
adjective womby finds its syno-
nym in the Gaelic uamhach^
abounding in cavities or hollows.
Wan, pale green, as applied to
the colour of a river in certain
states of the water and the
atmosphere. Many philologists
have been of opinion that
wcm, both in English and
Scotch, always signifies pale.
Jamieson, however, thought dif-
ferently, and translated wan as
' ' black, gloomy, dark-coloured,
or rather filthy," not reflecting,
however, that these epithets,
especially the last, were hardly
consistent with the spirit or
dignity of the tender or tra-
gical ballads in which wan oc-
curred. The etymology of the
English wan has been traced
to wane, to decrease in health
and strength, as well as in
size, whence wan, the pallor of
countenance that attends failing
health. That of the Scottish
wan, as applied to the colour of
the streams, was for the first
time suggested in "The Gaelic
Etymology of the Languages of
Western Europe." It is from
the Gaelic uaine, a pale blue,
inclining to green. This is the
usual colour of the beautiful
streams of the Highlands, when
not rendered ** drumlie " or
muddy by the storms that wash
down sand and earth from the
banks.
On they rade, and on they rade,
And a' by the light o' the moon,
Until they came to the wan water,
And then they lighted down.
— TAe Douglas 'Iragedy.
Deep into the "wan water
There stands a muckle stane.
— Earl Richard.
The ane has ta'en him by the head.
The ither by the feet,
And thrown him in the wan water
That ran baith wide and deep.
— Lord William.
There's no a bird in a' this forest
Will do as muckle for me
As dip its wing in the wan water,
And straik it ower my e'e bree.
— Johfinie o' Bradislee.
In English, warn, is never used
as an epithet except when ap-
plied to the countenance, as in
such phrases—*' His face was
pale and wan'' and occasionally
by poetic license, to the face of
the moon, as in the beautiful
sonnet of Sir Philip Sidney.
With how sad steps, oh moon ! thou
climb 'st the sky,
How silently, and with how wan a
face.
Wanchancie, unlucky, mischance-
ful.
Wae worth the man wha first did shape
That vile wanchancie thing— a rape.
—Burns : Poor Mailies Elegy,
262
Wandought — Ware.
Wandought, weak, deficient in
power ; from dow, to be able ;
doughty, brave ; and wan, or un,
the privative particle. Wan-
docht, a weak, silly creature.
By this time Lindy is right well shot out
'Twixt nine and ten, I think, or thereabout,
Nae bursen-bailch, nae wandought or mis-
grown.
But plump and swack, and like an apple
roun'.
— Ross's Helenore.
Wanhope, despair. Jamieson in-
correctly renders it " delusive
hope." This is an old English
word which is nearly obsolete,
but still survives in Scotland.
I sterve in wanhope and distress,—
Farewell, my life, my lust and my
gladnesse.
— Chaucer : The Knight's Tale.
Good Hope that helpe shulde
. To wanhope turneth.
— Piers Ploughman.
Some philologists, misled by
the prefix wan, have imagined
that the word was synonymous
with wane, and have interpreted
wanhope as the " waning of
hope." But wan is the Dutch
and Flemish negative prefix,
equivalent to the English and
German un. Among other beau-
tiful Scottish words which follow
the Flemish in the use of the
negative prefix, are wanearthlie,
preternatural or unearthly ;
wanfortune, ill-luck ; wangrace,
wickedness, ungraciousness ;
wanrest, inquietude ; wanworth,
useless, valueless ; wanthrift,
prodigality, extravagance ; wan-
use, abuse; wanwit or wanwith,
ignorance.
An' may they never learn the gaets (ways)
Of ither vile wanrestful pets.
— Burns: Poor Mailie.
Wanwierd, misfortune, ill-luck,
calamity.
Nor wit, nor power, put off the hour
For his wanwierd decreed.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Water
Kelpie.
Wap, in England written wad, a
bundle of straw, a wisp, used in
the Scottish sense in the North
of England; from the Flemish
^0023, a bundle, a pile of hay or
straw. To be in the wap or wad,
to lie in the straw.
Moll i' the wap and I fell out,
I'll tell ye what 'twas a' about,—
She had siller and I had nane.
That was the gait the steer began.
— Gipsy Song.
The English version among
the gipsies is —
Moll i' the wad and I fell out,
She had money and I had none,
That was the way the row began.
Ware, to spend, to guide, to con-
trol or guide one's expense dis-
creetly.
My heart's blood for her I would freely
ware,
Sae be I could relieve her of her care.
— Ross's Helenore.
But aiblins, honest Master Heron
Had at the time some dainty fair one,
To ware his theologic care on.
—Burns : To Dr. Blacklock.
This word is most probably a
corruption of the Teutonic /iiA-
ren, the Flemish voerm, to lead
or guide.
Warkltke — Warlock.
263
Ill-won gear is aye ill wared.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
[Ill-acquired money is always ill guided
or spent.]
The best o' chiels are whyles in want,
While cuifs on countless thousands rant,
And ken na how to ware't.
Burns : Epistle to Davie.
Warklike, Warkrife, industrious,
fond of work.
Warklume, a tool, a working tool.
The second syllable of this word
remains in the English loom,
part of the working apparatus
of the weaver. In Scotland
lume signifies any kind of tool
or implement with which work
can be done. Burns uses it in
a very ludicrous sense in the
"Address to the Deil."
Thence mystic knots mak great abuse
On young gudemen fond, keen, and crouse,
When the best ivarklutne i' the house
By cantrip wit.
Is instant made na worth a louse
Just at the bit.
This peculiar superstition
prevails among all the Celtic
peoples of Europe, and is thought
to be the favourite and most
malignant diversion of the devil
and his instruments, the wizards
and witches, to prevent the con-
summation of marriage on the
bridal night. A full account of
the alleged practices of several
sorcerers who were burnt at the
stake in France in the Middle
Ages, for their supposed com-
plicity in this crime, appears
in the "History of Magic in
France," by Jules Garinet, Paris,
1 8 1 8. The name given in France
to the *' cantrip " mentioned by
Burns was nouer Vaiguillette, or,
tie the little knot. One unhappy
Vidal de la Porte, accused of
being a noueur d'aiguillette by
repute and wont, was in the
year 1597 sentenced to be hung
and burned to ashes for having
bewitched in this fashion seve-
ral young bridegrooms. The
sentence was duly executed,
amid the applause of the whole
community.
Warld's gear, worldly wealth ; a
word used for any valuable
article of whatever kind, as in
the phrases " I have nae warld's
gear," I have no property what-
ever; "there's nae warld's gear
in the glass but cauld water,"
nothing more costly than cold
water.
But luarlds gear ne'er fashes me, —
My thocht is a' my Nannie, O.
— Burns.
Warlock, a wizard. The Scottish
word, though admitted into the
English dictionaries, is not com-
mon either in English conversa-
tion or literature.
She prophesied that late or soon
Thou would be found deep drowned in
Doon,
Or catch'd by warlocks in the mirk,
By AUoway's auld haunted kirk.
— Burns : Tarn o' Hhanter.
In the ancient time of Druid-
ism, a wizard, an augur, a pro-
phet, or fortune-teller, was called
a Druid, a name that is still re-
tained in modern Gaelic. The
Lowland Scotch warlock is de-
264
Warple — Wath .
rived, according to Jamieson,
from the Icelandic vardlokr, a
magic song or incantation for
calling up evil spirits. Mr. Stor-
month, in his Etymological Dic-
tionary, refers the word to the
Anglo-Saxon waer, wary, andZo^ti,
a liar. It is more probable, how-
ever, that the word had not this
uncomplimentary meaning ; and
that as %oizard is derived from the
German iceise or wise, warlock has
its root in a similar idea, and may
come from the Gaelic geui\ sharp,
acute, cunning ; and luchd, folk.
It was not customary in the days
when witches and fairies were
commonly believed in, to speak
disrespectfully of them. The
fairies were "the good folk,"
the wizard was " the wise man,"
and the witch, in Irish parlance,
was the Banshee (Bean-sith), or
woman of peace ; and warlock,
in like manner, was an epithet
implying the sagacity rather
than the wickedness of the folk
so designated. The change of
the syllable geur into war is
easily accounted for. The French
guerre becomes war in English
by the change — not uncommon
— of g into w, as in wasp, from
the French guespe or guSpe.
Another possible derivation is
suggested in the "Gaelic Ety-
mology of the Languages of
Western Europe," from barr,
head, top, chief; and loguid,
a rascal ; but the first is pre-
ferable.
2varp, to twist or turn aside, as
in the phrase, " His judgment
is warped.^' The root of both
the Scottish and English is the
Flemish weo'wele, to turn, or turn
aside.
That yam's sae warplit that I canna get
it redd.
— Jamieson.
Warsle, to wrestle, to contend,
also to tumble violently after a
struggle to keep the feet.
Upon her cloot (hooQ she coost (cast) a
hitch
And ower she warsled in the ditch.
— Burns : Poor Mailie.
Wast, west ; often used in the
north-east of Scotland for be-
yond, further off.
Sir Robert Liston, British Ambassador at
Constantinople, found two of his country-
men who had been especially recommended
to him in a barber's shop, waiting to be
shaved in turn. One of them came in
rather late, and seeing he had scarcely
room at the end of the seat, addressed the
other — " Neebour, wad ye sit a wee bit
■wast ? " What associations must have been
called up in his mind by hearing, in a dis-
tant land, such an expression in Scottish
tones ! "—Dean Ra.msav.
Wat, to know, to wit. Obsolete
English wot ; Dutch and Flem-
ish weten. Watna, wits not,
knows not.
Little 7uais the ill-willy wife what a
dinner may baud in't.
Dame ! deem warily ; ye watna wha
wytes yoursel.
Mickle water runs by that the miller
wats na of.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Warple, to entangle, to intertwine Wath,
wrongly. From the English the
a ford ; a shallow part of
river that may be waded
Waiter — Wa ught.
265
across. Either from the Flem-
ish waad, or the Gaelic aihy a
ford, ^cotis-wath is the name
given to the upper part of
the Solway Firth, where, in cer-
tain states of the tide, people
from the English side can wade
across to Scotland.
Watter, water. The word is used
in Scotland in the sense of a
stream, a brook, a river ; as in
the phrase, "the water of Leith,"
and the Glasgow phrase, " Down
the water," signifying down the
Clyde. It is recorded of the
noted Edinburgh advocate, John
Clerk, afterwards Lord Eldin,
that, in arguing a case of water
privilege in Scotland before Lord
Chancellor Eldon, he annoyed
his lordship by constantly re-
peating the word ivatter with a
strong Scottish accent. "Mr.
Clerk," inquired his lordship,
'* is it the custom in your coun-
try to spell water with two t^s ? "
"No, my lord," replied Clerk;
** but it's the fashion in my
country to spell manners wi'
twa w's."
Wattie - wagtail. From Walter
Wagtail, a name given to the
beautiful little bird, the hoche-
queue of the French ; the mota-
cilla yarreUie of the naturalists.
The English have corrupted the
word, not knowing its Scottish
origin, into ^^ water-waytaiL." Wat-
ter, or Wattie, is a fond allitera-
tion formed on the same prin-
ciple as that of Robin Redbreast.
Water-waytail is an appellation
given by the English to the
pretty little creature, founded
on the erroneous notion that it
is an aquatic bird, or that it fre-
quents the water more than it
does the land. It comes with
the flies and departs with the
flies, which are its only food,
and, unlike many other attrac-
tive birds, does no harm to
fruit, blossoms, seeds, or any
kind of vegetation. In some
parts of Scotland it is called
" WuUiet" or " WiMe-wagtaiV
Wauchle, to weary; also, to puzzle,
to sway from side to side ; Eng-
lish, to waggle; Flemish wag-
gtlen, to vacillate, to stagger.
The road •wauchlit him sair (made him
stagger with fatigue).
That question wauchlit him (staggered
him.
— Jamieson.
Waught, a large deep draught of
liquor. The etymology is un-
certain. In most of the glos-
saries to Bums' Poems the
word is erroneously joined with
"willy," and converted into
" willy-waw^/i«," and described
as meaning " a hearty draught."
The line in " Auld Lang Syne,"
usually printed —
We'll drink a right gude wC^y-waught ,
should be
We'll drink a right gude-willie waught :
i.e., we'll drink with right good
will a deep or hearty xoaught or
draught.
Dean Ramsay, whose un-
doubted knowledge and appre
266
Wauk — WaulUes.
elation of the Scottish lan-
guage should have taught him
better, has fallen into the mis-
take of quoting wiUie - waught
as one word in the following
lines: —
Gude e'en to you a', and tak your nappy,
A ^^ willywaught" a gude night cappy.
The word is introduced with
fine effect in a translation from
the Gaelic, by the Ettrick Shep-
herd, of the Jacobite Ballad,
" The Frasers in the Correi : " —
Spier na at me I
Gae spier at the maiden that sits by the
sea,
The red coats were here, and it was na for
good,
And the ravens are hoarse in ' * the waught-
ing" o' blood.
And meantime gies a waught o' caller
whey.
The day's been hot, and we are wondrous
dry.
—Ross's Helenore.
I'm sure 'twill do us meikle guid, a ivaucht
o' caller air,
A caller douk, a caller breeze, and caller
fish and fare.
— Whistle Binkie : Doun the Water,
Wauk, to render the palm of the
hand hard, callous, or homy,
by severe toil.
I held on high my waukit loof,
To swear by a' yon starry roof,
That henceforth I wad be rhyme proof.
Till my last breath.
— Burns : The Vision.
Waukrife, watchful, wakeful, un-
able to sleep ; the suffix Hfe,
as in cauldr^/e, very cold, is used
as an intensitive, so that wauk-
rife signifies not only unable
to sleep, but unable in an intense
degree.
What time the moon, wi' silent glower,
Sets up her horn,
Wail through the dreary midnight hour.
Till waukrife morn.
— Burns : Elegy on Captain Matthew
Henderson.
'Tis hopeless love an' dark despair.
Cast by the glamour o' thine e'e,
That clouds my waukrife dreams wi' care,
An' maks the daylight dark to me.
—James Ballantinb.
Waullies or waulies. Jamieson
defines waUies as meaning the
intestines. The word is not to
be confounded with waly or
wcdie, choice, large, ample, as
Burns uses it.
But mark the rustic haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread ;
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whistle.
— To a Haggis.
In " Jacob and Rachel," a song
attributed to Burns, published
in an anonymous London edition
of his songs, dated 1825, the
word occurs in the following
stanza : —
Then Rachel, calm as ony lamb.
She claps him on the waulies^
Quo' she, '* ne'er fash a woman's clash."
In this song, omitted on ac-
count of its grossness from
nearly all editions of his works,
the word is not susceptible of
the meaning attributed to it by
Jamieson, nor of that in the
poem in praise of "The Haggis."
Jamieson has the obsolete word
wally, a billow, a wave, which
affords a clue to its derivation.
Waur — Wean.
267
The name of waulie was given
to the hips or posteriors on ac-
count of their round and wavy-
form, as appears from the
synonymous words in Gaelic —
tonrif a wave, and ton, the
breech. The idea is involved
in the words, now seldom used,
which are cited by Jamieson,
wallie-drag, and wallie-dragglie,
signifying a woman who is cor-
pulent and heavy behind, and
makes but slow progress in
walking. The connection with
wallies, intestines, as rendered
by Jamieson, is exceedingly
doubtful.
Waur, worse. To waur, or warr,
to conquer, to give an enemy
the worst of the conflict ; from
worst, to put a person in the
wrong, or in a worse position.
Up and waur them a', Willie.
—Jacobite Ballad.
An advocate was complaining to his
friend, an eminent legal functionary of the
last century, that his claims to a judgeship
had been overlooked, adding acrimoniously,
" And I can tell you, they might have got
a waur" to which the only answer was a
grave ^^whaur?"—DKA.ii Ramsay.
Sax thousand years are near hand fled.
Sin I was to the butcherin' bred,
And mony a scheme in vain's been laid
To stop or scaur me.
Till ane Hornbook's ta'en up the trade,
An faith he'll waur me.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
Want o' wit is wa»r than want o' wealth.
In his case, the water will never waur
the widdie.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
(i.c., in his case the water will
never get the better of the gal-
lows ; equivalent to the English
saying, "He that's born to be
hanged will never be drowned").
Wax, to grow, or increase ; the
reverse of wane, to decrease.
Wax is almost obsolete ; but
wane survives, both in Scotland
and England, as in the phrases :
* * the waning moon," ' * the waning
year," " his waning fortunes."
Wax remains as a Biblical word,
in the noble translations of the
Old Testament by Wickliffe and
the learned divines of the reign
of James I., which has preserved
to this age so many emphatic
words of ancient English, which
might otherwise have perished.
It is derived from the German
wachsen ; the Flemish wassen, to
grow.
The man woo: well nigh wud for ire.
— Chaucer.
And changing empires wane and wax.
Are founded, flourish and decay.
— Sir Walter Scott : Translation
of Dies I roe.
Wazie, jolly, brisk ; probably a
variation for gaucie (q.v.), with
the common change of g into w,
as in wai' for guerre, &c.
Right wazie wax'd an' fou' o' fun,
They whistled down the setting sun.
— Beattie : /ohn o' AmAa'.
Wean, a little child ; a weanie, a
very little child— from "wee
ane," little one. This word has
not yet been admitted to the
dictionaries, though becoming
common in English parlance.
268
WearirC awd! — Weeder-dips.
A smytrie o' wee duddie weans
(a lot of little ragged children).
—Burns : The Twa Dogs.
When skirlin' weanies see the light.
—Burns : Scotch Drink.
Wearin' awa', decaying gra-
dually.
I'm Tvearin' awa*, Jean,
Like snaw when it's thaw, Jean,
I'm wearin' awa'
To the Land o' the Leal.
— Lady Nairne.
Hope's star will rise when
Life's welkin grows grey,
We feel that within us which ne'er can
decay,
P nd Death brings us Life as the
Night brings the Daw' [dawn],
Though we're wearin' awa', an'
we're wearin awa'.
— James Ballantine.
Weatherie, stormy or showery
weather ; a word formed on the
same principle as the Teutonic
ungeioitter, very bad weather.
Weather gleam, a streak of light
on the horizon in cloudy weather.
Wee, little, diminutive, very little ;
generally supposed to be derived
from the first syllable of the
German wenig. This word
occurs in Shakspeare, and is
common in colloquial and fami-
liar English, though not in lite-
rary composition. It is often
used as an intensification of lit-
tleness, as "a little wee child,"
*' a little wee bit."
A wee house well filled,
A 2uee farm well tilled,
A wee wife well willed,
Mak' a happy man.
A wee mouse can creep under a great
haystack.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Weed or weeds, dress, attire,
clothing. The only remnant of
this word remaining in modem
English is the phrase, a
" widow's weeds," the funeral
attire of a recently bereaved
widow.
They saw their bodies bare.
Anon they pass'd with all their speed.
Of beaver to mak themselves a weed.
To cleith (clothe) them was their care.
— On the Creation and Parody ce Lost,
by Sir Richard Maitland, in
Allan Ramsay's Evergreen.
Weed is in many Etymological
Dictionaries said to be derived
from weave, the Teutonic weben.
Possibly it comes from the
Gaelic or eudadh, a dress or
garment, also the armour of a
knight. The author of the
Scottish poem of " Paradyce
Lost," which appears in the
" Evergreen," was born in 1496,
and died in 1586, at the ad-
vanced age of 90, and was
consequently long anterior to
Milton, who afterwards adopted
the same title, and rendered it
as enduring as the English lan-
guage.
Weeder-clips, shears for clipping
weeds.
The rough burr thistle spreading wide
Among the bearded bear,
I turned the weeder-clips aside
And spared the symbol dear.
—Burns.
The patriotic poet turned the
clips aside in order that he might
Weeks — Weird,
269
not cut down a thistle, the floral
badge of his country.
Weeks or weiks of the eye or
mouth signify, according to
Jamieson, the corners of the
mouth or eyes. To hang by the
weeks of his mouth, is to keep
hold of a thing or purpose to
the utmost, to the last gasp ;
an exaggerated phrase similar
to that in Holy Writ to " escape
by the skin of the teeth." Week
or weih is a corruption of the
Gaelic uig, a corner. The word
occurs in Tim Bobbin's York-
shire Glossary.
Weigh-bauk, the cross beam of
a balance.
Come like a weigh- bauk, Donald
MacGilHvray,
Come like a weigh -bauk, Donald
MacGilHvray,
Balance them fairly, balance them
cleverly,
Off wi' the counterfeit, Donald Mac-
GilHvray.
—James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.
Weil or wele, an eddy in the
water ; a whirlpool.
Weil-head, the centre of an eddy.
These words appear to be a
corruption of whed or whirl,
having a circular motion, and
to have no connection with weU,
a spring of water.
They doukit in at a weil-head.
— Border Minstrelsy : Earl Richard.
Weill, good fortune, the English
weal, as in the phrase, '* Come
weal, come woe."
He is na worth the weill that canna
thole the WM.—Old Proverb.
Weir, war ; witrtnan, a soldier, a
man of war, a combatant ; wier-
like, warlike ; weirif/Uls, quarrels ;
wedded weirigills, disputes be-
tween husband and wife ; from
the French guerre, the Italian
guerra, with the change of the
gu into w. The primary root
seems to be the Flemish weeren,
to defend ; the English be ware !
i.e., be ready to defend your-
self ; — a noble origin for resist-
ance to oppressive and defensive
war, that does not apply to of-
fensive war — the "bella, horrida
bella," of the Latin, and the
krieg of the Teutonic, which
signify war generally, whether
offensive or defensive ; — the first
a crime, the second a virtue.
Weir or wear, to guard, to watch
over, to protect, to gather in
with caution, as a shepherd
conducts his flock to the fold.
Erlinton had a fair daughter ;
I wat he wiered her in a great sin.
And he has built a high bower,
And a' to put that lady in.
— Ballad of Erlinton.
Motherwell translates ^'wiered
her in a great sin," placed her
in danger of committing a great
sin, which is clearly not the
meaning. But the whole ballad
is hopelessly corrupt in his ver-
sion.
Weird or wierd. Most English
dictionaries misdefine this word,
which has two different signifi-
cations : one as a noun, the other
as an adjective. In English
literature, from Shakspeare's
270
Wetse.
time downwards, it exists as
an adjective only, and is held
to mean unearthly, ghastly, or
witch-like. Before Shakspeare's
time, and in Scottish poetry and
parlance to the present day, the
word is a noun, and signifies
"fate" or "destiny" — derived
from the Teutonic werden, to be-
come, or that which shall be.
Chaucer, in " Troilus and Cres-
sida," has the line—
O Fortune ! executrice of wierdes !
and Gower, in a manuscript in
the possession of the Society of
Antiquaries, says —
It were a wondrous ivierde
To see a king become a herde.
In this sense the word continues
to be used in Scotland :
A man may woo where he will, but he
maun wed where his wierd is.
She is a wise wife that kens her ain
wierd. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Betide me weel, betide me woe,
That ivierd shall never danton me.
—Ballad of True Thomas.
The wierd her dearest bairn befel
By the bonnie mill-dams o' Binnorie.
— Scott's Minstrelsy of the Border.
Shakspeare seems to have been
the first to employ the word as
an adjective, and to have given
it the meaning of unearthly,
though pertaining to the idea
of the Fates : —
The ivierd sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land.
— Macbeth.
Thane of Cawdor ! by which title these
•wierd sisters saluted me. — Idem.
When we sat by her flickering fire at
night she was most ivierd. — Charles
Dickens : Great Expectations.
No spot more fit than ivierd, lawless
Winchelsea, for a plot such as he had
conceived. — All the Year Round, April
2, 1870.
It opened its great aisles to him, full of
whispering stillness, full of ivierd efiects
of light. — Blackwoods Magazine, April
1870.
Jasper surveyed his companion as though
he were getting imbued with a romantic
interest in his ivierd life. — Charles
Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
She turned to make her way from the
wierd spot as fast as her feeble limbs would
let [permit] her.— T. A. Trollope : The
Dream Nu7nbers.
Wierd is sometimes (but rarely)
used as a verb, signifying to
doom.
I wierd ye to a fiery beast.
And relieved sail ye never be.
Border Minstrelsy : Kempion.
Weise, to direct, to guide, to
draw or lead on in the way
desired. This word is akin to
the English wise, a way or
manner, as in the phrase, " Do
in that wise,'^ and in the word
likewise, in a like manner, and is
derived from the French viser
and the Dutch and Flemish
wijzen or wyzen, to indicate, to
show or point the way.
Every miller wad weise the water to his
ain mill. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
Weise also signifies to use policy for
attaining any object, to turn to art rather
than by strength, to draw or let out any-
thing cautiously so as to prevent it from
breaking, as in making a rope of tow or
straw one is said to weise out the tow or
straw. — Jamieson.
The wean saw something like a white
leddy that weised by the gate. — Scott :
The Monastery.
Went — Whang,
271
Wem, a scar ; wemmit, scarred,
wemless, unscarred ; and, meta-
phorically, blameless or imma-
culate. Probably from the
Flemish and English wen, a
tumour or swelling on the skin.
Wersh, insipid, tasteless; from
the Gaelic uiris, poor, worthless,
trashy.
A kiss and a drink o' water are but a
wersh disjune. — Allan Ramsay.
Why do ye no sup your parritch ? I
dinna like them ; they're unco wersh.
Gie me a wee pickle saut 1 — Jamieson;
That auld Duke James lost his heart
before he lost his head, and the Worcester
man was but wersh parritch, neither gude
to fry, boil, nor keep cauld. — Scott : Old
Mortality.
The word was English in the
seventeenth century, but is now
obsolete, except in some of the
Northern Counties, where it
survives, according to Brocket's
Glossary, in the corrupted form
of wdsh.
Her pleasures wersh, and her amours
tasteless. — Translation of Montaigne,
1613.
Helicon's wersh well. — Allan Ramsay.
Wet one's whistle. Wkistle is a
ludicrous name for the throat,
whence to '''wet on^s whistle"
signifies to moisten the throat
or take a drink.
But till we meet and weet our whistle,
Tak' this excuse for nae epistle.
—Burns: To Hugh Parker.
Whalp, to bring forth young
dogs or whelps. Burns says of
Caesar, the Newfoundland dog
in his well-known poem of the
" Twa Dogs " that he was —
Whalpit some place far abroad,
Where sailors gang to fish for cod.
The Jacobite ballad-singers
and popular poets of the '45 , when
Prince Charles Edward made
his forlorn but gallant attempt
to regain the throne of his
ancestors, made frequent de-
rogatory and contemptuous al-
lusions to the family name of
the House of Hanover, which
they persisted in calling Whdp
instead of Gudph.
Now our good king abroad is gone,
A German whelp now fills the throne,
Whelps that are desired by none,
They're brutes compared wi' Charlie.
Oh, Charlie, come an' lead the way,
No German whelp shall bear the sway ;
Though ilka dog maun hae his day,
The right belongs to Charlie.
—Peter Buchan's Prince Charlie
and Flora Macdonald.
Whalpit is the past tense of
the verb to whelp, or bring forth
whelps or young dogs. In Dutch
and Flemish, welp signifies the
cub of the lion or the bear, but
in Scotch and English the word,
though formerly applied to the
progeny of the wolf and the
fox, is now almost exclusively
confined to that of the dog.
Dr. Wagner, in his Glossary to
the German edition of Burns,
conjectures that the word is
derivable from the Latin vulpes.
Whang, a large slice, also a
thong of leather, and by ex-
tension of meaning, to beat with
OF THf "^ X
UNIVERSITY I
.. r
At irc
F /
2/2
What Ails Ye at ?—Wheen.
a strap or thong, or to beat
generally.
Wi' sweet-milk cheese i' mony a whang.
And farlies baked wi' butter.
— Burns : Holy Fair.
Ye cut large whangs out of other folk's
leather. —Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
Whang, in the sense of to beat
with a strap, is local in Eng-
land, but in the sense of a large
slice, or anything large, it is
peculiar to Scotland; and in
one odd phrase, that of zlang-
whanger, to the United States
of America. According to Bart-
lett's " Dictionary of American-
isms " it signifies political vitu-
peration largely intermingled
with slang words. It appears,
however, in Hood's "Ode to
Rae Wilson : "—
No part I take in party fray
With tropes from Billingsgate's slang-
whanging Tartars.
To which Mr. Bartlett appends
the note, " If the word, as is
supposed, be of American ori-
gin, it has been adopted in
the mother country."
This day the Kirk kicks up a stour,
Nae mair the knaves shall wrang her ;
For Heresy is in her power,
And gloriously she'll whang her,
Wi' pith this day.
— Burns : The Ordination.
The Glossaries translate
whang, by beat, belabour ; but
it is probably derived from the
Teutonic wanJce, the Flemish
ivankelen, to shake, to totter, to
stagger, or cause to shake and
stagger.
What ails ye at ? This question
signifies, what is the matter with
a thing named ? What dislike
have you to it ? as to a child
that does not eat its breakfast,
** What ails ye at your parritch ? "
Lord Rutherford having, when on a
ramble on the Pentlands, complained to a
shepherd of the mist, which prevented him
from enjoying the scenery, the shepherd,
a tall grim figure, turned sharply round
upon him. " What ails yc at the mist, sir ?
It weets the sod, slockens the yowes, and "
— adding with more solemnity — " it is
God's wull." — Dean Ramsay.
An old servant who took charge of every-
thing in the family, having observed that
his master thought that he had drank wine
with every lady at the table, but had over-
looked one, jogged his memory with the
question, " WJiat ails ye at her wi' the
green gown?"— Dean Ramsay.
Whaup, a curlew.
The wild land-fowls are plovers, pigeons,
curlews, commonly called whaups. — ^S'^^-
tistical Account of Scotland, article
Orkney.
Whaup-nebbit, having a nose like
the neb or bill of a curlew.
Wheen, a lot, a small quantity.
What better could be expected o' a
wheen pock-pudding English folk?—
Scott : Rob Roy.
A young girl (say at St. Andrews) sat
upon the cutty stool for breach of the
seventh commandment, which applies to
adultery as well as to the minor, but still
heinous, offence of illicit love, was asked
who was the father of her child? " How
can I tell," she replied artlessly, "among
a wheen o' divinity students?" — Dean
Ramsay.
But in my bower there is a wake,
And at the wake there is a wane ;
But I'll come to the green wood ere mom.
— Border Minstrelsy : Erlinion.
Wheep—Whtd.
273
Wane means a number of people, a luheen
folk. — Sir Walter Scott.
The derivation, which has
been much disputed, seems fairly
traceable to the Teutonic weniy,
little or few.
Wheep, a sharp, shrill cry or
whistle. Penny-ioheep, a con-
temptuous designation for sour,
weak, small beer, sold at a penny
per quart or pint, and dear at the
money ; so called, it is supposed,
from its acidity, causing the per-
son who swallows it, thinking it
better than it is, to make a kind
of whistling sound, expressive of
his surprise and disgust. Formed
on the same principle as the
modern word " penny dreadful,"
applied to a certain description
of cheap and offensive literature.
Wheep seems to be akin to whoops
a shrill cry, and whaup, the cry
of the curlew or plover.
Be't whisky gill or penny-zvhee/,
Or ony stronger potion.
It never fails, on drinking deep,
To kittle up our notion.
—Burns : The Holy Fair.
Wheeple, the cheep or low cry
of a bird ; also, metaphorically,
the ineffectual attempt of a man
to whistle loudly.
A Scottish gentleman, who visited Eng-
land for the first time, and ardently de-
sired to return home to his native hills
and moors, was asked by his English host
to come out into the garden at night to
hear the song of the nightingale, a bird
unknown in Scotland. His mind was full
of home, and he exclaimed, " Na, na ! I
wadna gie the wheedle o a whaup (cur-
lew) for a' the nightingales that ever
sang."-~Staiisiicai Account 0/ Scotland.
Wheericken or queerikens, a
ludicrous term applied to chil-
dren who are threatened with
punishment, signifying the two
sides of the breech or podex,
the soft place appropriate for
** skelping." Apparently de-
rived from the Gaelic ciurr^ to
hurt, to cause pain.
Whid or whud, an untruth, a
falsehood, a lie ; usually applied
to a departure from veracity
which is the result of sudden
invention or caprice, rather than
of malicious premeditation.
Even ministers they hae been kenn'd,
In holy rapture,
A rousin' whid at times to vend,
An' nail't wi' Scripture.
— Burns : Death and Dr. Hornbook.
In the first edition of Burns
the word whid did not appear,
but instead of it —
Even ministers they hae been kenn'd,
In holy rapture.
Great lies and nonsense baith to vend,
And nail't wi' Scripture.
This was ungrammatical, as
Burns himself recognised it to
be, and amended the line by the
more emphatic form in which it
now appears.
The word whid seems, in its
primary meaning, to be applied
to any sudden and rapid move-
ment, or to a deviation from
the straight line. It is akin to
the English scud. According to
Jamieson, to yed is to fib, to
magnify in narration. This word
is probably a variety or hetero-
S
274
Wh igmaleeries.
graphy of uhid, and has the
same meaning.
An arrow rvhidderan !
— The Song oftke Outlaw
Murray,
Paitricks scraichin' loud at e'en,
An' mornin' poussie whiddin seen.
[Partridges screeching, and the early hare
scudding along.]
— Burns : To Lapraik.
Connected with the idea of
rapidity of motion are the words
whidder, a gust of wind ; whiddie,
a hare ; whiddy, unsteady, shift-
ing, unstable ; to whiddie, to
move rapidly and lightly; to
twidder the thumbs, in English
twiddle the thumbs. The deri-
vation is uncertain, but is pro-
bably from the Teutonic weit,
the English wide, in which sense
whid, a falsehood, would signify
something wide of the truth, and
would also apply in the sense of
rapid motion through the wide-
ness of space.
Whid, a lie. Bailey has " whids, many
words " — a cant word, he says. Does not
Burns speak of amorous whids, meaning,
or rather I should say referring to, the
quick rapid jumpings about of rabbits ?
Whid certainly has in Scotch the meaning
of frisking about; and applied to state-
ments, it is obvious how whid could come
to mean a lie. — R. Drennan.
WhigmaJeeries, whims, caprices,
crotchets, idle fancies ; also fan-
ciful articles of jewellery and
personal adornment, toys and
trifles of any kind.
There'll be, if that day come,
I'll wad a boddle,
Some fewer whiginaleeries in your noddle.
—Burns : The Brigs of Ayr.
I met ane very fain, honest, fair-spoken,
weel-put-on gentleman, or rather burgher,
as I think, that was in the whigmaleerie
man's back-shop. — Scott: Fortunes of
Nigel,
The etymology of this word,
which is peculiar to Scotland,
is not to be found in any of the
current languages of Europe.
It is probably from the Gaelic
uige, a jewel, a precious stone ;
from whence uigheam, adorn-
ment, decoration ; uigheach,
abounding in precious stones;
and uigheamaich, to adorn.
These words are the roots of
the obsolete English word owche,
a jewel, used by Shakspeare,
Beaumont and Fletcher ; and
which also occurs in the autho-
rised version of the Bible : —
Your brooches, pearls, and owches.
Henry IV., Part II.
Pearls, bracelets, rings, or owches.
Or what she can desire.
—Beaumont and Fletcher.
The last two syllables of whig-
maleerie are traceable to leor
or leoir, sufllcient, plenty. The
quotation from the " Fortunes
of Nigel" refers to the jewels
in George Heriot's shop. The
connection of ideas between the
fanciful articles in a jeweller's
shop and the fancies or con-
ceits of a capricious mind is
sufficiently obvious.
Jamieson notices a game called
tvhigmaleeries, * * formerly played
at drinking-clubs in Angus, at
which the losing player was
obliged to drink off a glass.
Perhaps," he adds, ** the game
Whilte — WhiUie-whallie.
275
was so denominated out of con-
tempt for the severe austerity
attributed to the Whigs ! "
"This etymology," says Dr.
Adolphus Wagner, *' is very
doubtful and difficult." Con-
fused by the word Whig, and
unaware of the Gaelic uige, and
believing in the drinking bouts
alluded to by Jamieson, he en-
deavours to account for the final
syllable, eerie, by citing from
Ben Jonson, " a leer horse,"
a led horse, as applicable to a
drunkard being led in the train
of another I The Gaelic deriva-
tion makes an end of the ab-
surdities both of Jamieson and
the erudite foreign critic.
Whilie, a little while ; pronounced
fylie in Aberdeenshire. A wee
whilie, a very little while ; whiles,
at times.
On the Bishop (Skinner) making his ap-
pearance, the honest man (a crofter) in the
gladness of his heart stepped briskly for-
ward to welcome his pastor, but in his
haste stepped upon the rim of the iron
riddle, which rebounded with great force
against one of his shins. The accident
made him suddenly pull up, and instead
of completing the reception, he stood
vigorously rubbing the injured limb, and,
not daring in such a venerable presence to
give vent to the customary strong ejacula-
tions, kept twisting his face into all sorts
of grimaces. As was natural, the Bishop
went forward, uttering the usual formulas
of condolence and sympathy, the patient
meanwhile continuing his rubbings and his
silent but expressive contortions. At last
his wife, Janet, came to the rescue, and
clapping the Bishop coaxingly on the back,
said, " Noo, Bishop, just gang ben to the
house, and we'll follow when he's had time
to curse 2^ fylie; and then, I'se warrant,
he'll be weel eneuch."— Dean Ramsay.
Whyles she sank, and ivhyles she swam,
Binnorie, O Binnorie !
Until she cam to the miller's dam,
By the bonnie mill-dam o' Binnorie.
—Border Minstrelsy : The Cruel
Sister.
Whillie-lu, a threnody, a lament,
a prolonged strain of melan-
choly music ; but, according to
Jamieson, "a dull or flat air."
He derives the word from the
Icelandic hvdla, to sound ; and
111, lassitude. It seems, how-
ever, to be a corruption of wcdy!
an exclamation of sorrow ; as in
the beautiful ballad —
O waly ! waly ! up the bank.
And waly ! waly ! down the brae ;
which, conjoined with the Gae-
lic luaidh {dh silent), a beloved
object, makes whillie-lu, or waly
lu. The final syllable lu enters
into the composition of the
English lullaby, a cradle-song,
from lu-lu ! beloved one, and
haigh, sleep, which thus signi-
fies " Sleep, beloved one ! " or
" Sleep, darling ! "
Whillie - wa', to procrastinate ;
apparently from while away
the time.
Whillie-Tvhallie, sometimes ab-
breviated into whillie-wha\ This
word in all its variations signi-
fies any thing or person con-
nected with cheaters, cajolers,
or false pretenders. Jamieson
has whilly or whuUy, to cheat,
to gull ; whillie-whallie, to coax,
to wheedle ; whillie-wha, one not
to be depended upon; whillie-
276
Whilper — Whinger.
wa, or whillie-whal, one who
deals in ambiguous promises.
In a South Sea song which ap-
pears in Allan Ramsay's " Tea-
Table Miscellany" occur the
lines —
If ye gang near the South Sea House,
The whilly-whas will grip your gear !
The etymology of all these
words is uncertain. The Eng-
lish wheedle has been suggested,
but does not meet the neces-
sities, while wheedle itself re-
quires explanation. Whillie-
whallie, which appears to be the
original form of the word, is
probably the Gaelic uUleadh,
oily, and, metaphorically, spe-
cious, as in the English phrase,
an oily hypocrite, applied to a
man with a smooth or specious
tongue, which he uses to cajole
and deceive, and halaoch, in the
aspirated form, bhalaoch, a fel-
low. From thence whillie-whallie,
a specious, cajoling, hypocritical
person.
Burns, in "The Whistle,y
speaks of one of the personages
of the ballad as —
Craigdarroch began with a tongue
smooth as oil,
Desiring Glenriddel to yield up the
spoil.
Whilper or whulper, any indivi-
dual or thing of unusual size ;
akin to the English whopper and
whopping, of which it may pos-
sibly be a corruption.
The late Rev. Rowland Hill, preaching
a charity sermon in Wapping, appealed to
the congregation to contribute liberally.
His text was, "Charity covereth a multi-
tude of sins." "I preach," he said, "to
great sinners, to mighty sinners, — ay, and
to whapping sinners!" — Joe Miller's
Jest Book.
What a whilper of a trout I hae gotten !
— Jamieson.
Whinge, to whine ; from the
Teutonic winseln, to whimper.
If ony Whiggish luhingin sot
To blame poor Matthew dare, man,
May dool and sorrow be his lot,
For Matthew was a rare man.
—Burns : Elegy on Captain Matthew
Henderson.
Whinger, a knife worn on the
person, and serviceable as a
sword or dagger in a sudden
broil or emergency. Jamieson
derives it from the Icelandic
hwin, fununculus, and gird^
actio ; and queries whether it
may not mean an escape for
secret deeds. The Gaelic uinich
signifies haste, and geur, sharp,
whence uin geur or uinich geur,
a sharp weapon for haste. The
word is sometimes written whin-
yard, and is so used in the Eng-
lish poem of "Hudibras," and
explained by the commentators
as a hanger or hanging sword.
It is, of course, open to doubt
whether whinger is not the same
as hanger, but the Gaelic deriva-
tion seems preferable, as expres-
sive of a definite idea, while
hanger admits of a multiplicity
of meanings.
And whingers now in friendship bare,
The social meal to part and share,
Had found a bloody sheath.
—Scott : Lay of the Last Minstrel.
Mony tyne the half-mark whinger for
the halfpennie whang. [Many lose the
sixpenny knife for sake of the halfpenny
slice.]— Ferguson's Scots Proverbs.
Whinner — Whisky.
277
Joctdeg was another name
for a whinger, which, though
susceptible of a Gaelic inter-
pretation (see ante), perhaps
only signified a hunting-knife
or dagger, from the Flemish
jacht, the chase or hunt, and
dolk, a dagger, pronounced in
two syllables, dol-ok, a hunting-
knife or dagger, a jacht-dolok or
jocteleg. But whether the Gaelic
or the Flemish origin of the
word be correct, it is clear that
Jamieson's derivation from the
imaginary cutler, Jacques de
Liege, is untenable.
Whinner, to dry up, like vegeta-
tion in a long-protracted drought.
The derivation is uncertain ;
probably a corruption of the
English winnow.
A whinnerin drouth. The word is
applied to anything so much dried up, in
consequence of extreme drought, as to
rustle to the touch. The corn's a whin-
nerin. — Jamieson.
Whinner, to snort like a horse,
to whinney ; French hennir, to
neigh.
An' goblins whinnered through the air
Wi' whorled chaps (distorted faces or
jaws).
—George Beattie : John 6" Arnha.
Whipper-snapper, a contemp-
tuous term for a little, presump-
tuous person, who gives himself
airs of importance and talks
too much. Jamieson says it
"might be deduced from the
Icelandic hwipp, saltus, celer
cursus, and snapa, captare
escam, as originally denoting
one who manifested the greatest
alacrity in snatching at a mor-
sel ! " The true derivation seems
to be from the Flemish wippen,
to move about rapidly and rest-
lessly, and snapper, to prate, to
gabble, to be unnecessarily lo-
quacious.
Whippert, hasty, irascible, im-
patient ; whippert-like, inclining
to be ill-tempered without ade-
quate provocation. Jamieson
thinks the root of whippert is
either the Icelandic whopa, light-
ness, inconstancy, or the English
whip. He does not cite the
Flemish wip, to shake in the
balance, and loippen, to move
lightly and rapidly as the scales
do on the slightest excess of
weight over the even balance.
Thus wippert-like would signify
one easily provoked to lose the
balance of his temper.
He also cites whipper tooties,
as siUy scruples about doing
anything, and derives it from
the French aprcs tout, after all.
This derivation is worse than
puerile. The first word is evi-
dently from the Flemish root ;
the second, tooties, is not so
easily to be accounted for.
Whish, "whist, silence, or to keep
silence ; whence the name of
the well-known game at cards,
formerly called quadrille.
Hand your whish {i.e., keep silence, or
hold your tongue). — Scott : Rob Roy.
Whisky, whusky, a well-known
alcoholic drink, of which the
278
Wh isky Tackets — Wh ttter.
name is derived from the Gaelic
uisge, water. The liquor is
sometimes called in the High-
lands uisge beatha, the water of
life ; in Irish Gaelic written
uisque baugh. The French pay
the same complement to brandy,
when they call it eau de vie.
Whisky tackets, pimples pro-
duced on the face by the ex-
cessive use of whisky or other
spirituous liquors ; from tacJcet,
a smaU nail.
Whistle binkie, a musician, har-
per, fiddler, or piper who played
at penny weddings or other
social gatherings, and trusted
for his remuneration to the
generosity of the company. A
whistle is a somewhat irreve-
lant name for a pipe, or for
music generally, and binkie is a
bench, a bunker, or seat. It has
been supposed that these two
words were the etymological
roots of the phrase, but this
derivation is open to doubt.
Uasal, the Gaelic for gentle or
noble, and binkie, a bunker, a
seat, was the seat reserved at
the weddings of the peasantry
for the chief or landlord, who
graced the ceremony by his pre-
sence when any of his tenants
were married, and the place
of honour thus appropriated to
him was called the uasal (cor-
rupted into whistle) binkie, and
the epithet was thence trans-
ferred to the hired musician
who stepped into it after the
laird's departure. The late
David Robertson of Glasgow
published, in 1847 and 1853, a
collection of Scottish songs by
then living Scottish poets under
this title, of which the contents
proved what was previously
known, that the genius of Scots-
men, even among the humblest
classes, is pre-eminently lyrical,
and produces many effusions of
great poetical beauty.
Whistle kirk, a term of con-
tempt applied by bigoted Cal-
vinists and Puritans, who object
to all music in churches except
the human voice, to Episco-
palian and other Protestant
churches who make use of or-
gans. That noble instrument
is a far greater incentive to de-
votional feeling than the un-
trained singing, which is often
little better than howling or
braying of a miscellaneous con-
gregation of old and young
people who know nothing of
music and have never been
taught to sing in unison. A
whistle -kirk minister is a con-
temptuous epithet for an Epis-
copalian clergyman.
Whitter, to move quickly, to talk
quickly, to drink quickly a
hearty draught. The etymology
is uncertain, but is possibly
allied to the English whet, the
Dutch and Flemish wetten, the
German wetzen, to sharpen.
Whitterin down the stair.
— Jamieson.
Whittle — Whyles.
279
Syne we'll sit down and tak' our whitter
To cheer our heart,
And faith we'll be acquainted better
Before we part.
—Burns : Epistle to Lapraik.
Whittle, a clasp-knife ; to whittle,
to chip or carve a stick.
A Sheffield tkunttle bare he in his hose.
—Chaucer : The Reeves Tale.
Gudeman, quoth he, put up your whittle,
I'm no designed to try its mettle.
, — Burns : Death and Doctor Hornbook.
The word is common in
the United States, and was
scarcely understood in Eng-
land until its introduction into
humorous literature by Judge
Haliburton of Nova Scotia, in
the inimitable "Sam Slick, the
Clockmaker." According to a
ballad quoted by Mr. Bartlett,
in his Dictionary of American-
isms, the " Yankie or New Eng-
lander will whittle or cut his
way through the world by some
'cute device or other, in spite of
diflSculties. "
Dexterity with the pocket-knife is part
of a Nantucket education. I am inclined
to think the propensity is national. Ameri-
cans must and will whittle." — N. P.
Willis.
Whommle, to turn over clumsily
and suddenly, and with a loud
noise ; transposition of whelm.
Coming to the lire with the said pan
and water therein, and casting the water
therefrom, and whommeling the pan upon
the fire, with the pronouncing of these
fearful words, " Bones to the fire and soul
to the devil ! " which accomplished the
curt. — Trial 0/ Alison Nisbet for Witch-
craft, 1632.
Whommle means something different
from whelm. Whelm means to cover over,
to immerse ; neither does whommle mean
to turn over clumsily and suddenly with
a loud noise. Not one of these ideas is
conveyed by the word itself; it means
literally and really nothing more than to
turn upside down. — R. Drennan.
Whully, to wheedle, to endeavour,
to circumvent by fair words and
flattery; in modern English
slang to carny. Wully-wha-ing,
insincere flattery.
My life precious ! exclaimed Meg Dods,
nane o' your wully-wha-ing, Mr. Bind-
loose. Diel ane wad miss the auld giming
ale wife, Mr. Bindloose, unless it were
here and there a poor body, and may be
the auld house tyke that wadna be sae
weel guided, puir fallow. — Scott : St.
Ronans Well.
Whulte, a blow or hurt from a
fall ; Gaelic huailte (aspirated
hhuailte or vuailte), preterite of
buaU, to strike a blow.
Whuppie, a term of angry con-
tumely applied to a girl or
woman, signifying that she
deserves whipping.
Whurlie-burlie. This Scottish
word seems to be the original of
the English hurly-burly, and
signifies rapid circular motion ;
from whorl, a small wheel; whirl,
to spin round ; world, the earth
that rotates or whirls in space
around the sun.
Whyles, sometimes, occasionally,
now and then.
How best o' chiels are whyles in want.
While coofs in countless thousands rai!t.
— Burns : Epistle to Davie, a Brother
Poet.
280
Why lock — Wtddy.
Whyles crooning o'er some auld Scotch
sonnet.
— Tarn o Shanter.
I took his body on my back,
And -whiles I gaed, and ivhiles I sat.
— Lament of the Border Widow.
A lady, visiting the poor, in the West
Port, Edinburgh, not far from the church
established by Dr. Chalmers, asked a poor
woman if she ever attended divine service
tliere. She replied, " Ou ay I there's a
man ca'd Chalmers preaches there, and I
ivhiles gang in to hear him, just to encour-
age him — puir body ! " — Dean Ramsay.
Whylock, or a wee while, a little
while.
Wi' a blush, as she keepit lookin' roun'
an' roun' for a whyleock. — Noctes Antbro-
siarue.
Widdie, angry contention ; wid-
diefu\ cross-grained, ill-tem-
pered, half-crazy, cantankerous,
angry without cause.
The miller was strappin', the miller was
ruddy,
A heart like a lord, and a hue like a lady ;
The laird v/assLwiddie/u , bleerit knurl, —
She's left the gude fellow and taken the
churl.
—Burns : Mego' the Mill.
Misled by the meaning of wid-
die, the rope, or gallows, Jamie-
son says that, properly widdie-
fu', or widdie-foio, signifies one
who deserves to fill a halter.
But as a man may be peevish,
morose, irascible, contentious,
and unreasonable without de-
serving the gallows, the etymo-
logy is not satisfactory. The
true root seems to be the
Flemish woede, the German
wuth, the old English wode,
the Scottish vmd — all signifying
mad, crazy, unreasonable.
Widdie, to turn, to wheel, to
wriggle ; and metaphorically, to
struggle ; akin to the English
twiddle, to turn the thumbs
round each other in idle move-
ment. Widdie is from the Gae-
lic cuidhil, a wheel.
Hale be your heart, hale be your fiddle,
Lang may your elbuck jink and diddle
To cheer you through the weary widdie
O' worldly cares.
— Burns : Epistle to Davie.
Widdy (sometimes written woodie
and wuddie), the gaUows.
The water will nae wrang the widdy,
[The English have another ver-
sion of this proverb —
He who's born to be hanged will never
be drowned.]
It's nae laughing to gim in a widdy.
It's ill speaking o' the widdy in the
house o' a man who was hangit.
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
The French have a similar pro-
verb — "II ne faut pas parler
de corde dans la maison d'un
pendu."
He'll wintle in a widdie yet [he'll wrig-
gle in a rope yet, i.e., he'll be hanged]. —
Jamieson : Scots Proverb.
Her Joe had been a Highland laddie.
But weary fa' the waefu' woodie.
— Burns: The Jolly Beggars.
On Donald Caird the doom was stern,
Craig to tether, leg to airn,
But Donald Caird wi' muckle study
Caught the gift to cheat the wuddie.
Rings o' airn an' bolts o' steel
Fell like ice frae hand and heel,
Watch the sheep in fauld and glen,
Donald Caird's come again.
—Sir Walter Scott.
Wight— Wilt
281
In very primitive times in
Scotland the ropes used for
hanging those who had offended
the chief, or who had rendered
themselves amenable to the
death penalty, were formed of
twisted willow withes — whence
vMhy, or widdy, afterwards came
to signify a rope, or, by exten-
sion of meaning, the gallows.
Wight, wicht, wichtly, wichty,
wichtness. Wight remains an
English word in mock heroic
composition, and means a man,
a fellow; originally, a strong
or brave man, a sturdy fellow.
The Dutch and Flemish wicht
means a child or a little fellow.
Wight, in the epithet "Wallace
wight" given in Scottish poetry
and tradition to the great
national hero, means "brave
Wallace," and was a kind of
title of nobility bestowed on him
for his prowess, and the patriotic
use he made of it.
A wight man never wanted a weapon.
—Allan Ramsay.
Wilie-wa*, to cajole, to flatter,
possibly from wile away; from
wikf to trick, to beguile.
Willie. This suffix answers in
meaning to the Latin vdens, or
volent in the English words be-
nevolent and malevolent. The
Scotch renders the former word
by guid - willie, or well - willie ;
from the Flemish goed wiUvj ;
and the latter by ill-wiUie, in
which ill is substituted for the
Flemish quad^ or bad. On the
same principle of formation, HI-
deedie signifies nefarious, and
ill-tricky mischievous, both of
which might well become Eng-
lish if they found favour with
authors of acknowledged autho-
rity.
Willie-winkie, a term of some-
what contemptuous endearment
to a diminutive and not over
intelligent child. The Jaco-
bites of 1688 to 17 1 5 long
applied it to William III., when
they did not call him the
"Dutchman," "the HoganMu-
gan," "Willie the Wag," or
' ' Willie Wanbeard." ' ' The Last
Will and Testament of WHZie
winkle,''^ is the title of a once
popular Jacobite song.
Wilshoch, wulshoch, changeable
of opinion or purpose, a bashful
wooer. Jamieson derives the
first syllable from the English
wiU, and the second from the
Anglo - Saxon seoc aeger, sick
from the indulgence of one's
own will. It seems rather to
be from the Gaelic uile, all,
totally ; and seog (shog), to swing
from side to side — whence,
metaphorically, one who is con-
tinually at variance with his
former opinion, and sways from
side to side.
Wilt, to shrivel, or begin to
decay, as a leaf or flower in
the extreme heat or cold — not
exactly withered in the English
sense of the word, inasmuch as
a wilted leaf may revive, but a
282
Wimple — Winsome.
withered one cannot. This old
Scottish word has been revived
in America, where it is in com-
mon use. The late Artemus
Ward punned upon it, when he
said to his lady love, ''Wilt
thou ? and she wilted.'"
Miss Amy pinned a flower to her breast,
and when she died, she held the wilted
fragments in her hand. — Judd's Mar-
garet.
Wilt, though not admitted
into the English dictionaries, is
in local use in many northern
and eastern counties, and is
often pronounced wilk, or wilken,
which seems to have been the
original form ; from the Ger-
man, Dutch, and Flemish wel-
ken, to decay, to droop. Spenser
used welk, in speaking of the
sunset, to describe the fading
light of the day.
When ruddy Phoebus 'gins to welk in
west. — Faerie Queene.
Wimple, to flow gently like a
brook, to meander, to purl.
Among the bonnie winding banks,
Where Doon rins wimplin clear.
— Burns : Halloween.
Win, this word in English signi-
fies to gain, to make a profit,
to acquire ; but in the Scottish
language it has many other and
more extended meanings, such
as to reach, to attain, to arrive,
to get at. It enters into the
composition of a great number
of compound words and phrases,
such as — to win above, to sur-
mount ; to win about, to circum-
vent ; to win awa, to escape, and,
poetically, to die, or escape from
life ; to win forret, to advance,
to get on ; to win owre, to get
over, to cajole ; to win past, to
overtake, or get by ; to loin free,
to get loose ; to win hame, to get
home ; to win aff, to get off, or
away, to be acquitted on a trial ;
to win ben, to be admitted to the
house ; to win up, to arise, or
get up.
Win and tine, a man able to win
and tine, is a man of substance
and energy, able to win and able
to lose without hurting himself,
and to whom winnings and
losings are alike of little con-
sequence.
W i n n o c k, a window comer ;
abridged from window -nook.
Winnock-bunker, a seat, ledge,
or bench at the window.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
Where sat Auld Nick in shape o' beast ;
A towsie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge.
—Burns : Tarn oShanter.
Winsome. This pleasant Scottish
word is gradually making good
its claim to a place in recognised
English. The etymology is un-
decided whether it be from win,
to gain, or the Teutonic wonne,
joy, pleasure, or delight.
I gat your letter, winsome Willie.
— Burns.
She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a bonnie wee thing,
This sweet wee wife o' mine.
—Burns.
Wintle — Withershtns.
283
Wintle, a corruption of windle, to
gyrate, to turn round in the
wind ; also, to reel, to stagger,
to walk unsteadily ; also, to
wriggle, to writhe, to struggle.
Thieves of every rank and station,
From him that wears the star and garter,
To him that winiles in a halter.
— Burns : To J. Rankine.
He'll wintle in a widdie yet.
— Jamieson.
Winze, an oath, a curse, an im-
precation, an evil wish; from
the Flemish wensch^ a wish,
which, conjoined with the prefix
rer, became verwenschen, to curse,
to wish evil.
He talcs a swirlie auld moss-oak
For some black gruesome carline.
And loot a winze, and drew a stroke.
— Burns : Hallowe'en.
Wirry-cow, a bugbear, a goblin,
or frightful object, a ghost ;
the devil ; also a scarecrow.
Draggled sae 'mang muck and stanes,
They looked like wirry-cows.
— Allan Ramsav.
The word was used by Scott,
in •* Guy Mannering," and is
derived by Jamieson from the
English " worry," and ** to cow."
Wirry, however, seems to be a
corruption of the Gaelic uruisg,
which, according to Armstrong's
Gaelic Dictionary, signified a
'• brownie," or goblin, who was
supposed to haunt lonely dells,
lakes, and waterfalls, and who
could only be seen by those
who had the "second sight."
Kuddiman thought that the
uruisg was called a "brownie " in
the Lowlands, on account of the
brown colour of the long hair
which covered his body when
he appeared to human eyes ;
but it is more probable that
"brownie" was derived from
the Gaelic hrdn, sorrow or cala-
mity. The attributes ascribed
to the uruisg are similar to those
of the " lubber fiend " of Milton.
The final syllable of wirry-cow
was sometimes written and pro-
nounced carl, a fellow. Accord-
ing to Jamieson, cow, or kow,
signified a hobgoblin, and to
"play the Jcov^" was to act the
part of a goblin, to frighten
fools and children.
Wisp, to currycomb a horse, or
rub it with a ivisp of straw.
A short horse is sune wispit {i.e., a little
job is soon done). — Old Proverb.
Wissel, to exchange. Wissler, a
money-changer ; from the Fle-
mish wissel, and geld wisselaar,
a money-changer ; the German
wechsel. To wissel words, is to
exchange words ; usually em-
ployed in an angry sense, as in
the English phrase, to "bandy
words with one," the irritation
preceding a quarrel,
Withershins, backwards, against
the course of the sun. To pass
the bottle withershins, or the
wrong way, at table, is con-
sidered a breach of social eti-
quette. The word seems to be
derived from the Teutonic wider,
contrary, and s&nnct the sun ;
284
Witter — Won.
or perhaps from wider, and sinn,
sense ; whence it would signify,
in a " contrary sense." The
word wider, corrupted in the
Scotch into wither, enters into
the composition of many Ger-
man words, such as wider-spruch,
contradiction ; wider-sinn, non-
sense ; wider-stand, resistance.
The ancient Druids called
a movement contrary to the
course of the sun, car-tual. On
this subject, apropos of the
word withershins, a curious note
appears in Armstrong's Gaelic
Dictionary. "The Druids," he
says, " on certain occasions
moved three times round the
stone circles, which formed
their temples. In performing
this ceremony, car-deise, they
kept the circle on the right,
and consequently moved from
east to west. This was called
the prosperous course ; but the
car-tual, or moving with the
circle on the left, was deemed
fatal or unprosperous, as being
"contrary to the course of the
sun."
The said Alison past thrice withershins
about the bed, muttering out certain charms
in unknown words. — Trial of Alison
Nisbetfor IVitchcra/t, 1632.
To be whipped round a'circle withershins,
or car-tual, would thus be considered pecu-
liarly degrading, and probably, as the
meaning of Gaelic words was perverted
by the Saxon -speaking people, was the
origin of the phrase, "to be whipped at
the cart's tail." — Gaelic Etymology of the
Languages of Western Europe.
Witter, to struggle, to fight, to
strive in enmity ; from the Teu-
tonic wider, against, contrary
to ; wider-sacher, an antagonist ;
wider-sprechen, to contradict ;
Flemish weder-partij , an adver-
sary, an opposing party.
To struggle in whatever way, — often for
a subsistence; as, "I'm witterin awa'."
A witterin body is one who is struggling
with poverty or difficulty. — Jamieson.
Wittering, a proof.
And that was to be a wittering true.
That maiden she had gane.
— Border Minstrelsy : The Broom-
field Hill.
Witterly, knowingly, wittingly ;
to do a thing wUterly, to act on
good information, or with full
knowledge ; to witter, to inform,
and also to prognosticate.
Wod or \imd, stark mad, raging
mad ; old English wode, wuth,
and toouth ; Dutch and Flemish
woode ; German vmth.
Ye haud a stick in the wod man's e'e,
i.e., you hold a stick in the mad man's
eyes, or you continue to provoke one
already enraged. — Jamieson.
When neebors anger at a plea,
And just as wttd as wtul can be,
How easy can the barley bree
Cement the quarrel.
—Burns : Scotch Drink.
The wife was wud, and out o' her wit,
She couldna gang, nor could she sit ;
But aye she cursed and banned.
— The Gaberlunzie Man.
Won, to dwell, to reside, to in-
habit. Waning, a dwelling-place.
From the German wohnen, and
wohnung ; Dutch and Flemish
wonen, to dwell ; wonen-huis, a
dwelling-house, a lodging.
Wo finer — Wooster.
285
There's auld Rab Morris that wons in
the glen,
The king o* guid fellows, and wale o'
auld men.
— Burns.
Wonner, wonder ; applied in con-
tempt to any odd, decrepit, or
despicable creature.
Our whipper-in, wee, blastit wonner.
— Burns : The Twa Dogs.
Wont to be, a phrase applied to
any ancient or obsolete custom
or observance, a thing that used
to be or was wont to he in olden
time.
Mony wont to he's, nae doubt,
An' customs we ken nought about,
— Jamieson : The Piper o' Peebles.
Wooer-bab. It was formerly the
custom among the young men
and lads of the rural population
in the Highlands and Lowlands
of Scotland to wear bows of rib-
bons of flaunting colours in their
garters on high days and holi-
days, when they expected to
meet the lasses, and to dance or
flirt with them.
The lasses' feet are cleanly neat,
Mair braw than when they're fine,
Their faces blythe fu' sweetly kythe,
Hearts leal an' warm an' kind ;
The lads sae trig wi' wooer-bobs
Weel knotted on their garten.
Some unco blate, and some wi' gabs
Gar lasses' hearts gang startin'.
— Burns: Hallowe'en.
*^Bab" says Dr. Adolphus
Wagner, the German editor of
Bums, '* seems akin to the Eng-
lish 606, something that hangs
so as to play loose, and is a
tassel or knot of ribbons, or the
loose ends of such a knot." The
English word boh, in this sense,
is a corruption of the Gaelic
hah, a fringe ; and hahag, a. little
fringe. Perhaps the English
phrase, "tag, rag, and hohtail,"
is from the same source, and
hobtail may signify the ragged
fringe of a frayed outer gar-
ment, hohbing or dangling loose
in the wind.
Wool or 00'. English ; from the
German and Flemish woll ; in
Scottish parlance, oo\ A* oo\
all wool ; a' ae oo\ all one wool ;
ay, a' ae oo\ yes, all one wool.
There is a popular proverb which
formerly ran —
Much cry and little 00',
to which some humorist added —
As the Deil said when he shear'd the sow.
The addendum was at once
adopted by the people, though
some strict philologists re-
main of the opinion that the
first line is complete in itself,
and that *' cry " does not signify
the noise or uproar of the ani-
mal, but is a corruption either
of the Gaelic graidh, or graigh
igry), a flock, a herd, or cruidk,
which has the same meaning,
and signifies a large flock that
yields but little wool. How-
ever this may be, the idea in
the lengthened proverb has a
grotesque humour about it,
which insures its popularity.
Wooster, a wooer, a lover, a
sweetheart.
286
Wooster-tryste — Wowf,
Wooster-tryste, a lonely meeting.
At kirk she was the auld folks' love,
At dance she was the laddies* e'en,
She was the blythest o' the blythe,
At ivooster-trystes on Hallowe'en.
— Allan Cunningham : Cromek's
Remains of Nithsdale and Gal-
loway Song.
Word. "To get the word of,"
i.e., to get the character, or the
repute, of being so and so.
' ' She gets the word o' being a
licht-headed quean," i.e., the
character of being a light-
headed or frivolous woman.
Worl, wurl, wroul, win*. All
these words of a common origin
express the idea of smallness,
or dwarfishness, combined with
perversity, disagreeableness, and
ill-nature. Jamieson has wurlie,
contemptibly small in size ; a
vmrlie body, an ill-grown per-
son ; wurlin, a child or beast
that is unthriven ; wurr, to snarl
like a dog ; wirr, a peevish and
crabbed dwarf; wurr, to be
habitually complaining or snarl-
ing ; and a wurlie rung, a knot-
ted stick. He suggests that
loirr and wurr are corruptions of
were-ivolf, the man-wolf of popu-
lar superstition — one afflicted
with the disease called lycan-
thropy, in which the unhappy
victim imagines himself to be a
wolf, and imitates the bowlings
of that animal. The true ety-
mology is uncertain. Perhaps
all these words are derivable
from the Teutonic quer, oblique,
athwart, perverse — the origin of
the English queer, quirk, and
quirky. Jamieson has also wurp,
a fretful, peevish person ; and
wurpit, afflicted with f retf ulness.
These latter seem akin to the
Gaelic uipear, a clown, a churl,
a bungler; and uipearach, ill-
tempered, churlish.
Worry, to vex, to torment. In
some parts of Scotland it sig-
nifies to strangle, to choke, or
to be suffocated. Worry carl, a
troublesome fellow, or ill-
natured churl, who vexes both
himself and others. Possibly
from the Gaelic uaire, stormy.
(See WiRRY-cow, ante.)
Wow I an exclamation of surprise
or wonder, without etymology,
as exclamations usually are.
A fine fat fodgel wight,
Of stature short, but genius bright,
That's he ! mark weel !
And woTv .' he has an unco slight
O' cauk and keel !
—Burns : On Captain Gro^t.
And ivow ! but my heart dances bound in
and licht,
And my bosom beats blythesome and
cheery.
—James Ballantine : The Gloamin
Hour.
Wowf, partially deranged. The
Scottish language is particularly
rich in words expressive of the
various shades of madness and
insanity ; such as wud, raging,
or stark staring mad; daft,
slightly deranged ; gyte, cranky,
subject to abberrations of intel-
lect on particular points ; doited,
stupidly deranged — all which
words are in addition to, and
Wrack — WrouL
2S7
not in supercession of the Eng-
lish words, mad, idiotic, lunatic,
crazy, &c.
It is very odd how Allan, who, between
ourselves, is a little wow/, seems at times
to have more sense than all of us put to-
gether. — Scott: Tales of My Landlord.
Wrack, to break in pieces, to
VJTech. In English the phrase
''m-ack and ruin" is more often
used than '■'■ wreck and ruin;"
from the same source as wreak,
to act, do, or perform a deed of
anger ; to wreck spite or ven-
geance. It is possibly of the
same origin as the Teutonic
werken, the English work, em-
ployed in the sense of destroy-
ing rather than of creating or
constructing.
Oh, roaring Clyde, ye roar o'er loud,
Your stream is wondrous strong ;
Make me your wrack as I come back.
But spare me as I gang.
— Johnson's Musical Museum : Willie
and May Margaret.
Wraith, an apparition in his own
likeness that becomes visible to
a person about to die ; a water-
spirit.
He held him for some fleeting wraith.
And not a man of blood or breath.
—Sir Walter Scott.
By this the storm grew loud apace.
The water-wraith was shrieking,
And in the scowl of heaven each face
Grew dark as they were speaking.
—Thomas Campbell.
The etymology of this word
is uncertain. Some suppose it
to be derived from wrath, or a
wrathful spirit, summoning to
doom. Jamieson is of opinion
that it is from the same root as
weird, fate or destiny, or the
Anglo-Saxon weard or ward, a
guardian, a keeper, and thence
a fairy, a guardian angel. This
derivation is scarcely tenable ;
that from breith, doom or judg-
ment, aspirated as bhreith, is
more probable, as the apparition
of the wraith is always supposed
to forebode the doom of the
person who sees it.
Wrang, English wrong. The ety-
mology of this word has been
much disputed ; but it seems to
be from wring, to twist, and
wrung, twisted or distorted from
the right line. Wrang in Scot-
tish parlance sometimes signifies
deranged — out of the right line
of reason. ** He's a' wrang," i.e.,
he is demented. Wrang-wise is
a wrong manner; the opposite
of the English right-wise or
righteous.
Writer, an attorney. Writer to
the Signet, a solicitor licensed
to conduct cases in the superior
courts.
Wroul, an ill-formed or diminu-
tive child ; a name originally
applied to one who was sup-
posed to have been changed in
its cradle by malicious fairies ;
a changeling. Jamieson refers to
wer-wolf, a man supposed to be
transformed into a wolf, called
by the French a loup-garou, but
this is evidently not the true
derivation, which is more pro*
288
Wud-scud — Wyteworthy.
bably from the Dutch and Fle-
mish ruil, to exchange.
Wud-scud, a wild scamper, a
panic, called by the Americans
a stampede ; from vmd, mad, and
scud, to run precipitately and in
confusion. The word is some-
times applied to an over-restive
or over-frolicsome boy or girl,
whom it is difficult to keep
quiet.
Wudspur, a Scottish synonym for
the English Hotspur, wild, reck-
less, one who rides in hot haste ;
from the Flemish woete, German
wuth, old English wode and spur.
It is difficult to decide which of
the two words was the original
epithet, and whether wood-spur
in Scottish parlance was, or was
not, anterior in usage to the
Hotspur of the great poet.
There was a wild gallant among us a',
His name was Watty wi' the ntrudspur.
— Border Minstrelsy : Ballad of
Jamie Telfer.
Wyg to wa'. "A thing," says
Jamieson, ** is said to gang frae
wyg to wa', when it is moved
backwards and forwards from
the one wall of a house to the
other." He suggests that wyg
is but another name for wall,
and that the phrase signifies
really "from wall to wall." It
is more probable that wyg is but
a misspelling of the Gaelic uig,
Wyte, to blame, to reproach
The etymology is derived by
Jamieson from the Anglo-Saxon
witan, to know, and the Gothic
wita, to impute. But the root
of the word is the Flemish
wyten, to blame, to reproach.
Ane does the skaith, and
Another gets the luyte.
— Allan Ramsay's Scois Prarverbs.
Many ivyte their wives
For their ain thriftless lives.
Idem.
Alas ! that every man has reason
To luyte his countrymen wi' treason.
— Burns : Scotch Drink.
" Dame ! deem warily ! Ye watna wha
ivytes yoursel." — Old Proverb. (A warning
to a censorious or tattling woman to beware
of scandal, lest she herself should be scan-
dalised.)
This was an English word in
the time of Chaucer, but has
long been obsolete except in
Scotland.
Wyter, one who blames ; an
accuser.
Wyteworthy, blameable, blame-
worthy.
Yald — Yankee.
289
Yald, sprightly, active, nimble,
alert ; yald-cuted (erroneously-
spelled yaul-cuted in Jamieson),
nimble-footed ; from yald, nim-
ble, and cute, an ankle.
Being yald and stout, he wheel'd about,
And clove his head in twain.
— Hogg's Mountain Bard.
Yammer, yaumer, to lament, to
complain ; from the Flemish
jammer, lamentation ; jamTnern,
to complain or lament ; jammer-
voll, lamentable.
Fareweel to the bodies that yammer and
mourn.
— Herd's Collection 0/ Scottish Songs,
Bide ye Vet.
We winna, shauna, yaumerin' yirn
Though Fortune's freaks we dree.
— Whistle Binkie.
In Lancashire and the North
of England yammer is used in
another sense, that of yearning
or desiring ardently.
I yammer d to hear now how things
turned out.
— Tim Bobbin : Lancashire Dialect.
And the worm yammers for us in the
ground.
— Waugh's Lancashire Songs.
Yankee, an inhabitant of Massa-
chusetts, Rhode Island,Vermont,
Connecticut, New Hampshire,
and Maine, the six New England
States of the American Union.
The etymology of the Scottish
word has not been ascertained.
Jank (pronounced yank) in Dutch
and Flemish, signifies to cry out
lustily, and junger, in German,
is a young man, the Enghsh
youriker ; but neither of these
words can account for yankie,
either in the Scottish or Ameri-
can sense. Danish and Swedish
afford no clue. In provincial
English, yanks are a species of
leather gaiters worn by agricul-
tural labourers, which, accord-
ing to Halliwell, were once called
' ' Bow Yankies." But this can-
not be accepted as the origin,
unless on the supposition that
at the time of the emigration of
the first colonists to America, the
term signified not only leather
gaiterSjbut those who wore them.
This epithet is often erroneously
applied in England to all Ame-
ricans, though it is repudiated
by the people of the Middle,
Southern, and Western States.
It is supposed to be a mispro-
nunciation of English by the
aboriginal Indian tribes, on the
first colonisation of the Conti-
nent. Much controversy has
arisen on the subject, which
still remains undecided. No
one, however, has hitherto re-
marked that the Scottish verna-
cular supplies the words yank,
yanking, which signify a smart
T
290
Yap — Yark,
stroke ; yanher, an incessant
speaker, and also a great false-
hood ; yanking, active, pushing,
speculative, enterprising. It is
not insisted that this is the cor-
rect etymology, but if it be only a
coincidence it merits considera-
tion. No true New Englander
would dissent from it for any
other than philological reasons,
in which it is certainly vulner-
able, though on moral grounds
it is all but unassailable.
Yap, yappish, sometimes written
yaup, hungry, eager, brisk co-
vetous.
Right yap she yoked to the ready feast.
And lay and ate a full half-hour at least.
—Ross's Helenore.
This word is probably derived
from the Gaelic gah or gob, the
mouth — whence by extension of
meaning, an open mouth, crav-
ing to be fiUed. The English
word gape, to yawn, or open
the mouth wide, is from the
same root. The eminent trage-
dian, Philip Kemble, always
pronouncd ga'pe as ga^ip, not
gaipe, and the late W. C. Mac-
ready followed his example.
Jamieson travels very far north
to find the derivation in the Ice-
landic gypa, vorax.
Although her wame was toom and she
grown j/ap.
—Ross's Helenore.
Though bairns may pu' when yap or
drouthy
A neep or bean to taste their mouthy.
But a' the neeps and a' the beans.
The hips, the haws, the slaes, the geens,
That e'er were pu'd by hungry weans
Could ne'er be missed,
By lairds like you, wi' ample means
In bank and kist.
— James Ballantine : To the Laird
of Blackford Hill.
Now hell's black table-cloth was spread,
The infernal grace was duly said ;
Yap stood the hungry fiends a' owre it.
Their grim jaws aching to devour it.
— Jacobite Songs and Ballads : Cumber-
lands Descent into Hell.
At that moment yap as ever. — Nodes
Ambrosiance,
Yare, a word still used by sailors,
but obsolete in literature, signi-
fying ready, alert, heedful, or
in a state of readiness ; used
by Shakspeare and the writers
of his time.
Our ship is tight and yare.
— Tempest, act v. scene i.
If you have occasion to use me for your
own turn, you shall find me yare. — Mea-
sure for Measure, act iv. scene 2.
Be yare in thy preparations, for thy
assailant is quick, .skilful, and deadly. —
Shakspeare : Twelfth Night.
Nares derives it from the Saxon
gearwe, paratus ; but the real
root seems to be the Celtic aire,
heed, attention, alertness, readi-
ness for action or duty ; as in
the modem Gaelic phrase,
'•Thoir an aire," pay attention,
be on the alert ; be yare ! allied
to the French gare ! and the
English heware !
Yark, to smite suddenly, forcibly,
and aimlessly; possibly a cor-
ruption of jerk.
He .swat a.n' yarkit wi' his hammer,
The sparks flew frae the steel like
glamour.
— Beattie : /ohn o Amha'.
Yatter — Yestreen .
291
Yatter (a corruption of the Eng-
lish chatter), to talk idly and
incessantly ; also, to complain
querulously, and without reason.
*' She's a weary 2/aWer," i.e., she's
a tedious and wearisome gossip.
Yatter also signifies a confused
mass or heap, and is synonymous
with hatter. (See ante, p. 841.)
Yaud or "far yaudi" an inter-
jection or call by a shepherd to
his dog, to direct his attention
to sheep that have strayed, and
that are far in the distance.
Yaud, in this sense, as cited by
Jamieson, seems to be a mis-
pronunciation or misprint of
yont ! or yonder.
Yeld, or yell, barren, unfruit-
ful. In Galloway, according to
Jamieson, yald signifies nig-
gardly. The etymology is un-
certain, though supposed to be
a corruption of geld, to castrate,
to render unproductive.
A yeld soil, flinty or barren soil. A cow,
although with calf, is said to gang yeld
when the milk dries up. A yeld nurse
is a dry nurse. Applied metaphorically
to broth without flesh meat in it (soupe-
maigre). — Jamieson.
A yeld sow was never good to grices
[i.e., a barren sow was never good to little
pigs, or, a barren stepmother to the chil-
dren of her husband by a previous wife.] —
Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Thence country wives, in toil and pain,
May plunge and plunge the kirn in vain.
For oh, your yellow treasure's ta'en .
By witching skill.
And dawtit, twal-pint Hawkie's gaen
As yelfs the bull.
—Burns : Address to the Deil.
Yerk, a smart blow ; yerker, a very
smart and knock down blow ;
supposed to be a corruption of
jei'k, with which, however, it is
not synonymous.
There's news, news, gallant news.
There's gallant news o' tartan trews,
An' red Clanranald's men, Joe ;
There has been blinking on the bent,
An' flashing on the fell, Joe,
The redcoat sparks hae got ih& Jerks,
But carle dauma tell, Joe.
—Jacobite Relics : Clanranalds Men.
Yestreen, last night, or yesterday
evening. Yester, both in Eng-
lish and Scotch, was used as
a prefix to signify time past ;
as yester- jeai, yester -m.onth,
yester-week ; but in English its
use has in modern times been
restricted to day and night ;
and, by a strange surplusage
of words, to yesterday night
instead of yester night, and
yesterday morning instead of
yester morn. In Scotland, its
use is more extended, and
yestereen or yestreen, yesternoon,
yesternight, are employed alike
in poetic style and in every-
day conversation. The word is
from the German gestern {g pro-
nounced as y) and the Flemish
gistern.
I saw the new moon late yestreen,
Wi' the auld moon in her arm,
And if we gang to sea, master,
I fear we'll come to harm.
—Sir Patrick Spens : Border
Minstrelsy.
I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen,
A gate I fear I'll sairly rue,
I gat my death frae twa sweet e'en,
Twa sparklin' e'en o' bonnie blue.
—Burns.
292
Yethar — Yorne.
The derivation of the Teutonic
gestern and gistern is probably
from the Gaelic aosda, aged or
old ; so that yesterday, in con-
tradiction to this day, or the
new day, would signify the old
day, the day that is past. Latin
hesternus.
Yethar, a willow-wythe ; also, a
blow with a switch ; probably a
corruption of wytker, a stroke
with a wythe.
Yevey, greedy, voracious, clamor-
ous for food. Of doubtful ety-
mology, though possibly from
the Gaelic eibh (ev), to clamour.
Yill, ale or beer.
A cogie o' jfzll
And a pickle oatmeal,
An' a dainty wee drappie o' whisky —
An' hey for the cogie,
An' hey for the ^ill,
Gin ye steer a' thegither, they'll do unco
weel.
—A Cogie o Yill, 1787.
Yird-fast or earth-fast, a stone
well sunken in the earth, or a
tree fast rooted in the ground.
The axe he bears it hacks and tears,
'Tis formed of an earth-fast flint ;
No armour of knight, though ever so wight,
Can bear its deadly dint.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border :
Leyden —The Count of Keeldar.
A yirdfast or insulated stone, enclosed
in a bed of earth, is supposed to possess
peculiar properties. Its blow is reckoned
uncommonly severe.— Sir Walter Scott.
Yirr, the growl of a dog, English
gxirr. Gurl, growl ; gem, to
grin or snarl with ill-nature or
anger.
Yoak, to look, to look at ; pos-
sibly from the German aug, the
Flemish oog^ the Latin ocidus,
the eye ; the English ogle, to
look at.
Voak your orlitch [horloge]. Look at
your watch [or clock]. — Jamieson.
Yon. The use of yon and tlion, in
the sense of that, is much more
common in Scotland than in
England ; as in the phrase,
"Do ye ken yon man?" do
you know that man. It is also
used for yonder ; as, yon hill,
for yonder hill. It is sometimes
pronounced and written thon ;
as in the following anecdote of
a wilful child, narrated by Dean
When he found every one getting soup
and himself omitted, he demanded soup,
and said, " If I dinna get it, I'll tell thon."
Soup was given him. At last, when it
came to wine, his mother stood firm and
positively refused. He then became more
vociferous than ever about telling thon;
and as he was again refused, he again de-
clared, " Now, I'll tell tJion," and roared
out, "Ma new breeks were made out o'
the auld curtains ! "
Yorlin, a small bird, more com-
monly known in England as the
"yeUow hammer." Scottishand
English boys have a traditional
prejudice against this bird, for
some imaginary reason, or no
reason at all. It sometimes
reads in the old rhyme : —
Yellow, y&Wow yorling.
You are the devil's darling.
Yorne, prepared, made ready ;
part participle of yare ready,
or to make ready.
Youk — Yowff.
293
To Norroway, to Norroway,
To Norroway o'er the faern,
The king's daughter o' Norroway,
'Tis we maun bring her hame ;
Ye'U eat and drink, my merry men a'.
An' see ye be weel yome,
For blaw it weet, or blaw it sleet,
Our gude ship sails the morn.
Mr. Robert Chambers, in his
Collection of Scots Ballads,
1829, prints thorne instead of
yorne, without note or comment,
or apparent knowledge of the
unmeaning word.
Youk or yeuk, to itch ; yowJcy,
itchy. From the Teutonic
jucken, pronounced yucken.
Your neck's youkin for a St. Johnstone
ribbon. — Allan Ramsay's Scots Pro-
verbs.
(A taunt, implying that a man's
career and character is such as
to merit hanging, and that he
is nearly ready for it. St.
Johnstone, now Perth, was the
assize city. A ribbon signified
the rope.)
How daddie Burke the plea was cookin',
If Warren Hastings' neck y/zs yeukin.
— Burns : To a Gentleman -who Pro-
mised him a Newspaper.
Thy auld darned 6[hovf yeuks with joy.
— Burns : To Colonel de Peyster.
A parishioner in an Ayrshire village,
meeting the minister, who had just returned
after long absence on account of ill health,
congratulated him on his convalescence,
and added, anticipatory of the pleasure he
would have in hearing him preach again —
" Eh, sir I I'm unco yuckie to hear a blaud
o' your gab."— Dean Ramsay.
YouUie, a name formerly given to
the police in Edinburgh by idle
boys or bad characters. " A
low term," says Jamieson, "pro-
bably formed from the yowling
or calling out." Was it not
rather formed from the Gaelic
uallach, proud, haughty, arro-
gant, and given to the poUce
derisively by the blackguards
of the streets when, as they
thought, they were interfered
with unnecessarily, or ordered
to move on ? Or it may be from
yoly, the French joli, pretty or
handsome, used contemptuous-
ly, as in the phrase, "my fine
fellow."
Yowe, a ewe, a female sheep, a
lamb ; yowie, a eye lamb.
Ca' the yowes to the knowes [hills],
Ca' them where the heather grows,
Ca' them where the burnie rowes.
My bonnie dearie.
—Burns.
An' neist my yowie, silly thing,
Gude keep her frae a tether string.
— Burns: Poor Mailie.
Yowf, to strike hard and sud-
denly, as the ball is struck at
the favourite Scottish game of
golf. The common pronuncia-
tion of golf is gowf, and yowf is
probably, as Jamieson alleges, a
corruption of that word.
But had we met wi' Cumberland
On Athol's braes or yonder strand.
The blood o' a' his savage band
Had dyed the German Sea, man.
An' cousin Geordie up the gate
We wad \i2i.e yowf d ixzie Charlie's seat,
And sent him hame to bide in state,
In's native Germanie, man.
^Jacobite Minstrelsy : Bauldie Trovers'
Lament for Culloden.
Yowff, to bark in a suppressed or
feeble manner; said of a dog
294
Yowl — Yum.
who is not very earnest in his
displeasure.
Ye puir creature you ! what needs ye
yow^when the big dog barks ? — Laird of
Logan.
Yowl, to howl, or whine as a dog ;
sometimes written gowl ; from
the Gaelic guil, or gul^ to la-
ment.
And darkness covered a' the ha'.
Where they sat at their meat,
The gray ^o%% yowling \&{x. their food,
And crept to Henrie's feet.
— Border Minstrelsy : King Henry.
Yule. Yvle was a Druidical fes-
tival in honour of the sun, cele-
brated at the winter solstice, in
ages long anterior to the Chris-
tian era.
Yide, about the etymology of
which there has been much con-
troversy, was probably named in
honour of the sun — the source
of all heat and life upon this
globe ; from uile, all, the whole,
whence, by extension of mean-
ing, the whole year, ending at
what we now call Christmas,
and which in early times signi-
fied completion, the full turn
of the wheel of the year. The
Gaelic cuidhil, a wheel, has also
been suggested as the true root
of the word ; while iid, guidance,
knowledge, has found favour
with other etymologists, because
on that day the assembled
Druids, in their groves or in
their stone circles, laid down
rules for the guidance of the
people during the coming year.
lul oidche, or the guide of night,
was a name applied by Ossian
to the Polar star. The French
noel, and old English nowdl,
names for Christmas or Tide,
are from the Gaelic Tiaomh,
holy, and Id, a day. Jamieson,
in citing the northern appella-
tion for Odin as iul-fader, is in
error in translating it as the
father of Yule, or Christmas, in-
stead of "All-Father," or father
of all, which was an epithet
applied to the sun as the Father
of Light and Life.
Langer lasts year than yule. — Allan
Ramsay's Scots Prwerbs.
Duncan Gray cam' here to woo
On blythe j/k/i? night when we were fu'.
— Burns : Duncan Gray.
Yurn, coagulate, churn, curdle.
And sjme he set the milk ower het,
And sorrow a spark of it wad yume.
— The Wife of Auchtermuchty.
LOST SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH
PRETERITES.
A LIVING language is like a living man. It has its tender
infancy ; its passionate youth ; its careful maturity ; its gra-
dual, though it may be imperceptible, decay ; and, finally, its
death. After death comes apotheosis, if it has been worthy
of such honour — or burial in the books, which, like the re-
mains or memorials of ancient heroes, become the sacred
treasures of newer ages. All languages pass through these
epochs in their career. Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin are fami-
liar examples of the death and sanctity of great and mighty
tongues, that were once living powers to sway the passions
and guide the reason of men. In their ashes even yet live
the wonted fires that scholars love to rekindle. The languages
of modem Europe that have sprung directly from the Latin
may all be said to have passed their infancy and youth, and
to have reached maturity, if not old age. The Celtic or Keltic
languages — all sprung from an ancient Oriental root, and
which include Gaelic, often called Erse or Irish, Manx, Welsh,
and Breton — appear to be in the last stage of vitality, destined
to disappear, at no very remote period, into the books, which
will preserve their memory. Were it not for Victor Hugo,
and some recent borrowings from the English, and the coin-
age of Ergot or Slang, it might be said that French had
ceased to expand, and had become stereotyped into a form no
296 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
longer to be modified. Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian hold
their own ; and that is all that can be said of them. German,
and the languages sprung from the same root and stem, con-
tain within themselves such immense resources, and are so
continually evolving out of their rich internal resources such
new compounds, if not such new words, as to free them from
that reproach of stagnation which may not unjustly be applied
to the other great tongues which we have enumerated. But
English — which, taken all in all, may be considered by far
the richest, though not the most beautiful or the most son-
orous, of all the languages spoken in our day — is yet in its
vigorous prime, and, though it may be accused of vulgar cor-
ruptions and perversions, cannot be accused of exhibiting any
symptoms of decay. It is doubtful whether it has yet reached
the full maturity of its growth, or whether the mighty nations
now existent in America, or the as mighty nations which are
destined yet to arise in Australia and New Zealand, will not,
as time rolls on, and new wants are created, new circumstances
encountered, and new ideas evolved out of the progress of
science and civilisation, add many thousands of new words to
our already copious vocabulary. Other languages are dainty
in the materials of their increment ; but the English is, like
man himself, omnivorous. Nothing comes much amiss to its
hungry palate. All the languages of the earth administer to
its wants. It borrows, it steals, it assimilates what words it
pleases from all the points of the compass, and asks no ques-
tions of them, but that they shall express thoughts and describe
circumstances more tersely and more accurately than any of
the old words besides which they are invited to take their
places. The beautiful dialect of its Scottish brother has given
it strong and wholesome food, in the shape of many poetical
words, which it is not likely to part with. But if the English
is thus perpetually growing and gaining, it is at the same time
perpetually losing. Were it not for the noble translation of
Lost Preterites. 297
the Bible, and for Chaucer, Gower, and the poets of the Eliza-
bethan age, it would have lost still more than it has of its
early treasures, and would have been Latinised to an extent
that would have impaired and emasculated it, by depriving it
of that sturdy vernacular which is the richest element in its
blood, and best serves to build up its bone and muscle. If
few languages now spoken in the world have gained so much
as the English from the progress of civilisation, it must be
admitted, at the same time, that few have lost so much, and
lost it without necessity. It has been said that a good car-
penter is known as much by the shape as by the quantity of
his chips ; and the chips that the English tongue has thrown
off since the days of "Piers Ploughman" to our own, betoken,
both by quality and by quantity, what a plethora of wealth it
possesses, and what a very cunning carpenter Time has proved
in working with such abundant materials.
It is one of the current assertions which, once started on
high authority, are very rarely questioned, that the writings
of Chaucer are a "well of pure English undefiled." Chaucer,
though so ancient in our eyes, was a neologist in his own day,
and strove rather to increase the wealth of the written English,
of which he was so great a master, by the introduction of
words from the Norman-French, lit;tle understood by the bulk
of the people, though familiar enough to the aristocracy, for
whom he mainly wrote, than to fix in his pages for ever the
strong simple words of his native Saxon. The stream of Eng-
lish in his writings runs pure and cool ; the stream of Norman -
French runs pure and bright also ; but the two currents that
he introduced into his song never thoroughly intermingled in
the language, and at least nine-tenths of the elegant Gallicisms
which he employed found no favour with successive writers ;
and few of them have remained, except in the earlier poems
of Milton. If we really wish to discover the true well of
English undefiled, where the stream runs clear and unmixed, we
298 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
must look to the Scottish author of ** The King's Quair " and
to the author of "Piers Ploughman," claimed by Buchanan,
the tutor of King James the Sixth of Scotland and the first
of England, to have been a Scotsman, rather than to Chaucer.
"We shall there find a large vocabulary of strong words, such
as are plain to all men's comprehension at the present day,
in the Bible as well as in the common speech of the peasantry ;
and, above all, in that ancient form of the English language
which is known as the Scottish dialect, and which, in reality,
is the oldest English now spoken.
Since the days of " Piers Ploughman," a work invaluable
to every English and Scottish philologist, the spoken language
of the peasantry has undergone but few changes as regards
words, but very many changes as regards terminations and
inflections. On the other hand, the language of literature
and polite society has undergone changes so vast that unedu-
cated people are scarcely able to understand the phraseology
that occurs in the masterpieces of our great authors, or the
Sunday sermons of their pastors, delivered, as the saying is,
" above their heads," in words that are rarely or never em-
ployed in their everyday hearing. Among this class survive
large numbers of verbs as well as of inflections that ought
never to have been allowed to drop out of literature, and
which it only needs the efforts of a few great writers and
orators to restore to their original favour.
Among the losses which the modern English and Scottish
languages have undergone are, first, the loss of the plurals in n
and in en, and the substitution of the plural in s; secondly, the
present particle in and, for which we have substituted the nasal
and disagreeable ing ; thirdly, the loss of the French negative
ne, as in nill, for * I will not ;' nould, for * I would not ;' n^am,
for * I am not ; ' and of which the sole trace now remaining is
* willy-nilly ; ' and, fourthly, the substituting of the preterite
in d, as in loved and admire<i, for the older and much stronger
Lost Preterites. 299
preterite formed by a change in the vowel sound of the
infinitive and the present, as in run, ran ; bite, bit ; speak,
spoke ; take, took ; and many others that still survive. And
not only has the language lost the strong preterite in a great
variety of instances where it would have been infinitely better
to have retained it, but it has lost many hundred preterites
altogether, as well as many whole verbs, which the illiterate
sometimes use, but which literature for a hundred and fifty
years has either ignored or despised. Of all the nouns that
formerly formed their plural in n, as the German or Saxon
nouns still for the most part do, very few survive — some in
the Bible, some in poetical composition, some in the common
conversation of the peasantry, and some, but very few, in
polite literature. Among them may be mentioned * oxen,' for
oxes; *kine,' for cows; ' shoon,' for shoes ; ' hosen,' for stock-
ings j ' een,' for eyes ; * housen,' for houses ; and the words, as
common to the vernacular as to literature, 'men,' 'women,'
' brethren,' and ' children.' In America, the word ' sistern '
as a companion to brethren, survives in the conventicle and
the meeting 'house. 'Lamben' and 'thumben,' for 'lambs'
and 'thumbs,' were comparatively euphemistic words; but
thumbs and lambs, and every noun which ends with a con-
sonant in the singular, are syllables which set music, and
sometimes pronunciation, at defiance. What renders the
matter worse is, that the s in the French plural, from which
this perversion of the English language was adopted, is not
sounded, and that the plural is really marked by the change
of the definite article, as le champ, les champs. Thus in bor-
rowing an unpronounced consonant from the French, in order
to pronounce it the English have adulterated their language
with a multitude of sibilations alien to its spirit and original
structure. The substitution of s for eth as the terminal of
the present person singular of every verb in the language is
an aggravation of the evil. If this change had been repudiated
300 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
by our forefathers, a grace much needed would have been
retained in the language.
Gradually, too, the English language has lost the large num-
ber of diminutives which it formerly possessed, and which are
still common in the Scottish language and its dialects. The
English diminutives in ordinary use in the nursery are many,
but are chiefly employed in the pet names of children, as
* Willie,' for little William ; * Annie,' for little Ann ; and so
forth. The diminutives belonging to literature are few, and if
we write * darling,' for little dear ; ' lordling,' for a small lord ;
' mannikin,' for a very small man ; and such words as ' gos-
ling,' * duckling,' * kitten,' we have pretty nearly exhausted
the list. But formerly almost every monosyllabic noun had
its lawful diminutive, as it has to this day in the Scottish
dialect, where such words as ' housie,' * wifie,' ' birdie,' ' doggie,'
' bairnie,' * mannie,' * bookie,' * lassie,' * lammie,' and hundreds
of others, are constantly employed. Every Scotsman under-
stands the phrase *'a bonnie ivee lassiekie,^^ in which there are
no less than three diminutives piled one upon the other, to
increase the tenderness of an expression which ceased to be
English four hundred years ago.
Among other losses of the English from which the Scottish
language has not suffered to the same extent are the plural in
eM of the present tenses of all the verbs. We love?^ and we
smile/i would serve many rhymical needs, and administer to
many poetic elegancies that the modem forms in English do
not supply.
"The persons plural," observes Ben Jonson, a Scotsman, in
his " English Grammar " — a work by no means so well known
as his poetry — " keep the termination of the first person sin-
gular. In former times, till about the reign of King Henry
VIII., they were wont to be formed by adding en; thus,
* loven,' 'sayen,' 'complainen.' But now (whatsoever is the
cause) it hath grown quite out of use. Albeit (to tell you my
Lost Preterites. 301
opinion) I am persuaded that the lack thereof, well considered,
will be found a great blemish to our tongue."
But of all the losses which the language has sustained, not
alone for poetry, but for oratory, that of many useful verbs,
some of which are still existing in Scottish parlance, and
of the ancient preterites and past participles of many old verbs
of which the infinitives and present tenses still hold their
places, is the most to be deplored. This loss began early ;
and that the process is still in operation in the present day,
is manifest from the fact that many preterites written in
the best books and spoken in the best society forty years ago,
are dropping out of use before our eyes. We constantly find
hid for hade — * he hids me now ; ' ' he hid me yesterday ; ' dare
for durst — ' I told him I dare not do it ; ' need for needed — * it
was clear to me a year ago that he need not perform his pro-
mise ; eat for ate or ett — *' he eat his dinner; ' het for hetted —
' he het me a thousand to one.' The verbs to let, to cast, and
to puty seem to have enjoyed no preterite during the last two
hundred years in England, though in Scottish literature, both
of the past and the present, their preterites are as common
as their infinitives and present tenses. Must, in^ English, is
equally devoid of the infinitive, the preterite, and the future ;
while can has a preterite, but neither infinitive nor future.
For what reasons these and similar losses have occurred in
English, it might be interesting to inquire, though it might
possibly lead us into metaphysical mazes were we to ask why
an Englishman who may say * I can ' and * I could,' must not
say * I will can,^ but must resort to the periphrase of * I will
be able,' to express power in futurity ; or why the sense of
present duty and obligation implied in the words * I must, '
cannot be expressed by the same verb if the duty be bygone or
future, as * I musted^ or * I will must^ but have to be translated,
as it were, into * I was obliged,' or * I will be obliged,' to do
such and such a thing hereafter. These, however, are losses,
302 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
whatever may be their occult causes, which can never again be
supplied, and which at our time of day it is useless to lament.
The loss which most immediately aifects the poetical power
of modern English is that of the many preterites and past
participles of ancient verbs that are still in use, and of many
good verbs in all their tenses which without reason have been
left for vernacular use to Scotland, and have not been admitted
to the honours of literature, except in the poems of Robert
Burns and the novels of Sir Walter Scott. These preterites
ought not to be lost — they are not dead but sleeping — and
only need the fostering care of two or three writers and
speakers of genius and influence to be revived. They formed
the bone and pith of the language of our forefathers, and the
beauty and strength of the Bible in many of its noblest
passages, and particularly commend themselves to us in
Shakspeare, and other Scottish writers.
Axe, to inquire. This was the original and is the legitimate
form of the verb now written and pronounced ask, and it is
not only to be heard in colloquial use all over the British Isles,
but to be found in our earliest writers, with the inflexions
axed and axen.
Envy with heavy harte
Axed after Thrifte.
— Vision of Piers Ploughman.
If he axe a fish.
— Wickliffe's Translation of the Bible.
Axe not why.
— Chaucer : The Miller's Tale.
For the purposes of lyrical poetry and musical composition,
the past participle of this verb, if reintroduced into literature,
would be a vast improvement upon the harsh sound asked,
which no vocalist can pronounce without a painful gasp.
Bake, boke, bulk, beuk, boken, to bake. Both the pre-
terite and the past participle of this verb are lost to litera-
Lost Preterites. 303
ture, though they survive in the rural dialects of Scotland
and the north of England. The language possesses but few
trochaic rhymes, and in this respect boken might do good
service to many a poet at his wits' end for a rhyme to
* broken ' and * token.'
They never beuk a good cake, but
May bake a bad one.
—Allan Ramsay's Scots Proverbs.
Beat, beaten. *' The preterite of this verb," says Walker,
in his *' Pronouncing Dictionary," " is uniformly pronounced
by the English like the present tense." " I think," says Dr.
Johnson to Home Tooke, in one of the imaginary conversations
of Savage Landor, " that I have somewhere seen the preterite
bate.'' "I am afraid," replied Tooke, "of reminding you
where you probably met with the word. The Irishman in
Fielding's * Tom Jones' says * he bate me.' " Johnson replied,
**that he would not hesitate to employ the word in grave
composition ; " and Tooke acquiesced in the decision, justify-
ing it by a statement of the fact, which, however, he did not
prove, "that authors much richer both in thought and ex-
pression than any now living or recently deceased have done
so." Children, who often make preterites of their own, in
this respect acting unconsciously upon the analogies of the
language, often say bett for did beat. And the children, it would
appear, are correct, if the following from " Piers Ploughman "
be considered good English : —
He laid on me with rage
And hitte me under the ear ;
He buffeted me so about the mouthe
That out my teeth he bette.
In Ross's " Helenore " — a perfect storehouse of Scottish words
current in Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, the Mearns, and
the north-east of Scotland — we find, —
Baith their hearts bett wi' the common stound,
And had nae pain, but pleasure in the wound.
304 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
This preterite might well be revived ; it is sadly wanted, as
witness the following passage from Mr. Disraeli's ''Vivian
Grey " : " Never was she so animated ; never had she boasted
that her pulse heat more melodious music, or her lively blood
danced a more healthful measure." If * danced ' (a preterite),
why not hett, as " Piers Ploughman " has it ? The following
recent example of the present for the past participle beaten,
is wholly unjustifiable : —
They were stoned, and the horse in their vehicle heat severely. —
Temple Bar Magazine, March 1869.
Betide, betid, from tide, to happen. The preterite is lost.
It occurs both in " Piers Ploughman " and in Chaucer :
Thee should never have tidde so fair a grace.
— Canterbury Tales.
Bid, and its derivative forbid. The ancient preterite and
past participle of this verb were hade and hidden, forbade
and forbidden. Both of these inflections are threatened with
extinction ; — for what offence it is impossible to surmise.
Shakspeare says —
The very moment that he hade me do it.
That our modern writers do not follow the example of Shak-
speare, and conform to the rules of good English, may appear
from the following examples : —
The competition is so sharp and general that the leader of to-day can
never be sure that he will not be outbid to-morrow. — Quarterly Review,
April 1868.
Mr. Charles Dickens has finally hid farewell to Philadelphia. — Times,
March 4, 1868.
Uncertain even at that epoch (1864) of Austria's fidelity, Prussia bid
high for German leadership. — Times, April 9, 1868.
He called his servants and bid them procure firearms. — Times, letter
from Dublin, March 2, 1868.
James the First, besides writing a book against tobacco, forbid its use
by severe penalties. — Tobacco, by D. King, M.D.
Lost Preterites. 305
Blend, blent, to mingle. The preterite of this verb pro-
perly preserved by the poets, but seems to have entirely given
way in prose and in ordinary speech to 'blended.' Any
reason for the change it is impossible to discover ; for if it be
correct to say * blended,' it would be equally correct to say
* spended,' * lended,' or ' rended. ' This form of the preterite in
the verb * to mend ' has properly been superseded by * mended,'
in order to avoid the confusion that would be caused in the
use of the verb * to mean,' which has its proper preterite in
* meant. ' Byron uses blent with fine effect in his noble lines
on *' The Battle of Waterloo : "—
Rider and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial hUnt.
Blin, to cease, to stop ; hlan, ceased, stopped.
And so he did or that they went at win.
Till he had turned him he could not hlin.
— Chaucee : The Chanones' YemarCs Tale.
Her tears did never hlin.
— Nares : Romeus and Jvlietta.
One while then the page he went,
Another while he ranne.
Till he'd o'ertaken King Estmere,
I wis he never hlanne.
— Percy's Reliques : King Estmere.
Bren or brend, brent or brand, to bum. This verb is lost,
though it might well have been retained in the language.
" A brand plucked from the burning," and bran new, or brant
new, new as a coin newly issued from the fires of the mint, are
almost its sole remnants : —
Bring in better wood,
And blow it till it hrend.
— Piers Ploughman.
Brest, brast, to burst.
Have thou my truth, till that mine herte hrest.
— Chaucer : The Franklein's Tale.
U
3o6 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
The mayor smote Cloudeslee with his bill,
His buckler he hrast in two.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border : Adam Bell, Clym
of the (Rough, and William of Cloudeslee.
Busk, busked, to adorn, to dress, to make ready ; from the
Gaelic husg, to dress ; husgadh, a head-dress, an ornament.
Bush ye, my merry men all.
And John shall go with me.
— Percy's Reliques : Rohin Hood and 'Guy
of Gisborne.
The king's bowmen busked them blythe.
— Adavi Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of
Cloudeslee.
The noble baron whet his courage hot,
And husked him boldly to the dreadful fight,
— Fairfax : Translation of Tasso.
Bush ye, bush ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride.
Hamilton : Braes o' Yarrow.
A bonnie bride is soon busJcit. — Allan Kamsay's Scots Proverbs.
Cast, to throw. This verb in English has lost its preterite
coast, and its past participle, casten. Both survive in Scotland
and the North of England.
They coost kevils them amang
Wha should to the greenwood gang.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
Burns employs the preterite in " The Death and Dying Words
of Poor MaiUe " :—
As Mailie and her lamb thegither.
Were ae day nibbling on the tether.
Upon her cloot she coost a hitch.
And again in his immortal song of " Duncan Gray " : —
Maggie coost her head fu' high.
Looked asklent and unco skeigh,
Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh.
Lost Preterites. 307
In the Scottish dialect * to cast out ' means * to fall out/
* to disagree ; ' and the phrase *' they have casten out " is of
constant occurrence.
Chirm, charm, churm, to sound like the murmur or sound
of a multiplicity of birds. Mr. Halliwell, in his "Archaic
Dictionary," defines the word to mean the melancholy under-
tone of a bird previous to a storm. Nares, in his Glossary,
has charref to make a confused noise, a word current in some
parts of England. The word is common in Scotland, though
almost obsolete in the South.
Small birds with chirming and with cheeping changed their song.
— Gawin Douglas's Translation of the jEneid.
At last the kindly sky began to clear,
The birds to chirm, and daylight to appear,
— Ross's Helenore.
Milton makes Eve speak of the ^^ charm of earliest birds," a
phrase which has been misinterpreted to mean the charming
(in the modern sense) song of the birds, while it really means
chirm (in the old English and modern Scottish sense), the con-
fused and intermingled song of all the morning birds.
Clead or clede, clad, to clothe. The preterite and past
participle remain in poetical use as well as in dignified prose,
while the infinitive and the present and future tenses have
been superseded by the much harsher word * clothe.'
Clem, clam, clammed, to perish of hunger, to starve. ' To
starve' originally meant *to die,' as we still say of a person
that he is " starving with cold." The word has lately come
to signify " to die for want of food," and has produced a very
ugly and incorrect hybrid in the word * starvation,' said to
have been first used by Mr. Dundas, the first Lord Melville,
who, as Horace Walpole informs us, received afterwards the
nickname of '' Starvation Dundas." The word at the time was
308 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
supposed to be an Americanism. It has unfortunately fixed
itself into our literature ; but the original and much better
word clem and its derivatives still hold their ground in Lanca-
shire and the North of England. The word clem does not occur
in Shakspeare, but both Ben Jonson and Massinger use it.
{ Hard is the choice when the valiant must eat their arms or clem.
— Ben Jonson : Evei'y Man out of his Humour.
I canna eat stones and turfs. What I will he dem me and my fol-
lowers ? Ask him, will he clem me 1 — Be.^ Jonson : The Poetaster.
My entrails were dammed with a perpetual fast. — Massinger : The
Roman Actor.
"Let us all clem" said a speaker at a public meeting at
Manchester, during the American civil war, " rather than help
the cause of slavery." "I would rather clem than go to the
workhouse," is still a common and honourable expression in
Lancashire.
Clepe, clept, yclept, to call, to name. The past participle
of this verb remains for the use of bad writers, and sometimes
of good writers who compose mock heroics.
The compaignie of comfort,
Men deped it some tyme.
— Pien Ploughman.
Peradventure in thilk large book
Which that men depe the heaven ywritten was
With stars.
—Chaucer : The Man of Lawes' Tale.
They depe us drunkards.
— Shakspeare: Hamlet.
As hounds and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves are deped
All by the name of dogs.
—Shakspeare: Macbeth.
Mr. Halliwell, in his " Archaic Dictionary," says that the
word is still used by boys at play in the eastern counties, who
Lost Preterites. 309
clepe or call the sides at a game. Many newspaper writers at
the present day, at a loss for a word for * calling' or * naming' an
inanimate object, talk of the * christening ' of a church, a street,
a battle, or any inanimate object. An example occurs in an
editorial article of the Times, on the removing of the grating
from the ladies' gallery in the House of Commons — " * the
grate question,' as Mr. Lowe christened it." In this and other
instances the old word clepe, in default of * call ' or * name,'
would be an improvement, if it were possible to revive it.
Clip, clap, clippe, to embrace, to fondle. Before the Eng-
lish language borrowed from the French the word ' embrace,'
from emhrassevy to clasp in the arms, this verb was in constant
use. It occurs in " Piers Ploughman," and in Chaucer, and
had not fallen out of fashion or favour in the days of Shak-
speare : —
Clippe we in covenant, and each of us clippe other.
— Piers Ploughman.
He kisseth her and clippeth her full oft.
— Chaucer : The Merchant's Tale.
Worse than Tantalus is her annoy.
To clip Elysium and yet lack her joy.
— Shakspeare : Venus and Adonis.
Then embraces his son, and then again he worries his daughter with
clipping her. — Shakspeare : Winter's Tale.
Oh let me dip ye in arms as round as when I woo'd !
— Shakspeare: Coriolanus.
The lusty vine, not jealous of the ivy,
Because she clips the elm.
—Beaumont and Fletcher.
The preterite, once common, survives to this day in the
form of an infinitive and of a noun, but in both too offensive
to modesty to be further mentioned.
Clout, clouted, to mend, to put a patch upon, from the
Gaelic clud. The verb survives in Scotland, but has perished
310 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
out of modern English literature, although Shakspeare used
it:—
I thought he slept, and put
My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness
Answered my steps too loud.
— Cymheline.
Many sentences of one meaning clouted up together. — Roger Ascham.
Clout the auld, the new are dear, My joe Janet.
— Burns.
Conne or can, to be able. Neither the infinitive nor the
past participle of this verb seems to have been used since the
days of Chaucer, who says, " I shall not conne answer," *.e., I
shall not be able to answer ; and in the " Romance of the
Rose " has " Thou shalt never conne knowen."
Crine, crone, crunken, to shrivel from heat, frost, or sickness.
This verb, with all its declensions, has perished, and only
survives in its diminutive, to crinkle. In this last form it is
rather of the middle ages than of our own. See the ballad
of the " Boy and the Mantle " in Percy's '* Reliques."
Cut. This verb never appears to have had a preterite,
though a past participle ykitt or ykutt is cited in Herbert
Coleridge's vocabulary of the " Oldest Words in the English
Language." Whence or when the word was introduced into
English no lexicographer has ever yet been able to determine.
It is neither derived from the Teutonic, the French, the
Greek, nor the Latin, and is therefore, by the exhaustive pro-
cess, supposed by the most recent compilers of dictionaries to
have been borrowed from the Gaelic cut, to make short, and
such phrases as cuttie-^i^e, cuttie-ssLrk, and cuttie-stooly all
implying shortness and curtailment. A near approach to
it occurs in the French couteau, a knife or instrument to cut
with ; in the Italian coltello ; and in the English and Scottish
coulter J the ploughshare, or knife of the plough. It may be
Lost Preterites. 3 1 1
that the original word was kit, whence ykitt, cited by Mr.
Coleridge, and that it formed its preterite by cat and cut.
Some little support for this idea may be found in the word cat
as applied in * ca^-o'-nine-tails,' a weapon that cuts pretty
severely ; and in kit-cat, as applied to portraits that are not
exactly full-length, but cut to three-quarters length, as those
painted for the celebrated *' Kit-Kat Club."
DafF, daft, to make a fool of, to play the fool. Daffe in
Chaucer signifies a fool; and in the Scottish and North
English dialect a daft man signifies either a lunatic, or one
who has been befooled. Daffing signifies foolish fun or merri-
ment. In the scene between Leonato and Claudio in *' Much
Ado about Nothing," when Claudio declines to fight the old
man, and says, —
Away ! away ! I will not have to do with you.
Leonato replies, —
Canst thou so daff me ? Thou hast killed my child.
Both Mr. Charles Knight and Mr. Howard Staunton, follow-
ing in the track of other Shakspearean editors, explain daff
in this passage to mean * doff,' or ' put off.' The true meaning
is to ' befool,' as the word is used in Chaucer. When, else-
where, Shakspeare says of Prince Henry, —
Thou madcap Prince of Wales, that daffed the world aside,
the meaning of the word is the same. The * madcap ' did
not *doff' the world aside, for in this sense the expression
would be pleonastic, but daffed or ' fooled ' or jested it aside,
as a madcap would.
Dare or durst, dared. The tendency of our modem and
colloquial English, as well as of our current literature, is to
ignore the two preterites and the past participle of this word,
and to write and say dare where durst or dared would be more
3 1 2 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
correct. There is also a tendency to omit the s in the third
person singular of the present tense. The following are
examples of each inaccuracy : —
Neither her maidens nor the priest dare speak to her for half an hour
\durst speak to her, &c.]. — Hereward the Wake, by the Rev. Charles
KiNGSLEY.
The Government dare [durst] not consent to the meeting being held.
. . . No one can feel anything but contempt for a Government which
meanly attempts to gain a cheap reputation for firmness by f ulminations
which it dare [dares] not carry out ; and by prohibiting meetings which it
dare [dares] not prevent. — London morning paper on the Hyde Park riots.
There is no reason why this verb should be deprived of its
declensions, and no careful writer ought to fall into the errors
just cited.
Deem, to judge. This word, which now signifies * to think *
rather than *to judge,' and which has lost its old preterite
doomy formerly implied the delivery of a doom, sentence, or
judgment. Chaucer calls a judge a doomsman ; and in the
Isle of IMan the judge is still called the dempster or deemster.
The day of Doom is the day of Judgment. Chaucer does not
use the old preterite doom, which seems to have perished
before his time; but in the "Franklein's Prologue" uses the
substantive doom in the sense of an opinion or a private
judgment : —
As to my doom, there is more that is here
Of eloquence that shall be thy peer,
If that thou live.
Out of the lost preterite the English writers of three centuries
ago formed a new verb, to doom, with a regular preterite,
doomed — a word which does not merely signify to pass judg-
ment upon, but to pass a severe sentence.
Delve, delve, dolven, to dig, to make a trench or ditch, to
bury in the earth. This verb is still retained in poetical
composition, and in the everyday speech of the people in
Lost Preterites. 3 1 3
Scotland and some of the northern counties; but the old
preterite and past pai-ticiple are lost. They have found a
substitute in the regular declension delved. The old preterite
seems to have become obsolete at an early period, as appears
from the distich of John Ball the priest, the friend and
coadjutor of Wat Tyler in the rebellion of 138 1 : —
When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman ?
Chaucer used the participle, " I would be dolven [buried]
deep ; " and in the *' Romance of Merlin," a man who was to
be buried alive is described as to "be dolven quick." " Piers
Ploughman" has, "They dolven with spades and shovels to
drive away hunger." Keats, in more modern times, employs
delved : —
Oh for a draught of vintage that hath been
Cooled a long age in the deep delved earth I
If he had said deep dolven instead of deep delved, he would
have had high authority, and would have greatly improved
the stately march and music of his verse.
Dight, dighted, to prepare, to put in order, to deck, to attire,
to wipe away. This useful word of many meanings is all but
obsolete in English literature, but survives in Scottish. The
preterite has long been lost. An offshoot of this word in the
form of misdiglit (misprepared) occurs in Jack Miller's song,
quoted by Stowe in his account of Wat Tyler's rebellion ; —
If might
Go before right,
And will
Before skill,
Then is our mill misdight.
Spencer and Milton both attempted to revive dighty but with
only partial success : —
314 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Soon after them, all dancing in a row,
The comely virgins came with garlands dight.
— The Faerie Queene.
The clouds in thousand liveries dight.
— L' Allegro.
Storied windows richly dight.
— II Penseroso.
In Scottish parlance dight does constant service. The lassie
dights her mou' before accepting a kiss, and dights her een after
she has been weeping. She dights herself in her best attire
before going to kirk ; and the wife dights the dinner for her
husband.
Dight your cheeks and banish care.
— Allan Ramsay.
Let me rax up to dight that tear,
And go with me and be my dear.
— Burns : Hie Jdly Beggars.
Ding, dang, dong or dung, to strike hard, to beat down.
The infinitive and present tense of this verb are still collo-
quially current, but the preterite and past participle are
obsolete, or only survive in the nursery phrase, *' Ding^
dong J bell." In Scotland the verb and all its inflections
survive. Burns, in his often-quoted line, says, " Facts are
chiels that winna ding." Sir Alexander Bos well has a song
entitled " Jenny dang the Weaver," which expression was
translated by an English critic into the very prosaic form
of "Jenny vanquished the cotton manufacturer." The past-
participle occurs in the familiar proverbs quoted by Allan
Ramsay, " It's a sair dung bairn that munna greet," and
" He's sairest paid that's dung wi' his ain wand." The modern
English preterite dinged is still occasionally heard in conver-
sation, though lost to literature, as in such phrases: "Horace?
Yes ; he was dinged into me at school ; " and colloquially,
" Why do you keep dinging that old story into my ears ? "
Lost Preterites. 3 1 5
The word constantly occurs in serious poetry up to the time of
Shakspeare and Ben Jonson, and survives, and is likely long
to survive, in the nursery rhyme —
Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well.
The hellish prince, grim Pluto, with his mace, ding down my soul to
hell ! — The Battle of Alcazar.
Do-well shall dyngen him down,
And destroyen his mighte.
— Piers Ploughman.
She dings you in her hamely goun o' gray.
As far's a summer dings a winter day.
— Ross's Hdenore.
My chains then, and pains then,
Infernal be their hire,
Who dang us and^awgr us.
Into this ugsome mire.
— Allan Ramsay : The Vision — The Evergreen.
The beautiful poem of "The Vision," written in older
Scotch than that of the time of Allan Ramsay, is signed A. R.
Scotus, meaning, "Allan Ramsay, a Scot." It expresses in
covert allusion, the indignation of the Scots of Allan Ramsay's
day, at the Union of Scotland with England, and the means
by which it was accomplished. Allan Ramsay's Jacobite
friends were all well aware that the poem was from his pen,
but the government of the day, though suspecting the fact,
and willing to prosecute him, wisely refrained from doing so.
Dow, to be able, to thrive ; doughty was able. This verb is
utterly lost from English literature, but, like many others of
its sturdy class, exists in the speech of the English peasantry,
and in the speech as well as the literature of Scotland. By a
strange neglect, or a stranger ignorance, the makers of dic-
tionaries — from Blount and Philips up to Johnson, Richardson,
Worcester, Webster, and Stormonth — have either omitted all
mention of it, or erroneously considered it to be sjmonymous
3 1 6 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
with, or an orthographical error for, the similar word * do,' with
which it has no connection. "I do as well as I daw?" — i.e.,
*' I do as well as I can " — is a common phrase in the North :
and the super-eminently English but pleonastic inquiry, " How
do you do ? " — which means " How do you dow ? " — i.e., thrive,
prosper, or get on — has come to be accepted as accurate Eng-
lish, though wholly a mistake of the learned. Even Nares, in
his Glossary, has no suspicion of this word, though Halliwell,
more acute, gives one of its meanings, * to thrive,' * to mend
in health ; ' and Mr. Thomas Wright, in his *' Provincial
Dictionary," follows in the same track as regards its use in
English literature, though he does not seem to be aware of its
commonness in the literature of Scotland. William Hamilton,
the Scottish poet, writes to his friend Allan Ramsay, —
Lang may'st thou live and thrive and dow /
And Burns says to Gavin Hamilton, —
When I dovma yoke a naig,
The Lord be thankit, I can beg !
In his " Epistle to King George III.," in his eulogy of facts,
Burns speaks of them as " chiels that winna ding," and adds,
"they downa be disputed." Boss, in his *' Helenore," has
*' When he dow do nae mair," — a phrase that shows the
essential difference between the two words.
From this obsolete verb springs the adjective douglity,
strong, able — a derivation which up to the present time seems
to have escaped the notice of all the English lexicographers.
Dread, drad, dradden, to fear greatly. The modem pre-
terite and past participle dreaded have entirely superseded the
ancient forms.
But what I drad, did me, poor wretch, betide.
— Robert Greene, 1593.
Dwine, dwined, to pine away, to fall of. This verb has
been superseded by its diminutive, to dwindle, which has the
same meaning.
Lost Preterites. 3 1 7
Thus dmneth he till he be dead.
— GOWKR.
It dwined for eld.
— Chaucer.
Bacchus hates repining ;
Venus loves no dwining.
—Allan Ramsay.
Fang, fong, fung, to seize, to lay hold of. Most people
remember the old law phrase, ^^mfang thief and outfang
thief," the one signifying a thief taken within the jurisdiction
of a feudal lord, and the other a thief taken without his juris-
diction. This is the only remnant of this verb that has come
down to our time except the substantive fang, the large tooth
of a beast of prey or of a serpent ; the diminutive /angle, to
take hold of a new fancy or fashion ; and the common phrase
new-fangled. In Scotland it is sometimes said when the well
does not readily yield the water after repeated strokes of the
pump, that the pump has lost its fang o' the water.
I nold fang a farthing (I would not take a farthing).
— Vision of Piers Ploughman.
He fong his f oeman by the flank,
And flang him on the floor.
— Buchan's Northern BaUads.
Fare, foor, fore, fure, fared, to travel. This verb is not
wholly obsolete, though its preterite is lost. It has come to
signify to eat and drink as well as to travel, and also that
which is eaten or drunk. It is doubtful whether our beautiful
word * farewell' means "may you travel well through life,"
or " may you be well treated by the world." A waj- faring
man is still a common expression. * AvUd-farrand,' travelling
on the old ways, old-fashioned, is intelligible to the people on
the north of the Tweed. The preterite occurs several times
in the " Vision of Piers Ploughman."
Alexander fell into a fever therewith, so that he fure wondrous ille.
—MS. Lincoln, quoted in Halliwell's Archaic Dictionary.
3 1 8 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Her errand led her through the glen to fare.
— Ross's Hdenore.
As o'er the moor they lightly foor,
A burn was clear, a glen was green —
Up the banks they eased their shanks.
— Burns.
Forewent, preterite of to forego, to renounce.
Writers and speakers still say, " I forego the pleasure," but use a
roundabout form of expression rather than say, " I forewent the
pleasure." And why ? Forewent is as legitimate a word as forego,
and should not be allowed to become obsolete. — Lost Beauties of the
English Language.
Forswink, forswunk, to be worn out with overmuch toil.
She is my goddess plain.
And I her shepherd swain,
Albeit forswunk and f orswat I am.
— Specker : Shepherd's Calendar.
Fret, freet, freten, to devour or eat up ; from the French
and Dutch, freteriy the Germsin fressen, to eat.
Like as it were a moth fretting a garment. — Psalm xxxix.. Common
Prayer.
Adam freet of that fruit.
And forsook the love of our Lord.
— Piers Ploughman.
He (the dragon) has fretten of folk more than five hundred. — Morte
d' Arthur.
Frush, frusht, frushed, to bruise, disturb, rumple, dis-
arrange. From the Gaelic frois, a driving gust of rain, and
froiseachf to scatter, to shake off, and French froisser, to rub
against. This good Shakspearean word is fairly admissible
into modem dictionaries, in few of which, however, does it
find a place.
Stand ! stand, thou Greek I thou art a goodly mark 1
No ! wilt thou not ? I like thy armour well,
VYi. frush it and unlock the rivets all !
— Sbakspeare : Troilus and Cressida.
Lost Preterites. 319
Hector assailed Achilles and gave him so many strokes that he all to
frusht and brake his helm. — Caxton's Destruction of Troy.
High cedars SLiefrushed with tempests. — Hinde, 1606.
Southey uses the substantive : —
Horrible uproar and frusk of rocks that meet in battle.
The word well deserves favour and restoration.
Gar, gart, gard, to compel, to force, to make, to cause a
thing to be done. This verb in all its declensions has become
obsolete in English literature, where its place has been but
feebly supplied by 'make' and 'made.' "I'll make him do
it " is neither so strong nor so elegant as the ancient English
and modern Scotch, " I'll gar him do it."
Gar us have meat and drink, and make us chere,
— Chaucer : The Eeeve's Tale.
Gar saddle me my bonnie black,
Gar saddle soon, and make her ready.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
And like the mavis on the bush.
He gart the vallies ring.
— Percy's Reliques.
Auld Girzie Graham, having twice refused a glass of toddy, when
pressed a third time, replied, "Weel! weel ! since ye winna hear o'
a refusal, just mak it hot, an' strong, an' sweet, an' gar me tak it ! " —
Laird of Logan.
Get, got, gotten, to attain, to procure, to come into posses-
sion of. The past participle of this verb has lately become
obsolete, except in the talk of the uneducated and in Scottish
literature. It was common in the last century.
We knew we were gotten far enough out of their reach. — Defoe :
Robinson Crusoe.
320 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Ken ye what Meg o' the mill has gotten ?
She's gotten a lout wi' a lump o' siller,
And broken the heart o' the barley miller.
— RoBEKT Burns.
There is also a marked tendency to the disuse of this inflection
in the verb *to forget,' and people too commonly say and
write *'I hdiWQ'forgotj^ instead oi forgotten.
Glide, glode, glidden, to move away easily and smoothly.
The ancient preterite and past participle have become obsolete,
and have been superseded by glided, much to the loss of versi-
fiers in search of good rhymes.
His good stede he all bestrode,
And forth upon his way he glode.
—Chaucer.
He glode forth as an adder doth.
— Idem.
Through Guy's shield it glode.
— Ouy of Warwick.
The reason of the substitution of the regular for the irregu-
lar preterite may be found in the desire to prevent confusion
with the regular preterite of the verb * to glow.'
Glint, glent, glinted, to shine, to flash, to appear suddenly.
In Sternberg's " Northamptonshire Glossary " the infinitive of
this verb as used amongst the peasantry of that part of Eng-
land is cited as gline. Glint would be the legitimate preterite
if this were correct. In Scottish poetry glint is the infinitive,
and glinted the preterite and past participle. In Old English
poetry glent is the preterite.
The sunbeams are glinting far over the sea.
— Newcastle Garland.
Lost Preterites. 321
Cauld blew the bitter biting north
Upon thy early humble birth,
Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth
Amid the storm.
— Burns : To a Mountain Daisy.
There came a hand withouten rest
Out of the water,
And brandished it.
Anon as a gleam away it glent.
— Morte d' Arthur.
Gnaw, gnew, gnawed, to bite at a hard substance. The
old preterite is lost, doubtless on account of its identity in
pronunciation with the more familiar word *knew,' the
preterite of * know,' a word of different meaning.
Till with the grips he was baith black and blue,
At last in twa the dowie ropes he gnew.
— Ross's Helenore.
Ko sustenance got.
But only at the cauld hill's berries gnew.
— Idem.
Go, gaed, gone, to depart. The ancient and legitimate
preterite of this verb has been superseded by the preterite
(*went') of the verb to *wend,' to turn away. It maintains
its ground, however, in Scotland and the northern English
counties. Chaucer has * gadling,' for a vagabond, a wanderer
who goes much about ; and the language still retains the word
to *gad,' to wander or stray about, making short visits.
I ga^d a waef u' gate yestreen.
— Burns.
Grab, grub, grabbed, to dig up, to seize. This verb, in all
its inflections, has been wholly relegated to the speech of the
vulgar, but, like many other vulgar words, has a highly
respectable origin. Grab, in its first sense, means to dig
a grave or hole ; and gruh means that which is dug up, such
322 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
as roots for human subsistence, whence its modern and slang
signification, 'food.'
Graith, graithed, to prepare, make ready. A critic in the
Literary Gazette of March 30, i860, called a poet to account
for using such an unpermissible word as graith, of which he
declared his utter ignorance. He might, however, have found
it in Chaucer, in Worcester's Dictionary, and in Robert
Bums : —
Her son Galathin
She graithed in attire fine.
— Arihour and Merlin.
Unto the Jewes such a hate had he,
That he bade graith his chair full hastUie.
— Chaucee : The Reeve's Tale.
Go warn me Perthshire and Angus baith,
And graith my horse.
— Song of the Outlaw Murray.
Greet, grat, grutten, to weep. This verb, with all its
declensions, has lost its place in English literature, though
the word greet remains with a different meaning, * to salute. '
Like other strong indigenous words which modem English has
unnecessarily discarded, it is retained in Scotland. It seems
to have been lost even in Chaucer's time, who uses greet
entirely in the modem sense of Ho salute.' "Piers Plough-
man " has it in the sense of * to lament ' or * weep.'
And then 'gan Gloton to greet,
And great dool to make.
** It's a sad time," says an old Scottish proverb, " when hens
crow and bearded men greet.'' Another proverb says, "Better
bairns should gi'eet than bearded men."
Then ilk ain to the other made his wain,
And sighed and grat, and grat and sighed again.
— Ross's ITelenore.
Lost Preterites. 323
Duncan sighed baith out and in,
Oral his een baith bleer't and blin*.
— Burns : Duncan Gray,
The Edinbro' wells are grutten dry.
— Burns ; Elegy on the Year 1788.
Heat, to make or grow hot ; het, made hot.
Let him cool in the skin he het in. — Allan Ramsay : Scots Proverbs.
Help, help, holpen, to aid. The preterite and past participle
are fast becoming obsolete. They are still retained in the
Flemish language.
For thou hast holpen me now.
— Halliwell: MS. Cantab,
And blind men holpen.
— Piers Ploughman.
Building upon the foundation that went before us, and being
holpen by their labours. — ITie translators of the Bible to the reader : temp.
James I.
Hend, hent, to take, to hold, to seize, to apprehend.
Jog on, jog on, the footpath way,
And merrily hent the style-a :
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.
It is probable that in this well-known passage from the song
of Autolycus in the " Winter's Tale," the preterite Iient is a
misprint for the infinitive hendy though it must be admitted
that Chaucer uses hent both in the present and the past tenses.
This is a very unusual defect in an English verb of that early
period.
All be it that it was not our intente,
He should be sauf , but that we sholde him hent.
—Chaucer : The Friar's Tale.
324 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Shakspeare uses hent as a substantive, to signify a purpose, an
intention to hold by, in Hamlet's exclamation, when he deter-
mines not to kill the king at his prayers : —
No!
Up, sword ! and know thou a more horrid hent !
When lie is drunk, asleep, or in his rage.
Hit, het, hitten, to strike, to touch violently with a blow.
Both preterite and past participle are obsolete. Hitten sur-
vives in the colloquial language of the peasantry.
Your honour's hitten the nail upon the head.
— Ross's Hdenore.
The Americans, in default of the old preterite het^ occasion-
ally say hot — as, " He hot me a heavy blow ; he hot out right
and left."
Hold, held, holden, to have, grasp, or retain in possession.
The past participle is obsolete, but might be advantageously
revived for the sake of the rhyme which it affords to * golden,'
* embolden,' &c.
Keek, keeked, to peep, to look in slily.
The robin came to the wren's nest,
And Iceelced in and Iceeked in.
—Nursery Rhymes of England.
This Nicholas sat even gape upright.
As he had keeked on the new moone.
—Chaucer : The Miller's Tale.
Stars, dinna keek in
And see me wi' Mary.
— Burns.
Kythe, kouth or couth, to show, appear, know, make
known. This word has become wholly obsolete in England,
Lost Preterites, 325
but survives in Scotland. The sole remnant of it in English
is uncouthf originally meaning something unknown, unheard
of, strange, and now meaning rough or ungainly. Milton
has —
Bound on a voyage uncouth,
meaning unknown. The Scotch have the word couthiej
familiar, or well known. ,
And to the people's eres all and some
Was couth that a new markissesse
He with him brought in such pompe and richenes
That never was there seen with manne's eye.
— Chauceb : The Clerk's Tale.
Take your sport, and kythe your knights.
— Sir Ferumhras.
• Kythe in your ain colours, that folk may ken you. — Allan Ramsay's
Scots Proverbs.
Their faces blythe, they sweetly kythe.
— BUBNS.
Laugh, lough, leuch. The ancient preterite and past parti-
ciple of this verb have been superseded by the modern preterite
in ed.
Then lough there a lord,
And " By this lighte " saide,
** I hold it right and reson."
— Piers Ploughman.
He cleped it Valerie and Theophrast,
And lough always full fast.
— Chauceb : The Wife of Bath's Prologue.
When she had read Wise William's letter,
She smiled and she leuch.
— Mothebwell's Collection.
" I think not so," she hnlflina said, and leuch.
—Ross's Hdenore.
326 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
How graceless Ham leuch at his dad,
Which made Canaan a nigger.
— Burns : The Ordination.
An' ilka ane leuch him to scorn.
—Percy's Religues : The Avid Guidman.
Leap, lope, lopen, to leap. At what time this verb followed
the analogy of weep, creep, and sleep, and formed its preterite
in leap or leptj does not very clearly appear.
And they laughing lope to her.
— Piers Ploughman.
Have lopen the better.
— Idem.
Up he lope and the window broke,
And he had thirty foot to fall.
— Percy's Reliques : The Murder of the King of Scots.
Tom Kindle lope fra the chimley nook.
— ^Waugh's Lancashire Songs.
Let, loot, letten, looten, to let, to permit. This verb has
lost all its inflections in literary and colloquial English, but
preserves them in the Scottish dialect.
But letten him lede forth whom hym liked.
— Piers Ploughman.
And aye she loot the tears down fa'
For Jock o' Hazeldean.
— Sib Walter Scott.
Ye've loot the ponie o'er the dyke.
— Burns.
But dool had not yet letten her feel her want.
— Ross's Hdenore.
He boore upon him and ne'er loot her ken.
— Ross's Helenore.
Lost Preterites. 327
Ligge, ligged, to lie down. This ancient word is still in
common use in Cumberland and Northumberland, and also
in the Border counties of Scotland.
So that the Holy Ghost
Gloweth but as a glade,
Till that lele love
Ligge on him.
— Pun Ploughman.
What hawkes sitten on the perche above I
What houndes liggen on the floor adown I
—Chaucer : The Knight's Tale.
I have ligged for a fortnight in London, weak almost to death, and
neglected by every one. — G. P. R. James : Gowrie, or the King's Plot.
List or lest, lust, to please. This word has gradually been
dropping out of use, but having been preserved in the Bible, is
still occasionally heard. The preterite is lost, though the word
itself survives as a substantive, and as the infinitive of another
verb, to lust^ signifying to desire pleasure vehemently.
The wind bloweth where it listeth.
The colloquial expression, " to list for a soldier," seems to come
from this root, and means, to please to become, or voluntarily
to become, a soldier. Chaucer uses Itist in the sense of joy : —
Farewell, my Ufe, my lust, and my gladnesse.
—The Knight's Tale.
Lout, louted, to make an obeisance or a curtsey.
And then louted adown.
— Piers Ploughman.
** Sir," quoth the dwarf, and louted low.
— Pkeoy's Reliques : Sir Cavline.
They louted to that ladye.
— Percy's Reliques : On Alliterative Metre.
328 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
To which image both young and old
Commanded he to lout.
— Chaucee : The Monke's Tale.
And I am louted by a traitor villain.
— Shakspeare : Henry VI., Part i.
Melt, molt, molten, to liquefy by means of heat. The
preterite is lost, but the past participle is still preserved in
poetry and the Bible.
Mint, minted, to essay, to try, to aim, to attempt, to prove
the genuineness of metals before coinage.
Minting's not making (attempting's not doing).
— Allan Ramsay's Scots Provei'bs.
A minted [attempted] excuse.
— The Two Lancashire Lovers : 1660.
Nake, naked, to denude of covering. The preterite survives
as an adjective j the infinitive is lost.
Come, be ready 1 nake your swords.
Think of your wrongs 1
— Nares : Jieveitge's Tragedy.
Pight, a word that occurs in Chaucer, is defined by Tyrwhitt
as meaning, * pitched,* rather than the preterite of *put ': —
He pight him on the pomel of his head,
That in the place he lay as he were dead.
— Chaucer : The Knight's Tale.
Stowe, however, at a later period, uses jnght for * did put ' : —
He was brought to the Standard in Cheape, where they strake off
his head and pight it on a pole, and bare it before them. — Stowe's
Annals: Henry VI.
Lost Preterites. 329
Prank, prankt or pranked, to adorn, to embellish, to dress
fashionably.
Some prank their rirffs, and others trimly dight
Their gay attire.
— Spenser : The Faerie Queene.
False tales prankt in reason's garb.
— MttTON : Comus.
Most goddess-like pranked up.
— Shakspeare : Winter's Tale.
Put, pat or pight, putten or pitten, to place. The modem
verb has lost the preterite and past participle.
I there wi' something did f orgether,
That pat me in an eerie swither.
— Burns : Death and Doctor Hornbook.
Ye see how Kob and Jenny's gone sin' they
Ha'e pitten o'er their heads the metry day.
— Ross's Helenore.
He's putten it to a good purpose, has Brighouse. — The Master of
Marston: London, 1664.
Quake, quoke, to tremble with fear.
An ugly pit, as deep as any hell,
That to behold therein I quoke for fear.
— The King's Quair.
The whole land of Italy trembled and quoke.
— Douglas : Translation of the JSneicL
Quethe or queath, quoth, to say. The infinitive of this verb
is lost, but the preterite quoth remains in colloquial use, and
in writings that do not aspire to eloquence or dignity, as
* quoth he,' ^ quoth I.' Bequeath^ to say in your will what
part of your property your heirs or legatees shall possess, is
a remnant of this ancient verb.
330 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Eax, raught, to reach, to stretch.
He raught to the steere (he reached to the hehn).
— Piers Ploughman.
He start up and would have him raught.
— Merlin : Early English Metrical Romances.
The villain is o'er-raught of all my money.
— Shakspeare : Comedy of Errors.
Their three-mile prayers and half-mile graces,
Their raxing conscience.
— Burns : Episde to M'Math.
Is this a time to talk o' wark,
When Colin's at the door ?
Rax down my cloak, I'll to the quay,
And see him come ashore.
— MiCKLE : There's nae Luck ahout the House.
Beap, rept, rope, ropen, to cut, or help to cut the harvest.
Ropen and laide away the come.
' — Chaucer : Legende of Good Women.
After the com is rept.
— Nares.
Reave, reft, take off, take away, whence the old English
and Scottish word reaver or reiver, a thief. This word survives
in bereave and bereft, but is fast becoming obsolete.
If he reaveth me by night.
He robbeth me by maistrye.
— Piers PloughTnan.
Therefore, though no part of his work to reave him,
We now for matters more allied must leave him.
— Hetwood's Troia Britannia, 1609.
To go robbe that ragman.
And reave the fruit from him.
— Piers PloughTnan.
Means to live by reafoi other men's goods. — Holinshed's Chronicles,
Lost Preterites. 331
Reek, roke, to emit smoke or vapour. Tlie present tense of
this verb survives in solemn and poetical composition in Eng-
land, but both the present and preterite are in common and
colloquial use in Scotland. " Auld Reekie " is a popular name
for Edinburgh.
Rown, rowned, to whisper, to talk privately, to whisper in
the ear. This word is wholly lost, but might have been pre-
served, if Shakspeare, like modern authors, had been in the
habit of correcting his proof-sheets. The word, misprinted
rounds occurs several times in Shakspeare, and has puzzled all
the commentators. Mr. Staunton, in a note on the passage
where Polonius says to the king in " Hamlet " —
Let his queen-mother all alone entreat him
To show his grief — let her be round with him,
says, " Let her be blunt and plain-spoken with him."
In another note to the word in *'King John," act ii. scene 2 —
Whom zeal and charity brought to the field
As God's own soldier, rounded in the ear
With that same purpose — charge —
he explains the true meaning of rounded (which should be
roioned, just as vulgar people sometimes say ' drownded ' for
drowned) as * insinuated,' * whispered in the ear.' He
quotes from the Spanish tragedy the line where the same
orthographical error occurs —
Forthwith, revenge, she rounds them in the ear.
The word appears correctly in all authors previous to Shak-
speare : —
They rose up in rape.
And rowned together.
— Piers Ploughman,
332 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
The steward on his knees sat down
With the emperor for to rovm.
— Romance of Cceur de Lion.
But if it like you that I might rovme in your ear.
— Skelton.
Sag, sog, to bend or give way under pressure, to faiL
The mind I sway by, and the heart, I fear,
Shall never sag with doubt or shake with fear.
— Shakspeare: Macbeth.
That it may not sag from the intention of the founders.
—Fuller's Worthies.
From the lost preterite sog comes the adjective soggy, often
used by the Americans to signify wet boggy soil that yields to
the foot.
Scathe or skaith, to do an injury or damage. Shakspeare
and Milton use the verb : —
This trick may chance to scathe you.
— Romeo and Jvliet.
Scathed the forest oaks.
— Milton.
The substantive scathe or sTcaith, signifiying hurt, damage, and
injury, survives in Scottish speech and literature, and is not
wholly obsolete in English poetry, though rarely used by
modern writers.
Oh 1 if on my bosom lying,
I could work him deadly scathe,
In one burst of burning passion,
I would kiss him unto death 1
— Love in Hate.
Seethe, sod, sodden, to boil. The translators of the Bible
have preserved this old English word, which was in common
Lost Preterites. 333
use before its modern synonym was borrowed with other culi-
nary phrases from the Norman French : —
And he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage
for the sons of the prophets. — 2 Kings iv. 38.
Go suck the subtle blood o' th' grape
Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth.
— Shakspeare : Timon of A them.
Seethe stanes in butter, the brew will be good. — Allan Ramsay's Scots
Proverbs.
It is unsavorye
Y-sodden or y-baken
— Piers Ploughman.
Shape, shope, shopen, to make, to create, to put into form.
This verb has wholly lost its original meaning in the infini-
tive and present, in which form it subsists as a regular verb,
with its preterite in d. Its preterite and past participle have
long been obsolete, and do not seem to have been used in Eng-
lish literature after the time of Chaucer.
God shope the world.— Wicklipfe's Bible. .
The king and the commune
Shopen laws.
— Piers Ploughman.
To which this sempnour shope him for to wende.
— Chauoee : The Frere's Tale.
Shear, sheer, shore or shure, shorn, to cut closely off. The
ancient preterite is obsolete, and has been superseded in the
regular form in ed. The sea-shore — i.e., the strip of land
sheared, shore, or shorn by the action of the waves — is the sole
relic of this word in modern parlance.
Robin shure in hairst [harvest],
I shure wi' him.
— Burns.
334 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Boston was the Delilah that allured him [Daniel Webster]. Oft he
broke withes of gold, till at last she shore off his locks, and his strength
went from him. — Theodoee Pabker : Discourse on the Death of Daniel
Webster,
Shend, shent, shent, to rebuke, to blame, to shame, or bring
to shame.
What say yon, sir?
I am shent for speaking to you.
— Shakspeare : Twelfth Night.
He that shames let him be shent.
— Allan Ramsat,
All woe-begone was John o' the Scales,
Soe shent he could say never a word.
— Percy's Reliques : The Heir of Lynne,
Spenser in the " Faerie Queene," and Thomson in the " Castle
of Indolence," use this word. According to Dr. Johnson, the
last author of note who employed it was Dry den. It sur-
vives in Scotland.
Shread, shred, to cut off the ends, to lop. The old preterite
has long been obsolete, but survives as a noun ; shred, a thing
lopped off or cut off, a remnant.
The superfluous and waste sprigs of vines being shreaded off. —
Withall's Dictionarie : 1608.
A shredded of trees. — Nares.
Shrew, shrew, shrown. This obsolete word, of which the
only current representative is shrewd, a perversion of the
original meaning, signifies *to curse,' and finds a singular
synonym in America. In England a scolding wife is a shrew ;
in America the same disagreeable person is a * cuss.' Shak-
speare applies the word shrew to both sexes, just as the
Lost Preterites. 335
Americans do the word * cuss.' " Beshrew me ! " the old ejacu-
lation, meant " curse me ! " At the present day inferior
writers and careless speakers will say, "I have a shrewd
suspicion," meaning " a sharp, cunning suspicion." The time
at which the word assumed this new meaning in speech or
literature is uncertain.
Shrive, shrove, shriven, to confess to the priest ; shrift, a
confession. This verb, in all its inflections, went out when
the Reformation came in, and only survives in poetry and
romance, and in the word " Shrove Tuesday."
Slake, sloke, sicken, to assuage thirst, to quench a fire.
The preterite and past participle are obsolete.
Sneap, sneb, snub, to check, chide, rebuke angrily, to be
sharp to a person, like a cutting wind.
An envious sneaping frost
That bites the first-born infants of the spring.
— Shakspeare : Love's Labour Lost.
Do you sneap me too, my lord ?
— Browne's Antipodes.
This word only survives in its past participle snub, which has
become the infinitive of a verb with the original meaning.
Snow, snew, snown, to drop partially congealed rain. The
preterite and past participle survive in America, but are con-
sidered vulgarisms.
Withouten bake meat never was his house,
Of fish and flesh, and that so plenteous.
It snewe in his house of meat and drink.
— Chaucer : Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.
First it blew, and then it snew, and then it friz horrid.
—Major Downing 's Letters.
33^ Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Ben Jonson, in his "English Grammar," cites the following
verbs that make their preterite in ew — viz., blow, grow, throw,
crow, know, draw, slay, and snow. The last is the only one
of the number that now forms its preterite in ed, though un-
educated people both in Great Britain and America some-
times form the preterites of grow, blow, and know in ed
— as when Topsy, in " Uncle Tom's Cabin," says " she
growed." " I knowed it," instead of '' I knew it," is also a
common vulgarism.
Stand, stood, studden.
Weel, I thought there was naething but what your honour could hae
studden in the way o' agreeable conversation. — Scott : The Antiquary.
Stent, stint, stunt, to desist, to cease, to limit, to confine
within a certain bound. This verb is a curious instance of the
liberties which Time takes with the old words of a language.
The three inflections have each been made to do duty for an
infinitive, so that one verb has been virtually converted into
three. Chaucer has stent,. the correct and original form : —
And of this cry we would they never sterU.
—The Knight's Tale.
The noun stent, an allotted portion of work, though obsolete in
England, is common in America.
Little boys in the country, working against time, with stents to do. —
Theodore Parker : Discourse on the Death of Daniel Webster.
Stint, the ancient preterite, is the modem infinitive, and
forms its preterite and past participle regularly in ed. Stint,
to stint, or stop, or cease in growth, goes through the same
inflections. The late Daniel O'Connell called the Duke of
Wellington a *' stunted corporal."
Sweat, swat, to perspire. This ancient word survives in
colloquial, but has been of late years banished from literary
Lost Preterites. 337
English, and from polite society. The curse pronounced upon
Adam, " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat [or earn] thy
bread," would have lost much of its native energy if the
ancient translators had been as mealy-mouthed as the men of
the present day, and rendered sweat by pers^iiration.
His fair steed
So swat that men might him ring.
— Chaucer : The Rhyme of Sir Topaz.
His hackenye which that was al pomelee gris,
So swatte that it wonder was to see.
— The Chanones Yemanne's Tale.
Some, lucky, find a flowery spot,
For which they never toiled nor swat.
— BuENS: Epistle to James Smith.
An anecdote is related by Dean Ramsay, of a sturdy old lady
who so greatly loved hearty vehemence in preaching, that she
delighted in one particular minister, because when he preached
he was in such grim earnest with his discourse that " he grat
and spat and sivat " over it !
Swell, swale, swoll, swollen. The preterite in swale is
almost obsolete; that in swoll has been newly revived, but
scarcely holds its own against swelled.
An' thought it swale so sore about hir harte.
— Chaucee : The Wife of Bathe's Tale.
Swink, swank, swonken, to labour over hard. This word
appears to have been almost obsolete in Shakspeare's time.
Some of his contemporaries use it, and Milton tried to re-
vive it.
In setting and sowing
Swinken full hard.
— Piers Ploughman.
Y
338 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Great boobies and long
That loth were to swink.
— Piers Ploughman.
For which men swink and sweat incessantly.
— Spenser : Faerie Queme.
We'll labour and swinke,
We'll kiss and we'll drinke.
— Beaumont and Fletcher : The Spanish Cureto.
For he had swonken all the nighte long.
— Chaucer : The Reeve's Tale.
Thole, tholed, to suffer, to endure, to tolerate. This word is
in common use throughout Scotland and on the English border,
but has long been lost to literature.
Which died and death tholed
About mid-day.
— Piers Ploughman.
What mischief and malease Christ for man tholed.
— Chaucer: Visions.
What mickle wo as I with you have tholed.
— Chaucer.
She shall the death thole.
— GowER : Confessio Amantis.
He who tholes conquers.
—Allan Eamsat's Scots Proverbs.
Tenant bodies, scant o' cash,
How they maun thole the factor's snash !
— Burns.
Threap, to argue, to complain, to lament.
'Tis not for man with a woman to threap.
— Percy's Reliques : Tak' thy avid dodk
about thee.
Some cry upon God, others threap that He hath forgotten them.
—Bishop Fisher.
Lost Preterites. 339
Some heads well learned upon the book,
Would threap auld folks the thing mistook.
— Burns.
In Grose's " Provincial Glossary " a shopkeeper's phrase is
quoted, ''This is not threaping ware" — i.e.y these goods are so
superior that they are not to be argued about or cheapened.
Thring, throng, thrung, to press, to jostle, to crowd, whence
the modern word to throng.
A thousand of men,
Thrungen together,
Cried upwards to Christ.
•Piers Ploughman.
The Scottish word thrang — i.e., busy with a crowd of cus-
tomers — is a remnant of this word, in which, as in many
others, the original preterite has been made to do duty for
the infinitive and the present tense.
Trat, the preterite of treat. — Tim Bobbin.
Wax, wox, waxed, woxen, woxed, to grow, to increase.
This word, chiefly preserved by its frequent use in the Old
and New Testament, lost its original preterite and participle,
wox and woxen, before the translation of the Bible in the reign
of James I., at which time the word wax, with the regular
inflections, was in common use.
And when he woxen was more
In his mother's absence.
— Piers Ploughman.
This man wox wellnigh wood [mad] for ire.
— Chaucer : The Sompnoure's Tale.
Before my breath, like blazen flax,
Man and his marvels pass away ;
340 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
And changing empires wane and wax,
Are founded, flourish, and decay.
— Sir Walter Scott : Translation of the
Dies Irce.
Wink, wank, to close and open the eyes, to make signals
with the eye.
Our king on the shepherd wank
PrivUy with his eye.
— Halliwell : MS. Cantab.
Wreak, wreaked, wroke, wroken, to avenge. The infinitive
of this verb is still current in connection with the nouns
wrath, vengeance, displeasure, spite, and others.
So iweake us, God, of all our foes.
— Sir Bevis of Hampton.
'Tis not my fault, the boar provoked my tongue.
Be wreaked on him.
— Shakspeare : Venus and Adonis.
And soon in the Gordon's foul heart's blood,
He's wroken his faire ladye.
— Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
To have wroken himself of such wrongs as were due him by the
French king. — Holinshed's Chronicles.
The verbs here quoted are mei-ely samples of the literary
treasures that lie concealed in the speech of the common
people of the northern counties, in the old English authors
anterior to Shakspeare, and in the Scottish literature of the
present day. What should we say if an English nobleman of
ancient and illustrious lineage and great wealth had in the
cellars and vaults of his castle hundreds of coffers and oaken
chests filled to the lid with coins of the purest gold stamped
with the image and superscription of bygone kings, if he would
never use nor look at any portion of his wealth ? What, also,
should we say of him if, in want of gold for his daily needs, he
Lost Preterites. 341
persisted in borrowing it from strangers at usurious interest,
rather than touch his antique treasures ? We should say he
was unwise, or at the least eccentric, and that it was questionable
whether he deserved to possess the great wealth which he had
inherited. Every master of the English tongue, whether he
be poet, orator, or great prose writer, is in the position of this
supposed nobleman, if he will not study the ancient words of
the language, and revive to the extent of his ability such
among them as he finds to be better adapted to express strong
as well as delicate shades of meaning, than the modem words
which have usurped their places. To the poets more especially,
and, if there be none such left in our day (which we should
be very sorry to assert, when certain great names flash upon
our memory), to the versifiers who are not likely ever to fail
us as long as there are hopes and fancies in the hearts of
young men and women, this is a matter of especial concern.
The permissible rhymes of the modern English tongue are not
copious in number ; and such as exist, if not as well worn as
love and dove, breeze and trees, heart and dart, are far too
familiar to come upon the ear with any great charm of novelty.
The dactylic rhymes are still fewer, as every one who has
tried his hand at versification is painfully aware. It is the
poet, more than the prose writer, who strengthens as well as
beautifies the language which he employs. It is true that
language first makes literature; and that literature, when
once established among a people, reacts upon language, and
fixes its form — decides what words shall and what words shall
not be used in the higher forms of prose and poetical com-
position. Old English — such as it is found in " Piers Plough-
man," Chaucer, Spenser, and the poets and dramatists of the
Elizabethan era, and as late as Milton and Dryden — is a
passionate rather than an argumentative language ; and poets,
who ought to be passionate above all else, otherwise they are
but mere versifiers, should go back to those ancient sources,
342 Dictionaty of Lowland Scotch.
if they would be strong without ceasing to be correct and
elegant. The words that were good enough for Shakspeare
and his contemporaries ought to be good enough for the
greatest writers of our day. But Shakspeare himself is be-
coming obsolete, and needs the aid of a glossary to explain to
educated people many excellent words that are quite intel-
ligible to a Scottish or English ploughman. Is it the fault
of Shakspeare or of modern writers that this should be
the case? Doubtless the fault is not in Shakspeare, but in
ourselves.
— Reprinted and Extended from
" Blackwood's Magazine"
ALLAN EAMSAY'S
COLLECTION OF SCOTTISH PROVERBS.
A BEGUN turn is half ended.
A blate cat makes a proud mouse.
A black hen lays a white egg.
A blythe heart makes a blooming look.
A bit is oftener better gi'en than eaten.
A bonny bride is soon busked,
And a short horse is soon whisked.
A borrowed len shou'd gae laughing hanie.
A bread house never skail'd.
A black shoe makes a blythe heart.
A cock's aye crouse on his ain middin'.
A cramb'd kite makes a crazy carcass.
A daft nurse makes a wise wean.
A denk maiden, a dirty wife.
A dog wiriua yowl if ye strike him wi' a bane.
A dog's life ; — muckle ease muckle hunger.
A dry summer ne'er made a dear peck.
A deuk winna dabble aye in ae hole.
A dumb man wins nae law.
Ae beggar's wae that anither by the gate gae.
Ae bird in hand is worth ten fleeand.
Ae good turn deserves anither.
Ae good turn may meet anither, if it were at the brigg o' London.
Ae half of the warld kenna how the ither half live.
Ae hour's cauld will suck out seven years' heat.
Ae hour in the morning is worth twa after noon.
Ae man may lead a horse to the water, but four and twenty winna
gar him drink.
Ae man's meat is anither man's poison.
Ae scabbed sheep will smit the hale hirdsel.
Ae year a nurse, and seven year a daw.
344 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
A fair maiden tocherless will get mae wooers than husbands.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A fool's bolt is soon shot.
A fool may speer mair questions than a doctor can answer.
A fool may give a wise man counsel.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Affront your friend in mows, and tine him in earnest.
A friend's dinner's soon dight.
Aft ettle, whiles hit.
Aft counting keeps friends lang thesfither.
Aft times the cautioner pays tiie debt.
After meat mustard.
After a storm comes the calm.
A fu' man and a hungry horse make haste hame.
A fu' purse never lacks friends.
A gawn foot's aye getting.
A gentle horse shou'd be sindle spurr'd.
A gi'en horse shou'd na be look'd i' the mouth,
A gi'en game was never won.
A good beginning makes a good ending.
A good goose may ha'e an ill gansel.
A good face needs nae band, and an ill ane deserves nane.
A good tongue's a safe weapon.
A good word is as soon said as an ill.
A good tale is no the waur to be twice tauld.
A good name is sooner tint than won.
A " good fellow" is a costly name.
A graining wife and a grunting horse ne'er fail'd their master.
A green wound is half hale.
A green yule makes a fat kirk-yard.
A great rooser was never a good rider.
A greedy eye never got a good pennyworth.
" A great cry and little woo," quoth the deil when he clippet the sow.
A handfu' of trade is worth a gowpen o' gowd.
A hasty man's never lasty.
A horse hired never tired.
A horse with four feet may snapper.
A horn spoon hands nae poison.
A boundless hunter and a gunless gunner aye see rowth of game.
A hungry man smells meat afar.
A hungry louse bites sair.
Aj(hungry man's aye angry.
A kiss and a drink of water is but a wersh disjune.
A lass that has mony wooers oft wales the warst.
A lang gather'd dam soon rins out.
A leaky ship lacks muckle pumping.
Ale-sellers shou'd na be tale-tellers.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 345
A' liars shou'd ha'e good memories.
Alike ilka day makes a clout on Sunday.
A li(^ht purse makes a heavy heart.
•A' o'ers are ill, except o'er the water and o'er the hill.
A' fails that fools think.
A' the truth shou'd na be tauld.
A' the corn's no shorn by kempers.
A' the men of the Mearns can do nae mair than they may.
A' the winning's in the first buying.
A' cracks are not to be trow'd.
A' that's said in the kitchen shou'd na be tauld in the ha'.
A' cats are gray in the dark.
A' the keys hang not at your belt.
A's no tint that's in hazard.
A's fish that comes in the net.
A's not at hand that helps.
A' things wytes that no well fares.
A's well that ends well.
A' things are good untried.
A man's mind is a mirk mirror.
A man's aye crouse in his ain cause.
A man canna bear a' his kin on his back.
A man of mony trades may beg his bread on Sunday.
A man at five may be a fool at fifteen.
A man may see his friend in need, that winna see his pow bleed.
A man may woo where he will, but wed where his wierd is.
A man may be kind and gi'e little o' his gear.
A man of words and not of deeds, is like a garden fu' of weeds.
A man is well or wae, as he thinks himself sae.
A man has nae mair goods than he gets good of.
A misty morning may be a clear day.
A mouthfu' of meat may be a townfu' of shame.
A muzzled cat was ne'er a good hunter.
An auld mason makes a good barrow-man.
An auld tout in a new horn.
An auld sack craves muckle clouting.
An ill shearer never gat a good hook.
An illwilly cow shou'd ha'e short horns.
An ill cow may ha'e a good calf.
An ill plea shou'd be well pleaded.
An ill cook shou'd ha'e a good cleaver.
An ill lesson is soon lear'd.
An ill wife .and a new kindled candle shou'd ha'e their heads
hadden down.
An ill turn is soon done.
An ill servant ne'er proved a good master.
An ill life makes an ill end. . ., . ,
34^ Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
An ill won penny will pu' down a pound.
An inch of a nag is worth a span of an aver.
An inch off a miss is as good as a span.
An inch of good fortune is worth a fathom of forecast.
An olite mother makes a sweer daughter.
An ounce of mother- wit is worth a pound of clergy.
An unlucky man's cart is eith tumbled.
Ane of the court but nane of the council.
Ane does the skaith, and anither gets the wyte.
Ane never tines by doing good.
Ane beats the bush and anither grips the game.
Anes paid never craved.
Ane may bind a sack before it be fu'.
Ane may lo'e the kirk well enough, yet no be aye riding on the
rigging o't.
Ane may lo'e a haggis that wadna ha'e the bag bladed in his teeth.
Ane is not so soon heal'd as hurt.
Ane gets sma' thanks for tining his ain,
Ane canna wive and thrive baith in ae year.
Ane will gar a hundred lie.
A new besom sweeps clean.
A nod of an honest man is eneuch.
April showers bring May flowers.
A party pot never play'd even.
A poor man gets a poor marriage.
A poor man is fain o' little.
A pound o' care winna pay an ounce o' debt.
A proud heart in a poor breast has meikle dolor to dree.
A ragged colt may prove a good gelding.
A reeky house and a girning wife,
Will make a man a fashous life.
A reproof is nae poison.
A rowing stane gathers nae fog.
As a carle riches he wretches.
As broken a ship has come to land.
As day brak butter brak.
As fain as a fool of a fair day.
As fu' o' mischief as an egg's fu' o' meat.
As good may baud the stirrup as he that lowps on.
As good a fellow as ever toom'd a bicker.
As good merchants tine as win.
As lang runs the fox as he feet has.
As lang lives the merry man as the sad.
As lang as the bird sings before Candlemas it greets after it.
As lang as. ye serve the tod ye maun bear up his tail.
As mony heads as mony wits.
As mickle upwith as mickle downwith.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs, 547
As ready as the king has an egg in his pouch.
As sail light wrens as cranes.
As soon gangs the lamb's skin to the market as the auld sheep's.
As sair greets the bairn that's paid at e'en as he that gets his whawks
in the morning.
As tired as a tyke is of langkale.
As the sow fills the draff sours.
As the auld cock craws the young cock lears.
As the wind blaws seek your bield.
As the fool thinks the bell clinks.
As the market gangs wares maun sell.
As well be hang'd ibr a wedder as for a lamb.
As ye lo'e me look in my dish.
As ye lead your ain life ye judge your neighbours.
As ye make your bed sae ye maun lie down.
A saft aver was never a good horse.
A safe conscience makes a sound sleep.
A scawd head is eith to bleed.
A sheaf off a stouk is enough.
A short tree stands lang.
A sillerless man gangs fast through the market.
A silly man will be sleely dealt with.
A sinking master makes aft a rising man.
A slotlifu' hand makes a slim fortune.
A sorrowfu' heart's aye drouthy.
A sooth bourd is nae bourd.
A spur in the head is worth twa on the heel.
At open doors dogs gae ben.
A tale-teller is waur than a thief.
A tarrowing bairn was never fat.
A taking hand will never want.
A tale never tines in the telling.
A thrawin question should have a thrawart answer.
A thread will tye an honest man better than a rape will a knave.
A tocherless dame sits lang at hame.
A toolying tike comes limping hame.
A toom purse makes a tartling merchant.
A toom pantry makes a thriftless good wife,
A toom hand is nae lure for a hawk.
A turn well done is soon done.
A twapenny cat may look at a king.
A vanter and a liar are right sib.
A wad is a fool's argument.
A wee bush is better than nae bield.
A wee mouse can creep under a great corn stack.
A wee house well fill'd, a wee piece land well till'd, a wee wife well
wiU'd, will make a happy man.
34^ Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
A wee house has a wide mouth.
A wee spark niaks meikle wark.
A wee thing puts your beard in a bleeze.
A wee thing fleys cowards.
A wight man never wanted a weapon.
A wife is wise enough that kens her guidman's breeks frae her
ain kirtle.
A wilfu' man never wanted wae.
A wilfu' man shou'd be unco wise.
A woman's mind is like wind in a winter night.
Auld men are twice bairns. •
Auld sparrows are ill to tame..
Auld springs gi'e nae prize.
Auld sins breed new shame.
Auld wives and bairns make fools of physicians.
A yeld sow was never good to grices.
A yule feast may be quit at pasch.
Bairns are certain care, but nae sure joy.
Bare backs mak burnt shins.
Bare gentry, braggand beggars.
Bastard brood are aye proud.
Be a friend to yoursell and others will.
Be lang sick that ye may be soon hale.
Be it better, be it worse, be ruled by him that has the purse.
Be thou well, be thou wae, thou wilt not be aye sae.
Be the thing ye wad be ca'd.
Bear wealth well, poortith will bear itsell.
Before ye chuse a friend eat a peck o' saut wi' him.
Begin wi' needles and prins and end wi' horu'd nowt.
Beg frae beggars, you'll never be rich.
Beggars breed, and gentry feed.
Beggars dow bear nae wealth.
Beggars shou'd na be choosers,
Better a bit in the morning than fast a' day.
Better a clout in, than a hole out.
Better a dog fawn on you than bark at you.
Better a finger aff than aye wapging.
Better a fair foe than a fause friend.
Belter a good fame than a fine face.
Better a laying hen than a lying crown.
Better a mouse in the pot than nae flesh.
Better a shameless eating than a shamefu' living.
Better a tocher in her than wi' her.
Better a toom house than an ill tenant.
Better a thigging mother than a riding father.
Better a wee ingle to warm ye than a mickle fire to burn ye.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 349
Better auld debts than auld sairs.
Better bairns greet than bearded men.
Better be blytlie wi' little than sad \vi' mickle.
Better be envied than pitied.
Better be alane than in ill company.
Better be idle than ill employed.
Better be out of the world than out of the fashion.
Better be sonsy than soon up.
Better be the lucky man than the lucky man's son.
Better be unkind than cumbersome.
Better beg than borrow.
Better day the better deed.
Better eat gray bread in youth than in eild.
Better flatter a fool than fight wi' him.
Better find iron than tine siller.
Better gi'e Ijie slight than tak' it.
Better guide well than work sair.
Better baud by a hair than draw with a tether.
Better baud with the hound than rin with the hare.
Better hain at the braird than at the bottom.
Better baud loose than in an ill tethering.
Better hap at court than good service.
Better kiss a knave than cast out wi' him.
Better keep the de'il without the door than ha'e to drive him out of
the house.
Better keep well than make well.
Better lang something than soon naething.
Better late thrive than never do weel.
Better lear frae your neighbour's skaith than your ain.
Better leave to my faes than beg frae my friends.
Better live in hope than die in despair.
Better marry o'er the middin' than o'er the moor.
Better my bairns seek frae me than I beg frae them.
Better my friend think me fremit than fashous.
Better ne'er begun than ne'er ended.
Better rough and sonsy than bare and donsy.
Better saught with little aught, than care with mony a cow.
Better say here it is than there it was.
Better short and sweet than lang and lax.
Better sit still than rise up and fa'.
Better sit idle than work for nought.
Better skaith saved than mends made.
Better sma' fish than nae fish.
Better spared than ill spent. ,
Better tlie ill ken'd than the good unken'd.
Better the end of a feast than the beginning of a frav.
Better thole a grumph than a sumph.
350 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
Better to hand than draw.
Better twa skaiths than ae sorrow.
Better nnborn than untaught.
Better wade back mid-water than gae forward and drown.
Better wait on the cook than the doctor.
Better wear shoon than sheets.
Between three and thirteen
Thraw the wand when it is green.
Bid a man to the roast and stick Him with the spit.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Birth's good, but breeding's better.
Black will take no other hue.
Blaw the wind ne'er sae fast,
It will lown at the last.
Blind men should na judge of colours.
Blood's thicker than water.
Boden gear stinks.
Break my head and syne draw on my bow.
Broken bread makes hale bairns.
Burnt bairns dread the fire.
Buy a thief frae the gallows, and he'll help to hang you.
By chance a cripple may grip a hare.
By guess, as the blind man fell'd the dog.
Can do is eithly born about.
Caimy chiels carry cloaks when 'tis clear,
The fool when 'tis foul has nane to wear.
Careless fowk are aye cumbersome.
Cast na out the dow'd water till ye get the fresh.
Cats and carlins sit in the sun.
Cauld cools the love that kindles ower het.
Changes are lightsome.
Come a' to Jock Fool's house, and ye'se get bread and cheese.
Come unca'd sits unserv'd.
Come not to council unbidden.
Comes to my hand like the bowl o' a pint stowp.
Come it air, come it late, in May comes the cow-quake.
Come with the wind, and gae with the water.
Confess'd faut is half amends.
Confess debt and crave days.
Count again is no forbidden.
Count siller after a' your kin.
Count like Jews and gree like brethren.
Courtesy is cumbersome to them that ken it no.
Counsel is nae command.
Crab without a cause and mease without amends.
Credit is better than ill won gear.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 351
Curses make the fox fat.
Cut your cloak according to your claith.
Baffin and want of wit maks auld wives donnard.
Dawted bairns dow bear little.
Daylight will peep through a sma' hole.
Deal sma' and serve a'.
Dear bought and far sought is meet for ladies.
Death and marriage make term-day.
Death at ae door, and hardship at the other.
Death defies the doctor.
Deed shaws proof.
Ding down the nest, and the rooks will flee awa\
Dirt bodes luck.
Do on the hill as ye wad do in the ha'.
Do your turn well, and nane will spier what time ye took.
Do weel and dread nae shame.
Do weel and doubt nae man, do ill and doubt a' men.
Do as the lasses do, say no and tak' it.
Do not meddle with the de'il and the laird's bairns.
Do not talk of a rape to a chiel whase father was hangit.
Dogs will redd swine.
Dolor pays nae debt.
Double drinks are good for drouth.
Double charges rive cannons.
Drive a cow to the ha', she'll run to the byre.
Drink and drouth come not aye together.
Drink little that ye may drink lang.
Drunken at e'en, and dry in the morning.
Eat in measure, and defy the mediciner.
Eat your fill, but pouch nane.
Eats meat and never fed,
Wears claiths and never clad.
Eating and drinking want but a beginning.
Eith learning the cat to the kirn.
Eith learn'd soon forgotten.
Eith working when will's at hame.
Either prove a man or a mouse.
Either win the horse or tine the saddle.
E'ening red and a morning gray,
Is a token of a good day.
E'en as ye win't sae ye may wear't.
Enough's as good as a feast.
Ever busy ever bare.
Every ane kens best where his ain shoe nips him.
Every ane lowps the dyke where it is laighest.
352 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Every craw thinks its ain chick whitest.
Every dog has his day.
Every man wears his belt his ain gate.
Every man can guide an ill wife but he that has her.
Every man bows to the bush he gets bield I'rae.
]<]very man's blind in his ain cause.
Every man to his mind, as the man said when he kiss'd the sow.
Every man's tale is good till another's be tauld.
Every man's no born with a siller spoon in his mouth.
Every man has his ain draff pock.
Every miller wad wyse the water to his ain mill.
Every shoe fits not every foot.
Every thing has an end, and a pudding has twa.
Experience teaches fools.
Faint heart never won fair lady.
Fair heights make fools fain.
Fair fa' the wife, and weel may she spin,
That counts aye the lawing with a quart to come in.
Fair fa' good ale, it gars fowk speak as they think.
Fair exchange is nae robbery.
Fair maidens wear nae purses.
Fair hair may have foul roots.
Fair words hurt ne'er a bane,
But foul words break mony a ane.
Fair and foolish, black and proud,
Lang and lazy, little and loud.
Fann'd fires and forced love ne'er did weel.
Fancy flees before the wind.
Far away fowls have fair feathers.
Farewell frost, fair weather niest.
Far frae court far frae care.
Farmers faugh gar lairds laugh.
Fast bind fast find.
Fat flesh freezes soon.
Fat paunches bode lean pows.
Fause fowk shou'd hae mony witnesses.
Fiddler's dogs and flesh-flies come to feasts unca'd.
Fight dog, fight bear, wha wins de'il care.
Fine feathers mak' fine birds.
Fire and water are good servants, but ill masters.
First come first served.
Fleas and a girning wife are wakerife bedfellows.
Fleshers lo'e nae coUops.
Fl eying a bird is no the gate to grip it.
Flee never sae fast, your fortune will be at your tail.
Flitting of farms makes mailins dear*
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 353
Fools' haste is nae speed.
Fools are aye fain of fUttinj^.
Fools shou'd na see wark that's haff done.
Fools make feasts, and wise fowk eat them ;
The wise make jests, and fools repeat them.
Fools are fain of naething.
For want of steek a shoe may be tint.
For fashion's sake, as dogs gang to the market.
Fortune favours fools.
Fortune helps a,ye the hardy.
Force without forecast aften fails.
Fore-warn'd, haff arm'd.
For faut of wise fowk fools sit on binks.
Foul water slockens fire.
Friendship canna stand aye on ae side.
Friends gree best sindry.
Frost and fawshood have baith a dirty way gang.
Gae to bed with the lamb, and rise with the lav'rock.
Gane is the goose that laid the great egg.
Gaunting bodes wanting.
Gayly wad be better.
Gear is easier j^ain'd than guided.
Gentle paddocks have lang taes.
Get your rock and spindle, and God will send tow.
Get the word 0' soon rising, and you may lie in your bed a' day.
Giff gaff makes good friends.
Girn when ye bind and laugh when you loose.
Gi'e a bairn its will, and a whelp its fill,
Nane of them will e'er do well.
Gi'e a dog an ill name, and he'll soon be hang'd.
Gi'e a carle your finger, and he'll take your hale hand.
Gi'e a gawn man a drink, and a quarrelsome chiel a cuff.
Gi'e a thing and take a thing,
That's the ill man's gowd. ring.
Gi'e o'er when the play's good.
Gi'e them tow eneuch and they'll hang themsells.
Gi'e the de'il his due.
God be wi' auld lang syne, when our gutchers ate their trenchers.
God help great fowk, the poor can beg.
God's help is nearer than the fair e'en.
God Ae'er sent the mouth but He sent the meat wi't.
God send water to that well that people think will never run dry.
God sends us claiths according to our cauld.
God sends meat, but the de'il sends cooks.
God send you mair wit and me mair siller.
God shapes the back for the burthen.
z
354 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Good ale needs nae wisp.
Good cheer and good cheap ca's mony customers.
Good fowk are scarce, take care of ane.
Good forecast furthers the wark.
Good fishing in drumly waters.
Good will shou'd be tane in part payment.
Good words cost nathing.
Great barkers are nae biters.
Great words fley cowards.
Great winning makes wark easy.
Greedy fowk have lang arms.
Gut nae fish till ye get them.
Ha' binks are sliddery.
Had ye sic a shoe on ilka foot it would gar you shaghle.
Haud a hank in your ain hand.
Haff acres bear good corn.
Hang a thief when he's young, and he'll no steal when he's auld.
Hankering and hinging on is a poor trade.
Handle the pudding while it is het.
Hang hunger and drown drouth.
Hap and a halfpenny is gear enough.
Happy the wife that's married to a motherless son.
Happy for the son when the dad goes to the de'il.
Hardships sindle come single.
Haste makes waste.
Have ye gear, have ye nane,
Tine lieart, and a's gane.
He begs frae them that borrowed frae him.
He brings a staff to break his ain head.
He can haud meal in his mouth and blaw.
He comes aftner with the rake than the shool.
He complains early that complains of his kail.
He can iiide his meat and seek mair.
He does na aye ride when he saddles his horse.
He does na like his wark that says now when it is done.
He gangs away in an ill time that never comes again.
He gangs lang barefoot that wears dead men's shoon.
He gat his kail in a riven dish.
He has brought his pock to a braw market.
He has mickle prayer but little devotion.
He has come to good by misguiding.
He has an eye in his neck.
He has a bee in his bonnet lug.
He has gotten a bite o' his ain bridle.
He has the best end o' the string.
He has faut of a wife that marries mam's pet
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 355
He has niair wit in his little finger than ye have in a' your
bouk.
He has coosten his cloak on the ither shoulder.
He has feather'd his nest, he may flee when he likes.
He has need o' a lang spoon that sups with the de'il.
He has cowped the nieikle dish into the little.
He has a hole aneath his nose that will ne'er let him be rough.
He has wit at will that with an angry heart can sit still.
He has licket the butter aff my bread.
He has a slid grip that has an eel by the tail.
He has a good judgment that does not lippen to his ain.
He has a iiearty hand for giving a hungry mealtith.
He has a crap for a' corn.
He has need to ha'e a clean pow,
That ca's his neighbour "nitty know."
He hears with his heels, as geese do in harvest.
He kens na a B by a bull's foot.
He kens his ain groats among other fowk's kail.
He kens whilk side his cake is butter'd on.
He'll mend when he grows better, like sour ale in summer.
He'll no let grass grow at his heels.
He'll tell't to nae mair than he meets.
He loo's me for little that hates me for nought.
He'll wag as the bush wags.
He looks like the far end o' a French fiddle.
He'll soon be a beggar that canna say nay.
He loo'd mutton weel that lick'd where the ewe lay.
He'll have enough some day when his mouth's fou o' mods.
He may well swim that has his head hadden up.
He maun be soon up that cheats the tod.
He maun hae leave to speak that canna baud his tongue.
He may find faut that canna mend.
He may laugh that wins.
He never did a good darg that gade grumbling about it.
He never lies but when the hollin's green.
He needs maun run that the de'il drives.
He never tint a cow that grat for a needle.
He rides sicker that ne'er fell.
He's a fool that forgets himsell.
He's better fed than nurtur'd.
He's a man of a wise mind,
That of a foe can make a friend.
He's gane as the dog drave.
He's wise that kens whan he's weel, and can baud himself sae.
He's lifeless that's faultless.
He's a gentle horse that never coost his rider.
He's silly that spares for ilka speech.
356 Dictionafy of Lowland Scotch.
He's a fool that marries at yule,
For when the bairn's to bear the corn's to shear.
He's at his wii's end.
He's wise tliat's timely war}'.
He's as welcome as water in a riven ship.
He's like a tiee in a blanket.
He's no sae daft as he lets on.
He's sairest dung that's paid wi' his ain wand.
He's a sairy beggar that canna gae by ae door.
He's o'er soon up that's hanged ere noon.
He's poor eneuch that's ill loo'd.
He's a sairy cook that mayna lick his ain fingers.
He's a silly chiel that can neither do nor say.
He's a wise bairn that kens his ain faither.
He's unkofu' in his ain house that canna pike a bane in his neighbour's.
He's a proud horse that winna bear his ain provender.
He's well worthy of sorrow that buys it.
He's like the singed cat, better than he's likely.
He's a worthless goodman that's no missed.
He's a good horse that never stumbled,
And a better wife that never grumbled.
He's a weak beast that downa bear the saddle.
He sleeps as dogs do when wives sift meal.
He speaks in his drink what he thought in his drouth.
He sits fu' close that has riven breeks.
He stumbles at a strae and lowps o'er a wonlyne.
He that aught the cow gangs nearest her tail.
He that blaws best let him bear the horn.
He that's born to be hang'd will never be drown'd.
He that's born under a tippenny planet will ne'er be worth a groat.
He that buys land buys stanes,
And he that buys beef buys banes.
He that counts a' cost will ne'er put plough in the eard.
Hethatcheatsmeanesshamefa'him,if he cheatme twice, shame fa' me.
He that clatters to himself talks to a fool.
He that canna make sport shou'd mar nane.
He that canna do as he wou'd maun do as he may.
He that comes unca'd sits unserved.
He that counts before the ostler counts twice.
He that does his turn in time sits half idle.
He that does bidding deserves na dinging.
He that deals in dirt has aye foul fingers.
He that forecasts a' perils will win nae worship.
He that fa's in a gutter, the langer he lies the dirtier he is.
He that fishes before the net,
Fishes lang or he fish get.
He that gets gear before he gets wit, will die ere he thrive.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 357
He that gets, forgets, but he that wants, thinks on.
He that gangs a borrowing, gangs a sorrowing.
He that gi'es a' his gear to his bairns.
Take up a bittle and ding out his hams.
He that gi'es all wad gi'e nathing.
He that gets ance his nieves in dirt can hardly get them out.
He that has twa hoards will get a third.
He that has a good crop may thole some thistles.
He that has nae siller in his purse shou'd ha'e silk on his tongue.
He that hides can best find.
He that has mickle gets aye mair.
He that has mickle wad aye ha'e mair.
He that has a dog of his ain may gang to the kirk wi' a clean breast.
He that has a mickle nose thinks ilka ane speaks o't.
He that's ill to himsell will be good to naebody.
He that in bawdry wastes his gear,
Baith shame and skaith he will endure.
He that kens what will be cheap or dear,
Needs be a merchant but for ae year.
He that keeks through a hole may see what will vex him.
He that lives weel lives lang.
He that lacks my mare wad buy my mare.
He that laughs at his ain joke spills the sport o't.
He that laughs alane will make sport in company.
He that lives upon hope has a slim diet.
He that looks to freets, freets follow him.
He that marries or he be wise will die e'er he be rich.
He that meddles with tulzies comes in for the redding streak.
He that never rade never fell.
He that never eats flesh thinks harigalds a feast.
He that shaws his purse bribes the thief.
He that sleeps with dogs maun rise with fleas.
He that slays shall be slain.
He that steals can hide.
He that strikes my dog wad strike mysell if he durst.
He that spends his gear before he gets't will get little good o't.
He that seeks motes gets motes.
He that speers all opinions comes ill speed.
He that speaks what he should not.
Will hear what he would rather not.
He that spares to speak spares to speed.
He that sells ware for words maun live by the wind.
He that speaks wi' a drawnt and sells wi' a cant,
Is right like a snake in the skin o' a saunt.
He that teaches himsell has a fool for his master.
He that will cheat in play winna be honest in earnest
He that winna when he may, shanna when he wad.
358 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch .
He that wad eat the kirnel maun crack the nut.
He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar.
He that's welcome fares well.
He that well bides well betides.
He that will na thole, maun flit mony a hole.
He was the bee that made the honey.
He was scant o' news that tauld his father was hanged.
He wears twa faces beneath ae cowl. *.
He was mair fleyed than hurt.
Help is good in a' play.
Hens are aye free of horse corn.
Highest in court the nearest the widdy.
His wit gat wings and would have flown,
But pinching poortith pu'd him down.
His auld brass will buy a new pan.
His bark is waur than his bite.
His egg has aye twa youks.
His geese are a' swans.
His room's better than his company.
His pipe's out.
Honesty hands lang the gate.
Honesty's the best craft.
Hooly and fair gangs far in a day.
Horses are good of a' hues.
Hunger will break through stane wa's.
Hunger's hard upon a heal heart.
Hunger is good kitchen.
Hunger thou me and I'll harry thee.
Hungry dogs are blythe o' bursten puddings.
Hungry stewards wear mony shoon.
I ANCE gae a dog his handsel, and he was hanged ere night.
I bake nae bread by your shins.
I canna sell the cow and sup the milk.
I have gi'en a stick to break my ain head.
I had rather gang by your door than o'er your grave.
I ha'e gotten an ill kame for my ain head.
I ha'e seen mair than I have eaten.
I ken by my cogue wha milks my cow.
I ken how the world wags,
He's honor'd maist wlio has moniest bags.
I ken him as well as I had gane through him with a lighted candle.
I'll gi'e ye a bane to pike that will baud your teeth gawn.
I'll gar his ain gartens tie up his ain hose.
I'll never dirty the bonnet I'm gawn to put on.
I'll keep my mind to mysell and tell my tale to the wind.
I'll never stoop sae laigh and lift sae little.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 359
I'll never put the carl aboon the gentleman.
I'll never keep a dog and bark mysell.
I'll never live poor to die rich.
I'll never buy a blind bargain, or a pig in a pock.
I'll never brew drink to treat drunkards.
I'm o'er auld a cat to draw a strae before.
I'm no sae blind as I'm blear-eyed.
I'm flyting free with him.
I'm no sae scant o' clean pipes as to blaw with a brunt cutty.
I'm no every man's dog that whistles on me.
I'm neither sma' drink thirsty, nor gray bread hungry.
I may come to break an egg in your pouch.
I never liked a dry bargain.
I spake but ae word, gi'e me but ae strake.
I took him aft" the moor for God's sake, and he begins to bite the bairns.
I wad be scant o' claith to sole my hose with dockens.
I wadna ca' the king my cousin.
I wad rather see't than hear tell o't.
I wadna be deaved with your keckling for a' your eggs.
I winna make fish 0' ane and flesh o' anither.
I wish you readier meat than a running hare.
I wish you as muckle good o't as dogs get of grass.
If ae sheep lowp o'er the dyke a' the lave will follow.
If a lie could worry you, ye wad have been choked langsyne.
If a man's gawn down the brae ilk ane gi'es him a jundie.
If e'er I find his cart tumbling I'se gie't a put.
If he be not a souier he's a good shoe-clouter.
If I canna kep geese I'll kep gaislins.
If I canna do't by might I'll do't by flight.
If it can be nae better, it is well it is nae warse.
If it winna be a good shoe, let it gang down i' the heel.
If it serve me to wear, it may serve you to look to.
If marriages be made in heaven, ye have had few friends there.
If the de'il be laird ye'U be tenant.
If things were to be done twice ilka ane wad be wise.
If the de'il find you idle he'll set you to wark.
If we hae little gear we hae less care.
If ye dinna like what I can gie,
Tak what ye brought w'ye.
If ye can spend muckle, put the mair to the fire.
If ye brew weel ye'll drink the better.
If ye wad be a merchant fine.
Beware 0' auld horseg, herring, and wine.
If ye sell your purse to your wife, gi'e her your breeks to the bargain.
If you tell your servant your secret, you make him your master.
If ye had as little money as ye ha'e manners, ye wad be the poorest
man of your kin.
36d Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
If ye do a wrang make amends.
If ye do nae ill dinna ill like.
If ye steal no my kale, break na my dyke.
If ye wad live for ever, wash the milk frae your liver.
If ye wad be haly, healthy, and wealthy, rise soon in the morning.
Ill bairns are best heard at hame.
Ill comes upon waur's back.
Ill counsel will gar a man stick his ain mare.
Ill doers are aye ill dreaders.
Ill deem'd haff hang'd.
Ill getting het water frae 'neath cauld ice.
Ill herds make fat foxes.
Ill news are aft o'er true.
Ill payers are aye good cravers.
Ill weeds wax weel.
Ill- won gear winna enrich the third heir.
Ill-won as ill ware'd.
It canna rain, but it pours.
It gangs in at the ae lug and out at the ither.
It is a bauch brewing that's no good in the newing.
It is a bare moor that ye gang through and no get a heather coo.
It is a good game that fills the wame.
It is a good tongue that says nae ill.
It is a hard task to be poor and leal.
It is an ill wind that blaws naebody good.
It is an ill pack that's no worth the custom.
It is an ill cause that the lawyer thinks shame o'.
It is a lamb at the up-taking, but an auld sheep ere ye get it aflF.
It is a mean mouse that has but ae hole.
It is a stinking praise comes out of ane's ain mouth.
It is a sin to lie on the de'il.
It is a shame to eat the cow and worry on the tail.
It is a sair field where a's slain.
It is a sooth dream that's seen waking.
It is a silly flock where the ewe bears the bell.
It is a sairy hen that canna scrape for ae bird.
It is a' tint that's done to auld fowk and bairns.
It is a' tint that fell by.
It is best ganging wi' a horse in ane's hand.
It is better to sup wi' a cutty than want a spoon.
It is by the head that the cow gie's milk.
It is clean about the wren's door where there is nought within.
It is dear coft honey that's licked aff a thorn.
It is eith crying yool on anither man's stool.
It is eith finding a stick to strike a messan.
It is fair in ha' when beards wag a'.
It is good to dread the warst, the best will be the welcomer.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 361
It is good to be good in your time, ye kenna how lang it may last.
It is good to be merry and wise,
Quoth the miller when he mouter'd twice.
It is good to have our cogue out when it rains kail.
It is good to hae twa strings to your bow.
It is hard to gar an auld mare leave flinging.
It is hard to sit in Rome and strive wi' the Pope.
It is hard for a greedy eye to ha'e a leal heart.
It is hard baith to have and want.
It is ill to be ca'd a thief and aye found piking.
It is ill crooking before cripples.
It is an ill kitchen that keeps the bread away.
It is ill to bring out o' the flesh what's bred i' the bane.
It is ill to lear the cat to the kirn.
It is ill taking corn frae geese.
It is ill bringing butt what's no ben.
It ill sets a haggis to be roasted.
It is ill meddling between the bark and the rhind.
It is ill making a silk purse o' a sow 's lug, or a touting-horn 0' a
tod's tail.
It is ill putting a blythe face on a wae heart.
It is kittle shooting at corbies and clergy.
It is kittle for the cheeks when the hurl-barrow gaes o'er the brig
o' the nose.
It is kittle to waken sleeping dogs.
It is lang or the de'il be found dead at a dyke side.
It is lang or ye cry shoo to an e^g.
It is muckle gars the tailor laugh, but souters girn aye.
It is needless to pour water on a drown'd mouse.
It is no the cowl that makes the friar.
It is nae sin to take a good price, but in gi'eing ill measure.
It is nae mair to see a woman greet than to see a goose gae barefoot.
It is nae play when ane laughs and anither greets.
It is no the way to grip a bird to fling your bonnet at it.
It is not what is she, but what has she ]
It is weel ware'd that wasters want.
It is weel that our fauts are not written on our face.
It is time enough to skreigh when ye're strucken.
It is time enough to make my bed when I'm gawn to lie down.
It is the best spoke in your wheel.
It keeps his nose at the grindstane.
It maun be true that a' fowk says.
It sets a sow weel to wear a saddle.
It was never for naething that the gled whistled.
It will be a het day gars you startle.
It will set his beard in a bleeze.
It will be a feather out of your wing.
362 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Kail hains bread.
Kame sindle, kame sair.
Kamesters are aye creeshy.
Keek in the stowp was ne'er a good fellow.
Keep hame, and hanie will keep you.
Keep woo and it will be dirt, keep lint and it will be silk.
Keep out of his company that cracks of his cheatery.
Keep your ain fish guts to feed your ain sea maws.
Keep your kill-dry'd taunts to your mouldy-hair'd maidens.
Keep your tongue within your teeth.
Keep the staff in your ain hand.
Keep your breath to cool your crowdie.
Keep your mouth close and your een open.
Ken yoursell and your neighbours winna misken you.
Ken when to spend and when to spare,
And ye needna be bissy, and ye'll never be bare.
Kindness comes wi' will ; it canna be coft.
Kindness will creep where it canna gang.
Kindness canna stand aye on ae side.
Kings and bears aft worry their keepers.
Kissing gaes by favour.
Kiss ye me till I be white, and that will be an ill web to bleach.
Kythe in your ain colours that fowk may ken you.
Lacking breeds laziness, praises breed pith.
Laith to bed and laith to ri^e.
Lang mint, little dint.
Lang look'd for comes at last.
Lang or ye cut Falkland wood with a penknife.
Lang standing and little offering mak a poor priest.
Lang straes are nae motes.
Lang tarrying tines thanks.
Lang sports turn to earnest.
Langest at the fire soonest finds cauld.
Langer lasts year than yule.
Law's costly, tak a pint and 'gree.
Law-makers should na be law-breakers.
Laugh at leisure, ye may greet ere night.
Leal heart never lied.
Leave welcome behind ye.
Leave aff as lang as the play's good.
Learn young, learn fair.
Learn the cat to the kirn and she'll aye be lickin'.
Letna the plough stand to slay a mouse.
Let alane maks mony a lown.
Let a friend gang with a fae.
Let byganes be byganes, and fairplay in time to come.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 363
Let him play a spring on his ain fiddle.
Let him cool in the skin he het in.
Let him that's cauld blaw up the ingle.
Let his ain wand ding him.
Let it fa' upon the fey est.
Let the horns gang wi' the hide.
Let the mom come and the meat wi't.
Let the kirk stand in the kirk yard.
Let them laugh that win.
Let them care that come behind.
Lie for him and he'll swear for you.
Light suppers mak lang life days.
Light winning maks a heavy purse.
Lightly come lightly gane.
Light burdens break nae banes.
Like a Scots man ye take your mark frae an ill liour.
Likely lies aft in the mire, when unlikely wins thro'.
Lik'd gear is haff bought.
Like hens, ye rin aye to the heap.
Like the wife, that never cries for the ladle till the pot rins o'er.
Like the cat, fain fish wad ye eat,
But ye are laith to wet your feet.
Like the wife wi' the mony daughters, the best comes hind-
most.
Lippen to me but look to yoursell.
Little can a lang tongue lien.
Little kenn'd the less cared for.
Little gear the less care.
Little wats the ill-willy wife what a dinner may haud in't.
Little odds between a feast and a fu' wame.
Little said is soon mended, little gear's soon spended.
Little wit in the head maks muckle travel to the feet.
Little meddling maks fair parting.
Little may an auld nag do that mauna nicher.
Little dogs hae lang tails.
Little mense to the cheeks to bite aff the nose.
Live and let live.
Live upon love as lav'rocks do on leeks.
Look before ye lowp, ye'll ken the better how to light.
Lordships change manners.
Love and lordships like nae marrows.
Love and raw peas break the heart and burst the wame.
Love's as warm among cotters as courtiers.
Love me, love my dog.
Love me lightly, love me lang.
Love o'er het soonest cools.
Love o'erlooks mony fauts.
364 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Maidens should be mild and meek,
Quick to hear and slow to speak.
Maidens' bairns are aye well bred.
Maidens' tochers and ministers' stipends are aye less than ca'd.
Mair by good luck than good guiding.
Mair haste the waur speed,
Quoth the tailor to the lang threed.
Make ae wrang step and down ye gae.
Mair hamely than welcome.
Mak the best of an ill bargain.
Mak your hay when the sun shines.
Malice is aye mindfu'.
Man propones but God dispones.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
Marry aboon match and get a master.
Mealy mou'd maidens stand lang at the mill.
Measure twice, cut but anes.
Meat feeds, and claith cleads, but manners mak the man.
Messengers shou'd neither be headed nor hanged.
Mickle fails that fools think.
Mickle corn mickle care.
Mickle wad aye hae mair.
Mickle spoken, part spilt.
Mickle power maks many faes.
Mickle may fa' between the cup and the lip.
Mickle water rins by that the miller wats not of.
Mickle pleasure some pain.
Mickle about ane, quoth the de'il to the collier.
Might o'ercomes right.
Mint ere ye strike.
Misterfou' fowk mauna be mensfu'.
Money is welcome in a dirten clout.
Money maks money.
Mony hands mak light wark.
Mony a ane kisses the bairn for love of the nurice.
Mony hounds may soon worry ae hare.
Mony heads are better than ane.
Mony purses baud friends lang together.
Mony fair promises at marriage make few at tocher good paying.
Mony lack what they hae in their pack.
Mony dogs die ere ye fa' heir.
Mony ane's coat saves his doubtlet.
Mony ways to kill a dog tho' ye dinna hang him.
Mony cooks ne'er made good kail.
Mony sma's mak ae mickle.
Mony a ane maks an errand to the ha' to bid the lady good-day.
Mony irons in the fire part maun cool.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 365
Mony aue opens their pack and sells nae wares.
Mony a ane speers the gate they ken fu' well.
Mouths are nae measure.
Mows may come to earnest.
Moyen does mickle, but money does mair.
Murder will out.
Must is a king's word.
My son's my son aye till he get him a wife,
My daughter's my daughter a' the days o' her life.
My niest neighbour's skaith is my present peril.
Nae butter sticks to his bread.
Nae fool to an auld fool.
Nae friend to a frieud in need.
Nae fleeing without wings.
Nae great loss but there's some sma' advantage.
Nae langer pipe nae langer dance.
Nae man has a tack o' his life.
Nae man can thrive unless his wife let him.
Nae man can live langer in peace than his neighbour likes.
Nae mair haste than good speed.
Nae safe wading in unco waters.
Nae weather's ill if the wind be still.
Nathing freer than a gift.
Nathing comes fairer to light than what has been lang hidden.
Nathing's baulder than a blind mare.
Nathing enters into a closs hand.
Nathing sae crouse as a new washen louse.
Nathing's ill to be done when will's at hame.
Nathing to be done in haste but gripping of fleas.
Nathing venture nathing win.
Nane ferlies mair than fools.
Nane sae weel but he hopes to be better.
Nane can mak a bore but ye'll find a pin till't.
Nane can play the fool sae weel as a wise man.
Narrow gather'd widely spent.
Nearest the heart nearest the mouth.
Nearer the night the mair beggars.
Necessity has nae law.
Need makes men of craft.
Need will gar an auld wife trot and a naked man rin.
Neither sae sinfu' as to sink, nor sae haly as to saunt.
New lords have new laws.
Never a barrel better herrings.
Never break out of kind to gar your friends ferly at you.
Never draw your dirk when a dunt will do't.
Never fin' faut with my shoon unless ye pay my souter.
366 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Never gae to the de'il wi' a dish-clout about your head.
Never let on you, but laugh in your ain sleeve.
Never meet never pay.
Never marry a widow unless her first man was hang'd.
Never put a sword in a wud man's hand.
Never put the plough before the owsen.
Never quat certainty for hope.
Never o'er auld to learn.
Never scaud your lips in other fowk's kail.
Never seek a wife till ye ken what to do wi' her.
Never show your teeth unless ye can bite.
Never strive against the stream.
Never venture never win.
Nineteen nay-says of a maiden are haff a grant.
Now's now, and yule's in winter.
Nobility without ability is like a pudding without suet.
O'er braw a purse to put a plack in.
O'er mickle of ae thing is good for naething.
O'er mickle hameliness spoils good courtesy.
O'er mickle cookery spoils the brochan.
O'er mickle loose leather about your chafts.
O'er narrow counting culzies nae kindness.
O'er rackless may repent.
O'er strong meat for your weak stamach.
Of a' sorrow a fu' sorrow's best.
Of a little take a little, when there's nought take a'.
Of bairns' gifts ne'er be fain,
Nae sooner they give but they seek them again.
Of ill debtors men get aiths.
Of twa ills choose the least.
Open confession is good for the saul.
Our sins and debts are aften mair than we think of.
Out of debt out of danger.
Out of the peat pot into the gutter.
Out of men's blessing into God's sun.
Pay him in his ain coin.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
Pennyless sauls may pine in purgatory.
Placks and bawbees grow pounds.
Play's good while it is play.
Please your kimmer and ye'll easily guide your gossip.
Plenty makes dainty.
Poor fowk's friends soon misken them.
Poor fowk are fain o' little.
Poortith parts good company.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 367
Poortith \vi' patience is less painfu'.
Possession is eleven points of the law.
Pride and grace dwell never in ae place. \
Pride ne'er leaves its master till he get a fa'.
Pride and sweerness tak niickle uphadding.
Provision in season makes a bien liouse.
Put a coward to his mettle and he'll fight the de'il.
Put twa pennies in a purse and they'll creep together.
Put the saddle on the right horse.
Put your hand nae farther than your sleeve will reach.
Put your hand twice to your bonnet for anes to your pouch.
Put your finger in the fire and say it was your fortune.
Quality without quantity is little thought of.
Quick at meat quick at wark.
Quick, for you'll never be cleanly.
Quick returns mak rich merchants.
Reckless youth maks a ruefu' eild.
Raise nae mair de'ils than ye're able to lay.
Rather spill your joke than tine your friend.
Red wood makes good spindles. :
Remove an auld tree and it will wither.
Remember, man, and keep in mind,
A faithfu' friend is hard to find.
Rich fowk hae rowth of friends.
Right mixture maks good mortar.
Right wrangs nae man.
Rob Peter to pay Paul.
Robin that herds on the height,
Can be as blythe as Sir Robert the knight.
Rome was not a' bigged in ae day.
Roose the ford as ye find it.
Roose the fair day at e'en.
Royet lads may make sober men.
Rue and thyme grow baith in ae garden.
Rule youth well, for eild will rule itsell.
Sae mony men sae mony minds.
Sain yoursell frae the de'il and the laird's bairns.
Sair era vers are aye ill payers.
Satan reproving sin.
Saw wheat in dirt and rye in dust.
Say weel's good, but do weel is better.
Scant of grace hears lang preachings.
Scant of cheeks makes a lang nose.
Scorn comes commonly wi' skaith.
368 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Seeing's believing a' the world over.
See for love and buy for money.
Seek your saw where ye get your ail,
And beg your barm where ye buy your ale.
Seek mickle and get something, seek little and get nought.
Second thoughts are best.
Send you to the sea ye'll no get saut water.
Serve yoursell till your bairns come to age.
Set a beggar on horseback he'll ride to the de'il.
Set that down on the back side of your count-book.
Set a knave to grip a knave.
Shame's past the shade o' your hair.
Sharp stomachs mak short graces.
Shoal waters make maist din.
She that gangs to the well wi' ill will.
Either the pig breaks or the water will spill.
She looks as if butter wadna melt in her mou'.
She'll keep her ain side o' the hoose,'and gang up and down in yours.
She hands up her head like a hen drinking water.
She that taks gifts, hersell she sells.
And she that gi'es them does nought else.
She's better than she's bonny.
Shod in the cradle and barefoot on the stibble.
Short fowk are soon angry, their heart's soon at their mouth.
Sic man sic master, sic priest sic offering.
Sic as ye gi'e sic will ye get.
Sic reek as is therein comes out o' the lum.
Silence grips the mouse.
Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire.
Sindle seen soon forgotten.
Slaw at meat slaw at wark.
Slander leaves a slur.
Smooth waters run deep.
Sma' fish is better than nae fish.
Soon enough to cry chuck when it is out of the shell.
Soon ripe soon rotten, soon het soon cauld.
Soon enough if well enough.
Some hae hap and some stick in the gap.
Sorrow is soon eneuch when it conies.
Sorrow and an ill life make soon an auld wife.
Sorrow and ill weather come unsent for.
Spare when ye're young and spend when ye're auld.
Speak the truth and shame the de'il.
Spend and God will send, spare and aye be bare.
Speak good o' pipers, your faither was a fiddler.
Speak o' the de'il and he'll appear.
Spilt ale is waur than water.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 369
Standers-by see mair than the gamesters.
Standing dubs gather dirt.
Stay nae langer in your friend's house than ye are welcome.
Strike as ye feed, and that's but soberly.
Strike the iron as lang as it is het.
Stuffing hands out storms.
Sudden friendship sure repentance.
Supp'd out wort was ne'er good ale.
Surfeits slay mair than swords.
Some ha'e a hantle faiits, ye are only a ne'er-do-weel.
Sour plumbs, quoth the tod when he couldna climb the tree.
Souters and tailors count hours.
Souters shou'dna gae ayont their last.
Souters shou'dna be sailors that can neither steer nor row.
Spare at the spigot and let out at the bung.
Spae well and hae well.
Speer at Jock thief if I be a leal man.
Speak when you're spoken to and drink when you're drunken to.
Stown dints are sweetest.
Sturt follows a' extremes.
Sturt pays nae debt.
Swear by your burnt shins.
Sweet at the on-taking, sour in the aflf-putting.
Sweer to bed and sweer up in the morning.
Spit on a stane, and it will be wet at last.
Stay and drink of your ain browst.
Sticking gangs na by strength, but by right guiding o' the gullie.
Tak it a' and pay the merchant.
Tak a spring of your fiddle, and dance when ye have done.
Tak the bit and the buffet wi't.
Tak a pint and gree, the law's costly.
Tak your ain will and then ye'll no die o' the pet.
Tak time ere time be tint.
Tak your venture as mony good ship has done.
Tak your thanks to feed your cat.
Tak wit in your anger.
Tak care o' the man that God has marked.
Tak a hair o' the dog that bit you.
Tak part of the pelf when the pack's a dealing.
Tak a man by his word and a cow by her horn,
Tak me not up before I fa'.
Tak nae mair on your back than you're able to bear.
Tak your will, you're wise enough.
Tak up the next ye find.
Tam Tell-truth is nae courtier.
Tell nae tales out 0' school.
2 A
370 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Tell not your fae when your foot's sleeping.
That's but ae doctor's opinion.
That's for the father but no for the son.
That's for that and butter's for fish.
That's my tale, where's yours ?
That's the piece a step-bairn never (^at.
That which God will give, the de'ii canna reeve.
The auld aver may die waiting for new grass.
The auld dog maun die in somebody's aught.
The bairn speaks in the field what he hears at the fireside.
The bird maun flichter that flees wi' ae wing.
The bird that can sing and winna sing shou'd be gart sing.
The best is aye best cheap.
The better day the better the deed.
The book o' maybe's is very braid.
The banes o' a great estate are worth the picking.
The banes bear the beef hame.
The blind man's peck shou'd be well measured.
The cow may want her ain tail yet.
The cure may be warse than the disease.
The cow that's first up gets the first o' the dew.
The de'il bides his day.
The de'il was sick, the de'il a monk wou'd be,
The de'il grew hale, syne de'il a monk was he.
The de'il's aye good to his ain.
The de'il's bairns hae the de'il's luck.
The day has een and the night hears.
The de'il's aye busy with his ain.
The de'il will take little ere he want a'.
The de'il drives aye his hogs to an ill market..
The de'il does na aye show his cloven cloots.
The de'il's aye good to beginners.
The e'ening red and the morning gray.
Is a good sign of a fair day.
The farthest way about is aft the nearest gate hame.
The foremost hound grips the hare.
The foot at the cradle and the hand at the reel,
Are signs of a wife that means to do weel.
The farther in the deeper.
The first dish is best eaten.
The grace o' a gray bannock is in the baking o't.
The good or ill hap o' a good or ill life,
Is the good or ill choice o' a good or ill wife.
The gray mare may be the best horse.
The greatest burthens are not the maist gainfu'.
The gravest fish is an oyster.
The gravest bird is an owl ;
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 371
The gravest beast is an ass,
And the gravest man is a fool.
The greatest clerks are no the wisest men.
The happy man canna be berried.
The hen's eggs gang to the ha',
To bring the goose's egg awa'.
The higher up the greater fa'.
The higher the hill the laigher the grass.
The hurt man writes wi' steel on marble stane.
The king's errand may come in the cadger's gate.
The lazy man's the beggar's brother.
The lucky pennyworth sells soonest.
The langest day will have an end.
The mother of a' mischief is nae bigger than a midge's wing.
The mair cost the mair honour.
The mawt is aboon the meal wi' him.
The mair noble the mair humble.
The mother's breath is aye sweet.
The master's eye makes the horse fat.
The mair mischief the better sport.
The name o' an honest woman's muckle worth.
The poor man's aye put to the warst.
The reek o' my ain house is better than the fire 0' my neighbour's.
The strongest horse lowps the dyke.
The still sow eats up a' the draff.
The stoNvp that gangs aft to the well comes hame broken at last.
The subject's love is the king's life guard.
The smith's mare and the souter's wife are aye warst shod.
The thing that's done is no to do.
The thing that's fristed is not forgi'en.
The thing that lies not in your gate, breaks not your shins.
The thrift of you was the death of your good-dame.
The tod ne'er sped better than when he gaed on his ain errand.
The tod's whelps are ill to tame.
The tree does na fa' at the first strake.
The water will never rob the widdy.
The warse luck now the better another time.
The weakest gangs to the wa'.
The worth 0' a thing is best ken'd by the want o't.
There is mony a true tale tauld in a jest.
There is nane sae blind as them that winna see.
There is naething ill said that's no ill tane.
There is nae sport where there is neither auld fowk nor bairns.
There was aye some water where the stirk was drown'd.
There was never enough where naething was left.
There was never a silly Jocky but there was as silly a Jenny.
There was never a thrifty wife with a sheet about her head.
372 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
There is skill in gruel making.
There is nae fence against a flail.
There is a time to gley and a time to look straight.
There is a great differ amang market days.
There is little wit in his pow that lights the candle at the low.
There is an end o' an auld sang.
There is a tough sinew in an auld wife's heel.
There is aye life in a living man.
There is an act in the laird o' Grant's court, that no aboon eleven
speak at anes.
There are mair ways to the wood than ane.
There are mair working days than life days.
There is ae day of reckoning and another of payment.
There came never ill after good advisement.
There is a sliddery stane afore the ha' door.
There's a difference between will ye buy ] and will ye sell ?
There's as good fish in the sea as ever came out o't.
There is a great difference between fenn and farewell.
There is a hole in the house.
There is life in a throssle as lang as she cheeps.
There is little for the rake after the shool.
They are well guided that God guides.
They are aye good that are far away.
They are lightly berried that have b! their ain. ^
They are sad rents that come in with tears.
They complain early that complain o' their kail.
They have need of a cannie cook that have butae egg to their dinner.
They loo me for little that hate me for nought.
They never saw great dainties that think a haggis a feast.
They shou'd please the goodwife that wou'd win the goodman.
They speak of my drinking that never think of my drouth.
They that get the word o' soon rising may lie in their bed a' day.
They that laugh in the morning may greet ere night.
They that give you hinder you to buy.
They that live langest fetch wood farthest.
They that see your head see not your height.
They that hae rowth of butter may lay it thick on their scone.
They were scant o' bairns that brought you up.
They were never fain that fidged, nor fu' that lick'd dishes.
They wist as well that didna speer.
They were never first at the wark that bid God speed the wark.
They never gae with the speet but they gat with the ladle.
Thistles are a salad for an ass.
Three is aye sonsy.
Three can keep a secret if twa be away.
Time o' day to find the nest when the birds are flown.
Time tint is ne'er to be found.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 373
Time and thinking tame the toughest grief.
Time and tide will tarry for nae man.
Time tries a'.
Tine heart and a's gane.
Tine book, tine grace.
Tine thimble, tine thrift.
Touch nae me on the sair heel.
Tramp on a snail and she'll shoot out her horns.
True blue will never stain.
Truth and honesty keep the crown o' the causey.
True love kyths in time of need.
Try your friend ere you need him.
Try before you trust.
Twa hungry meals make the third a glutton.
Twa blacks make na ae white.
Twa things ane shou'd not be angry at, what he can help and what
he canna help.
Twa fools in a house are a couple ower mony.
Twa words maun gang to that bargain.
Twa wits are better than ane.
That bowt came never out of your bag.
The back and the belly bauds every ane busy.
The black ox ne'er trod on your taes.
The cat wou'd fain fish eat.
But she is laith to weet her feet.
The de'il's good when he's pleas'd.
The father buys, the son biggs,
The oye sells, and his son thiggs.
The greedy man and the gielainger are well met.
The greatest tochers make not the greatest testaments.
The kirk's muckle, but ye may say mass in the end o't.
The laird may be laird and need his hind's help.
The man may eithly tine a stot that canna count his kinsh.
The mair the merrier, the fewer the better cheer.
The meal cheap and the shoon dear,
What souters' wives like weel to hear.
The pains o'ergang the profit.
The poor man's shilling is but a penny.
The scholar may waur the master.
The simple man's the beggar's brother.
The warst warld that ever was, some maun won.
The weeds o'ergrow the corn.
The warld is bound to nae man.
The unsonsy fish gets the unlucky bait.
There is mair knavery amang kirk men than there is honesty amang
courtiers.
There is a measure in a' things.
374 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch*
There is muckle to do when burghers ride.
There is mair room without than within.
There is nae remedy for fear but cut aff the head.
There was never a fair word in flyting.
There is steel in the needle point tho' little o't.
There are twa enoughs, and he has gotten ane of them.
There are mair married than good house hadders.
There's a bonny reason wi' a rag about the foot o't.
There came never sic a gloff to a daw's heart.
There is fey blood in your head.
There grows nae grass at the cross.
There is little to sew when tailors are true.
They are not a' saints that get haly water.
They 'gree like butter and mells.
They may ken by your beard what has been on your board.
They never beuk a good cake but may bake an ill ane.
They that see you a' day winna break the house for you at night.
They that hain at their dinner will hae the mair to their supper.
They that burn you for a witch lose a' their coals.
They tliat lie down for love shou'd rise for hunger.
They that eat till they sweat and work till they're cauld,
Sic servants are fitter to hang than to hald.
They that bourd with cats maun count upo' scarts.
They are eith hindered that are not very furdersome.
Twa dogs were striving about a bane, and the third ran awa' wi't.
Twa conveniences sindle times meet,
What's good for the plant is ill for the peat.
Tarry breeks pay nae fraught.
Tell your gleyd good-dame that.
That's a tee'd ba'.
That's a tale o' twa drinks.
The bag to the auld stent, and the belt to the yule hole.
The cause is good, and the word fa' on.
The death of ae bairn winna skail a house.
The dorty dame may fa' in the dirt
The e'ening brings a' hame.
The flesh is aye sairest that's farthest frae the bane.
The gait gi'es a good milking, but dings it down wi' her feet
The langer we live the mair ferlies we see.
The neist time ye dance tent wha ye take by the hand.
The piper wants muckle that wants his nether chafts.
The poor man pays for a'.
The thacker said to his man,
Let us raise this ladder, if we can.
The thrift of you and the woo of a dog wou'd make a braw web.
The tod never fares better than when he's bann'd.
There was never a good town but there was a dub at the end o't
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 375
There was never a cake but it had its maik.
There is little mair between the poor and the rich but a piece of an
ill year.
They have been born as poor as you that have come to a pouchf u' o'
green pease ere they died.
They that drink langest live langest.
Thoughts beguiled the lady.
Thoughts are free, tho' I mayna say mickle, I can yerk at the thinking.
Till other tinklers ill met ye 'gree.
Touch a gawd horse on the back and he'll fling.
Tit for tat, as the auld wife said when she f — — -d at the thunder.
Trot father, trot mother, how can the foal amble ]
Twine tow, your minny was a good spinner.
Untimeous spurring spills the steed.
Unseen, unrued.
Under water dearth, under snaw bread.
Up hill spare me, down hill take tent to thee.
Up starts a carle and gather'd good.
And thence came a' our gentle blood.
Use makes perfytuess.
Wad ye gar us trow that the moon's made 0' green cheese, or that
spade-shafts bear plumbs 1
Wage will get a page.
Wae's the wife that wants the tongue, but well's the man that gets her.
Want of wit is waur than want of wealth.
War makes thieves, and peace hangs them.
Wark bears witness of wha well does.
Wealth gars wit waver.
Weans maun creep ere they gang.
Well kens the mouse when the cat's out o' the house.
Well's him and wae's him that has a bishop in his kin.
Welcome is the best dish in the kitchen.
Well worth a' that gars the plough draw.
Well is that well does.
Were it not for hope heart wad break.
We'll never ken the worth of the water till the well gaes dry.
We can drink of the burn when we canna bite of the brae.
We'll meet ere hills meet.
We can live without our kin, but no without our neighbours.
We'll bark oursells ere we buy dogs sae dear.
We canna baith sup and blaw.
We maun live by the living, but no by the dead.
We are bound to be honest and no to be rich.
We may ken your meaning by your mumping.
Wedding and ill wintering tame baith man and beast.
376 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
We are aye to lear as lang as we live.
We can poind for debt, but no for unkindness.
We may ken your eilk by the runkles o' your horn.
Wee things fley cowards.
Wha wats wha may keep sheep another day.
Wha uses perils, perish shall.
What ye win at that, ye may lick afF a het girdle.
What better is the house that the daw rises soon.
Wha can baud what will away %
Wha comes aftener and brings you less 1
Wha daur bell the cat 1
Wha can help misluck ?
Wha canna gi'e will little get.
What the eye sees na the heart rues na.
What's nane o' my profit shall be nane o' my peril.
What if the lift fa', then ye may gather lav'rocks.
What's gotten o'er the de'il's back will gang away under hifi belly.
What raks the feud where the friendship dow not.
What winna do by might do by flight.
What's my case the day may be yours the morn.
What's waur than ill luck ?
What may be done at ony time will be done at nae time.
What puts that in your head that didna put the sturdy wi't ?
What need a rich man be a thief 1
What said Pluck ? the greater knave the greater luck.
What may be, may not be.
What canna be cured maun be endured.
When ae door steeks anither opens.
When a' men speaks nae man hears.
When drink's in wit's out.
When friends meet hearts warm.
When Adam delved and Eve span,
Where was a' our gentry than %
When my head's down my house is theeked.
When the tod preaches tak tent o' the lambs.
When thieves reckon, leal fowk comes to their gear.
When the bags are fou the dron gets up.
When the tod wins to the wood he cares not how many keek for his
tail.
When the cup's fu* carry it even.
When poverty comes in at the door friendship flies out of the
window.
When lairds break carles get land.
When a fool finds a horse-shoe,
He thinks aye the like to do.
When a' fruit fa's, then welcome haws.
When I'm dead make me a cawdel.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 377
AVhen ilka ain gets their ain the thief will get the widdy.
When a ewe's drown'd she's dead.
When the goodman drinks to the goodwife, a' wad he well.
When the goodwife drinks to the goodman, a' is well.
When the heart's fou of lust the mouth's fou of leasing.
When your neighbour's house is in danger take care 0' your ain.
When you are served a' the geese are water'd.
When wine sinks words swim.
When the barn's fu' you may thresh before the door.
When ye're gaun and coming the gate's no toom.
When the heart's fu' the tongue will speak.
When he dies for age ye may quake for fear.
When ye are weel, hand yoursell sae.
When the well's fu' it will rin o'er.
When the pot's o'er f u', it will boil o'er and bleeze in the ingle.
When the steed's stown, steek the stable door.
Where the buck's bound, there he maun bleet.
Where the deer's slain some of the blood will lie.
Where the dyke's laighest it is eithest to lowp.
Where there is o'er mickle courtesy there is little kindness.
Where there is naething the king tines his right.
Where drums beat laws are dumb.
Where the pig's broken let the sherds lie.
Where there are gentles there is aye aff-fawing.
Where gat ye that, gif a body may speer 1
I gat it where it was, and where leal fowk get gear.
Where will you get a park to keep your yeld kye in ]
Where the heart gangs let the tail follow.
While the grass grows the steed starves.
Whitely things are aye tender.
Whom God will help nane can hinder.
Will a fool's feather in my cap gar my pot play ?
Wipe wi' the water and wash wi' the towel.
Wise men may be whilly'd wi' wiles.
Wives and wind are necessary ills.
Widdy baud thy ain !
Wilfu' waste makes waefu' want.
Wiles help weak fowk.
Will and wit strive wi' ye !
Win't and wear't.
Winter thunder bodes summer hunger.
Wink at wee fauts, your ain are muckle.
Wishers and waddlers were never good house banders.
Wit bought makes fowk wise.
Wit bought is worth twa for nought.
Woman's wark's never done.
Women and bairns lein what they ken not.
37^ Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
"Wood iu a wilderness, moss on a mountain,
And wit in a poor man are little thought on.
Words are but win, but dunts are out o' season.
Woo sellers ken aye woo buyers.
Work for nought makes lowk dead sweer.
Wrang has nae warrant.
Wrang count is nae payment.
Wad ye gar me trow that my head's cow'd when ne'er a shear's
come on't ?
Wae to the wame that has a wilfu' master.
Wae's them that has the cat's dish and she aye mewting.
Water stowps had nae ale.
Wealth in the widow's house, kail but saut.
Well worth a' good takens.
We are as mony Johnstons as ye are Jardines.
We hounds slew the hare, quoth the bleer'd messan.
Wha invited you to the roast 1
Wha can court but cost.
Wha made you a gentleman that didiia cut the lugs frae your liead
to ken you by.
What ye do when you're drunk ye may pay for when you're dry.
What ye want up and down ye have hither and yont.
Ye breed of the tod, ye grow gray before ye grow good.
Ye breed of the miller's dog, ye lick your lips ere the pock be opened.
Ye breed of Macfarlane's geese, ye have mair mind o' your play
than your meat.
Ye breed of the cow's tail, you grow backward.
Ye breed of nettle kail and cock lairds, ye need muckle service.
Ye breed of the gowk, ye have never a rhyme but ane.
Ye breed of ill weather, ye come uiisent for.
Ye breed of Saughton swine, your neb's ne'er out of an ill turn.
Ye breed of auld maidens, ye look sae high.
Ye breed of the chapman, ye're aye to handsell.
Ye breed of our laird, ye'll do nae right nor take nae wrang.
Ye breed of good mawt, ye're lang a-coming.
Ye breed of the beggars, ye're never out of your gate.
Ye breed of the butcher, that seeks his knife when it is in his teeth.
Ye breed of the leek, ye have a white head and a green taiL
Ye breed of Lady Mary, when ye're good ye're ower good.
Ye breed of the miller's daughter, that speer'd what tree groats grew on.
Ye breed of the goodman's mither, ye're aye in the gate.
Ye breed of the witches, ye can do nae good to yoursell.
Ye breed o the herd's wife, ye busk again e'en.
Ye breed of the baxters, ye loo your neighbour's browst better than
your ain batch.
Ye crack crously with your bonnet on.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs. 379
Ye cut before the point.
Ye come a day after the fair.
Ye cut laiig whangs out o' other fowks' leather.
Ye come aftener with the rake than the shool.
Ye caniia make a silk purse of a sow's lug.
Ye canna see wood for trees.
Ye can never fare well but ye cry roast meat.
Ye came a clipping time.
Ye cangle about uncost kids.
Ye canna preach out 0' your ain poupit.
Ye canna get leave to thrive for thrang.
Ye ca' hardest at the nail that drives fastest.
Ye canna do but ye ower do.
Ye drive the plough afore the owseu.
Ye dinna ken where a blessing may light.
Ye drew not sae well when my mare was in the mire.
Ye feik it awa' like an auld wife baking.
Ye gat your will in your first wife's time, and ye'se no want it now.
Ye glowr'd at the moon and fell on the middin'.
Ye gang about by Lanark, for fear Linton dogs bite you.
Ye glowr like a wild-cat out o' a whin-bush.
Ye get o'er muckle o' your will, and that's no good for you.
Ye gae far about seeking the nearest.
Ye have run lang on little ground.
Ye have aye mind of your meat though ye have ill luck til't.
Ye have a ready mouth for a ripe cherry.
Ye have a saw for ilka sair.
Ye have brought the pack to the pins.
Ye have given the wolf the wedder to keep.
Ye have tied a knot with your tongue that ye canna loose with a'
your teeth.
Ye have been bred about a mill, ye have mouped a' your manners.
Ye have o'er foul feet to come "sae far benn.
Ye have a stawk of carle hemp in you.
Ye have gotten a revel'd hesp o't.
Ye have ae crap for a' corn.
Ye have tane the measure of his foot.
Ye have o'er muckle loose leather about your chafts.
Ye have tint your ain stomach and found a tike's.
Ye have put a toom spoon in my mouth.
Ye have fasted lang, and worried on a midge.
Ye have tint the tongue 0' your trump.
Ye have staid lang, and brought little wi' ye.
Ye have gi'en baith the sound thump and the loud skirl.
Ye have aye a foot out of the langle.
Ye have tane't upon you as the wife did the dancing.
Ye have good manners, but ye bear them not aye about wi' you.
380 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
Ye have the wrang sow by the lug.
Ye ken naething but milk and bread when it is mool'd in to you.
Ye ken what drinkers dree.
Ye kenna wha may cool your kail yet.
Ye live at the lug o' the law.
Yelping curs will raise mastiffs.
Ye live on love as lav'rocks do on leeks.
Ye'll neither dance nor hand the candle.
Yell get nae mair of the cat but the skin.
Ye look like let me be.
Ye look like a Lochaber-axe new come frae the grindstane.
Ye'll no sell your hen on a rainy day.
Ye'll get as mickle for ae wish this year as fortwa fern year.
Ye'll gar me seek the needle where I didna stick it.
Ye'll never cast saut on his tail.
Ye look like a Lammermoor lion.
Ye'll let naething be tint for want 0' seeking.
Ye'll no harry yoursell wi' your ain hands.
Ye look like the de'il in daylight.
Ye look liker a thief than a bishop.
Ye'll ne'er make a mark in your testament by that bargain.
Ye'll let little gae by you unless it be the swallow.
Ye may tine the father seeking the son.
Ye may drive the de'il into a wife, but ye'll ne'er ding him out of her.
Ye may be greedy, but ye're no greening.
Ye may gang farther and fare warse.
Ye may be heard where ye're no seen.
Ye may gang thro' a' Egypt without a pass.
Ye may hae a good memory, but your judgment winna gi'e mickle.
Ye maun take the will for the deed.
Ye maunna think to win thro' the warld on a feather-bed.
Ye maunna be mealy-mou'd.
Ye mete my pease by your ain peck. '
You look like a runner, quoth the de'il to the lobster.
Ye'll be made up at the sign o' the wind.
Ye'll play at sma' game before ye stand out.
Ye'll beguile nane but them that lippens to you.
Ye'll mend when ye grow better.
Ye'll never be sae auld with sae mickle honesty.
Ye never saw green cheese but your e'en reel'd.
Ye never want a good whittle at your belt.
Ye never heard a fisher cry stinking fish.
Ye needna think shame to tak it, your teeth's langer than your beard.
Ye put at the cart that's aye ganging.
Ye're as daft as ye're days auld.
Ye're o'er auld farran to be fley'd for bogles.
Ye're a good seeker but an ill finder.
A Collection of Scotch Proverbs, 381
Ye ride a bootless errand.
Ye're like the wife wi' the mony daughters, the best comes last.
Ye're nae chicken for a' your cheeping.
Ye're come o' blood, and sae is a pudding.
Ye're come to a peel'd egg.
Ye're a widdy-fou against hanging time.
Ye're as lang a tuning your pipes as ane wad play a spring.
Ye're good enough but ye're no braw new.
Ye're no sae poor as ye peep.
Ye're well away if ye bide, and we're well quat.
Ye're of sae mony minds, ye'U never be married.
Ye're come to fetch fire.
Ye're sae weel in your wooing ye watna where to wed.
Ye're never pleased fu' nor fasting.
Ye're black about the mouth for want of making of.
Ye're welcome, but ye winna win ben.
Ye're unco good and ye'll grow fair.
Ye're sair fash'd h adding naething together.
Ye're not fed with deaf nuts.
Ye're sick but no sair handled.
Ye're busy seeking a thing that's no tint.
Ye're good for carrying a propine, ye can make muckle of little.
Ye're like the hens, ye rin aye to the heap.
Ye're fear'd for the day ye never saw.
Ye're bonny enough to them that loo you, and o'er bonny to them
that loo you and canna get you.
Ye're o'er bird-mouth'd.
Ye're new risen and your young heart's nipping.
Ye're a sweet nut if you were well cracked.
Ye're no light where ye lean a'.
Ye're mair fley'd than hurt.
Ye're Davy do a' thing and good at naething.
Ye seek grace o' a graceless face.
Ye sell the bear's skin on his back.
Ye served me as the wife did the cat,
Coost me in the kirn and syne harl'd me out.
Ye may dight your neb and fly up.
Ye'll never die on your ain assize.
Ye'll drink afore me.
Ye'll find liim whaur ye left him.
Ye'll get the cat wi' the twa tails.
Ye're the greatest liar 0' your kin except your chief that wan his
meat by't.
Ye're mistane 0' the stuff, it is haff silk.
Ye'se no want while I hae, but look weel to your ain.
Ye soon weary o' well-doing.
Ye'se get your brose out o' the lee side of the pot.
382 Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
Ye shanna be niffer'd but for a better.
Ye sleep like a dog in a milL
Ye shape shoon by your ain shacbled feet.
Ye take luair in your gab than your cheeks can baud.
Ye take the first word of flytinj,'.
Ye tine the ladle for the licking.
Your tongue's nae slander.
Your tongue rins aye before your wit.
Ye wad make raickle of me if I were yours.
Ye watna what wife's ladle may cogue your kail.
Ye wad be a good midwife gin ye baud the grip ye get.
Ye wad be good to fetch the de'il a drink.
Ye wad ferly mair if the craws bigged in your cleavding and flew
away with the nest.
Ye watna where a blessing may light.
Young fowk may die and auld fowk maun die.
Young ducks may be auld geese.
Yule's young on Yule e'en.
Youth and eild never sowder well.
Your meal's a' deagh.
Your bread's baken, ye may hing by your girdle.
Your head's nne sooner up than your stamock's yapin.
Your wind shakes nae corn.
Your head will never till your father's bonnet.
Your trumpeter's dead.
Your thrift's as good as the profit of a yeld hen.
Your winning is no my tinsel.
Your wit winna worry ye.
Your mind's chasing mice.
Your gear will ne'er o'ergang you.
Your minnie's milk is no out of your nose yet.
Your een's no marrows.
Ye have sitten your time as mony a good hen has done.
Ye have naething to do but suck and wag your tail.
Ye promise better than ye pay, yer hechts ye never brooked.
Ye're ane of snaw-ba's bairn-time.
Ye're here yet and your belt's hale.
Ye spill unspoken to.
Ye was set atf frae the oon for nipping the pies."
Ye was never bom at that time of year.
Ye was sae gare ye wadna bide the blessing.
Your wame thinks your wyson's cutted.
Your purse was steeked when that was paid for.
Your neck's youking for a St. Johnston ribbon.
A LIST
OP
THE PEINCIPAL WEITEES IN THE
SCOTTISH LANGUAGE.
COMPILED BY G. MAY.
Ainslie, Hew, born in 1792,
at Dailly, Ayrshire; his songs,
published in " A Pilgrimage to
the Land of Burns" (1820),
obtained for him considerable
popularity. In later life he
emigrated to America. In 1855
he published at New York a
volume of "Scottish Songs,
Ballads, and Poems."
Ainslie, Robert (1766- 1838), a
Writer to the Signet, and a
friend and correspondent of
Robert Burns. He was for forty
years a contributor to the
Edinburgh Magazine, and other
periodicals.
Aird, Thomas, born in 1802 at
Bowden in Roxburghshire ; a
distinguished poet, journalist,
and prose writer. He published
in 1845 "The Old Bachelor, in
the Old Scottish Village," a
collection of tales illustrative
of Scottish life, character, and
scenes, and in 1856 a complete
collection of his numerous
poetical works.
Aytoun, Sir Robert (i 570-1638),
an accomplished poet and cour-
tier, who occupied the post of
private secretary to the queens
of James I. (of England) and
Charles I. His poems are pub-
lished in the Miscellany of
the Bannatyne Club.
Aytoun, William Edmondstoune
(181 3-1865), Professor of Rhe-
toric and English Literature at
the University of Edinburgh
(1845- 1 865). His earliest literary
efforts appeared in magazine
literature, notably Blackwood's,
of which in 1854 he became
assistant or advising editor.
Poetical works — "Ballads of Scot-
land" (edited 1858); "Both-
well" (a narrative poem in
the style of Sir Walter Scott,
1856) ; " Firmilian, a Spasmodic
Tragedy " (1854) ; " Lays of the
Scottish Cavaliers, and other
Poems " (1849) — his chief poeti-
cal work; "The Execution of
Montrose," and " The Burial
March of Dundee;" "Nuptial
384
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Ode on the Marriage of the
Prince of Wales" (1863) ; " Po-
land, and other Poems." The
" Glenmutchkin Kail way " (a
tale); "How I Became a Yeo-
man ; " " Life and Times of
Richard I." (1840); "Norman
Sinclair" (1861). He was one
of the authors, in conjunction
with Sir Theodore Martin, of
the " Bon Gaultier Ballads."
Baillie, Joanna (i 762-1 851), a
Scottish poetess and dramatist,
many of whose songs became
popular, and still maintain their
place in literature.
Balfour, Alexander (i 776-1829),
a miscellaneous writer, among
whose works may be men-
tioned " Campbell, or the Scot-
tish Probationer," a novel, pub-
lished in 1819 ; an edition of
Gall's poems in the same year ;
a volume of his own poems, en-
titled " Contemplations," and
several other novels.
Balfour, Sir James, a distin-
guished lawyer who died in
1 5 83-84. His chief work, ' ' The
Practicks of Scots Law" (in
MSS.), was for a long period a
standard work of reference. It
was printed in 1754 with a
biographical introduction by
Walter Goodal.
Ballantine, James (born in 18 10,
died in 1878), author of " The
Gaberlunzie's Wallet," " Lilias
Lee," and of many beautiful
songs in " Whistle Binkie " and
other Scottish collections of
lyrical poetry. His songs are of
the highest merit, and of great
and deserved popularity.
Ballantyne, James (1772-1833).
The senior member of the cele-
brated printing and publishing
firm of that name. He was an
intimate friend and afterwards
partner of Sir Walter Scott, a
friendship which commenced
at school and lasted through
life. To Mr. Ballantyne' s judi-
cious criticism are owing many
corrections and suggestions in
the works of the " Wizard of
the North."
Bannatyne, George (1545- 1606).
The name of this eminent col-
lector of Scottish poetry of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
has been adopted as the cogno-
men of a distinguished literary
Society. His " Ancient Scottish
Poems " was published in 1770.
Barbour, John (1316-1395), a
historical poet, author of " The
Bruce," a metrical chronicle
finished in 1375 and first pub-
lished from the MS. in 1489.
This work possesses great value
as an historical record, and
has run through about twenty
editions, of which the best are
Pinkerton's (dated 1790) and
Dr. Jamieson's (1820).
Beattie, George (1785 - 1823),
was an advocate or solicitor
at Montrose. His principal
work is, "John o' Arnha'," a
humorous and satirical poem
somewhat in the style of " Tam
o* Shanter."
Beattie, James, LL.D. (1735-
1803), a poet, essayist, and
miscellaneous writer, born at
Laurencekirk, Kircardineshire.
His name was first brought pro-
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 385
minently before the public by
his "Essay on the Nature and
Immutability of Truth in Oppo-
sition to Sophistry and Scepti-
cism," a reply to Hume. His
other works are — "Judgment of
Paris" (1765); " The Minstrel,"
in two parts, Spenserian metre.
(Incomplete. Merivale added
a third part). '* Poems and
Translations" (1760). Prose
works — " Dissertations " (1783) ;
" The Elements of Moral
Sciences" (1790-1793); "Essay
on Poetry and Music" (1778);
"Essay on Truth" (1770);
"Essays" (1776); "Evidences
of Christianity " ( 1 786). (Life by
Sir William Forbes, 1806 ; Mud-
ford, 1809 ; Dyce, 1831.) He
was part author of the beauti-
ful Scottish song, " There's nae
luck about the house."
Bellenden, John (or Ballenden,
or Ballentyne), poet and his-
torian. Archdeacon of Moray,
and Canon of Ross (i 490-1 560).
In 1530 and 1531 he was em-
ployed by command of James V.
in translating Bolce's * ' History
and Chroniklis of Scotland,"
from the Latin into the Scottish
vernacular. He died at Rome
in 1 5 50. Among his other poems
as unquestionably a man of
great parts, and one of the
finest poets his country had,
may be mentioned ' * Vertue and
Vyse," "The Proheme of the
Cosmographe " (the most poeti-
cal of his works), and "The
Proheme of the History." He
also wrote the " Topography of
Scotland "(1577); Carmichael's
" Collections of Scottish Poems"
contains some specimens of his
style.
Bennoch, Francis (born 181 2).
He has published a volume of
" Poems, Lyrics, Songs, and
Sonnets, "and edited a collection
of Miss Mitford's tales.
Bethune, John (1812-1839), son
of a farm-servant, and himself
a labourer. In conjunction with
his brother Alexander he wrote
the " Tales and Sketches of
the Scottish Peasantry" (1836).
Two years afterwards, " Lec-
tures on Practical Economy "
appeared ; and as " A Fifeshire
Forester " he contributed a
number of poems to the Scottish
Christian Herald, and the Chris-
tian Instructor.
Blacklock, Thomas, D.D. (1721-
1791), a poet and divine who
was deprived of sight in his
earliest infancy. His chief
works are " The Graham," a
heroic ballad (1774); " Para-
celsis" (1767); and two vol-
umes of "Poems" (1745 and
1754). The article " Blind," in
the EncyclopcBdia Britannica,
was written by him. After his
death his writings were collect-
ed by H. Mackenzie (1793). He
was one of the eminent men of
letters in Edinburgh who wel-
comed and did honour to Robert
Burns on his celebrated visit to
that city.
Boswell, Sir Alexander (1775-
1822), was the eldest son of
James Boswell, the biographer
of Dr. Johnson. His writings
are noteworthy for their lively
2 B
386
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
imagination, satire, and hum-
our. Many of his " Songs,
chiefly in the Scottish Dialect "
(1803), have achieved perma-
nent popularity, the best known
being "Auld Gude Man, ye're
a Drucken Carle ; " " Jenny's
Bawbee ; " ** Jenny Dang the
Weaver ; " and a poem, pub-
lished under an assumed name,
is entitled " Edinburgh, or the
Ancient Royalty, a Sketch of
Former Manners, by Simon
Gray" (1810). Another work
in Scottish verse is " Skeldon
Haughs, or the Sow is Flitted "
(1816), and " Clan Alpin's
Vow." Created a baronet in
1821. He received a death-
wound in a duel with Mr.
Stewart of Auldearn, after-
wards editor of the Courier, a
London evening paper, result-
ing from some political satires
published in the Sentinel.
Brunton, George (i 799-1863),
a miscellaneous writer of prose
and verse illustrative of Scot-
tish life, manners, and localities.
These sketches and tales ap-
peared in the Edinburgh Maga-
zine, the Scottish Literary Gazette,
and Tait's Magazine. In 1834
he became editor of the Scottish
Patriot, having previously edited
the Citizen. After the publica-
tion of "An Historical Account
of the Senators of the College
of Justice," in which he was
associated with Mr. David
Haig, he, in conjunction with
the latter, started the Scots
Weekly Magazine, which was
exclusively devoted to the eluci-
dation of Scottish history and
antiquities, and Scottish life
and manners.
Burns, Robert (i 759-1796), the
most popular of all the Scottish
poets, and whose fame has be-
come world-wide. The range
and variety of his powers are
unsurpassed in the literature of
his country ; including, as they
do, such different and such
excellent poems as the " Cotter's
Saturday Night," " Scots wha
hae wi' Wallace bled," "Auld
Lang Syne," "A Man's a Man
for a' that," ''Holy WiUie's
Prayer," " Tam o' Shanter,"
" Death and Dr. Hornbook,"
" The Twa Dogs," all of which
have sunk deep into the re-
membrance and hearts of
Scotsmen in every part of the
world, and are familiar to all
educated Englishmen. His name
and songs have become dear to
every patriotic Scotsman, and
the language of his country will,
doubtless, be perpetuated in his
works long after it has become
an unspoken tongue.
Callander, John (—1789). An
antiquary born about the be-
ginning of the eighteenth cen-
tury. His best known work is
" Two Ancient Scottish Poems"
(1782); beside this he trans-
lated Brosse's " Terra Australia
Coqueta" from the French.
He also projected, but did not
carry out, works on the " History
of the Ancient Music of Scot-
land," and a " Scoto-Gothic
Glossary." He was accused of
plagiarism in connection with
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language, 387
some "Annotations to Milton's
Paradise Lost," which it would
appear without some reason.
Campbell, Alexander(i 764-1824).
His first literary effort was " An
Introduction to the History of
Poetry in Scotland" (1798),
together with ** Songs of the
Lowlands." This was followed
in 1802 by "A Tour from Edin-
burgh through Various Parts of
North Britain," generally con-
sidered to be his best work ;
" The Grampians Desolate "
{1804), showed a diminution of
power. His last work (1816),
was "Albyn's Anthology," a
collection of native Highland
music to which Sir Walter Scott
and others contributed verses.
Campbell, Thomas (i 777-1 844),
author of " The Pleasures of
Hope," and the spirited songs
and ballads "Ye Mariners of
England," " The Battle of
Hohenlinden," "The Exile of
Erin," " Lochiel's Warning,"
" The Soldier's Dream," and
" Lord Ullin's Daughter." He
was one of the originators of
the London University, and
afterwards Lord Rector of the
University of Glasgow. He is
buried in Westminster Abbey.
Carrick, John Donald (i 787-1 837),
best known as the author of
"The Life of Wallace," was a
voluminous miscellaneous writer
of considerable repute. He was
deeply read in old Scottish
literature, and became succes-
sively editor of the Scots Times,
the Perth Advertiser, and the
Kilmarnock Journal. His latest
work, " The Laird of Logan," is
a well-known series of Scottish
sketches, to which work he was
the largest contributor.
Chalmers, George (1742-1825), a
historian and antiquary, whose
principal production was his
" Caledonia" (1807- 1 824). He
also wrote a "History of Scottish
Poetry," a " History of Printing
in Scotland," Lives of Defoe
(1785), Mary Queen of Scots
(i8i8),ThomasRuddiman(i794),
and several other works, one of
which was an illustrated edition
of the poems of Allan Ramsay.
Chambers, Robert, LL.D. (1802-
1871), a voluminous, historical,
miscellaneous writer, and one of
the founders of the great pub-
lishing firm of William and
Robert Chambers. During his
forty years of literary labour he
produced no less than one hun-
dred volumes, the most notable
of his works being " Popular
Rhymes of Scotland" (1826),
"Pictures of Scotland" (1827),
' ' Histories of the Scottish Rebel-
lions," and a " Life of James I."
His "Book of Days," "Biogra-
phical Dictionary of Eminent
Scotsmen," and his various
educational works for " the
entertainment and instruction
of the people. " Since his death,
his authorship of the celebrated
"Vestiges of the Natural His-
tory of Creation " has been pub-
licly avowed.
Cunningham, Thomas (1776-
1834), a lyric writer of great
merit, and a constant contri-
butor to the Edinburgh Maga-
388
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
zine, to which he sent not only
poems and songs but miscel-
laneous sketches and stories, all
characterised by a somewhat
rare vein of pathos, oddity, and
humour.
Cunningham, Allan (1784- 1842),
one of the first of Scottish song
writers. His literary productions
were extremely numerous, but,
perhaps, apart from poetry, his
" Life of Burns " is the master-
piece.
Douglas, Gawyn or Gavin ( 1474-
1522), styled "the most clas-
sical of Scottish poets." He
was Bishop of Dunkeld, and
translated into the Scottish ver-
nacular the ** JEneid " of Virgil,
prefixing a poetical introduction
of his own to each book.
Drummond, William, of Haw-
thornden (i 585-1 649), author of
" History of the Five Jameses,
Kings of Scotland," which is
strongly tinged with royalist
principles. His poems and songs
are characterised by delicacy
and tenderness of treatment.
Dunbar, William (1465 ),
one of the chief of early Scotch
poets. His "Thistle and the
Eose " is a poem of surpassing
beauty. Others are entitled
" The Golden Targe," " The
Twa Married Women," and
"The Weds." He interwove
Latin with Scottish verses in a
very fantastic manner.
Ferguson, Robert (1750-1774),
Born and educated at Aber-
deen, most of his poems had
appeared in Kuddiman's Weekly
Magazine before he had at-
tained his twentieth year. A
monument to his memory was
erected over his grave in Edin-
burgh at the expense of Robert
Burns, out of the profits of
the Edinburgh edition of his
" Poems and Songs."
Finlay, John (1782-1810). The
chief poems of this writer are
" Wallace, or the Fate of Ellers-
lie," and "Scottish Historical
and Romantic Ballads," both
of these works displaying con-
siderable knowledge and re-
search.
Gall, Richard (i 776-1 801). His
principal poems were "Farewell
to Ayrshire" (erroneously attri-
buted to Burns), and " My only
Jo and Dearie O ; " besides
which, "The Braes of Drumlee,"
and " Captain O'Kain," merit
special mention.
Galloway, Robert (i 752-1 794).
The " Poems, Epistles, and
Songs " of this poet were chiefly
written in the Scottish tongue.
A shoemaker by trade, he sub-
sequently became a bookseller
in Glasgow. His poems were
published in that city in 1 788.
Gait, John (i 779-1839), a writer,
whose productions consisted of
poems, prose essays, and a large
number of novels, in all upwards
of fifty volumes. The following
are his principal works : — Lives
of Cardinal Wolsey (181 2),
Benjamin West (18 16), Lord
Byron (1830); "The Players"
(1831); "An Autobiography"
(1833) ; " Literary Life and Mis-
cellanies" (1834); " Ourand-
logos" {1833); "Voyages and
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 389
Travels" (1812); and "The
Wandering Jew." His best no-
vels were entitled "Annals of
the Parish " (1821)," and "Ayr-
shire Legatees " (same year).
Gilfillan, Robert (1798-1850).
This writer's lyrical produc-
tions were gathered in a volume
published in 1831, entitled
" Original Songs." In 1835 ^^^
1839 enlarged editions were
issued.
Glen, William (1789- 1826), a
lyrical writer, some of whose
productions have found their
way into every Scottish home.
His Jacobite song, " Wae's me
for Prince Charlie," was one of
the most touching and popular
of the songs of the time.
Grant, Joseph (1805- 1835). The
tales and poetry of this writer
were principally in the Scottish
language. His latest work, pub-
lished posthumously, was "Tales
of the Glens" (1836), with a
memoir by Eobert Nichol.
Hamilton, William (i 704-1754).
A native of Bangour, he received
a liberal education, and early
cultivated a taste for poetry. The
Jacobite song, " Gladsmuir," his
first success, was due to the
part he took in the rebellion of
1745. On "The Braes of Yar-
row," however, is based his
chief claim to remembrance.
His works were collected and
published in Edinburgh in 1766.
Hamilton, William. Born at
Gilbertfield, he, after some years
of military service, left the army
to devote himself to literature.
He was a friend and corres-
pondent of Allan Kamsay.
Watson's " Choice Collection of
Scots Poems " contains his chief
writings. In 1722 he issued,
rendered into modern Scotch, an
edition of Blind Harry's "Life
of Wallace," a work which has
been frequently reprinted.
Harry the Minstrel, or Blind
Harry, as he is more popularly
called. His history is obscure,
but he wrote in the vernacular
the achievements of Wallace,
the champion of Scottish In-
dependence. So little is known
of him that his surname has
never been ascertained. It
seems, however, that he was
blind from his birth, and that
he followed the occupation of a
wandering minstrel. His only
poem now extant is entitled,
"Ye actis and deidis of ye
illuster and vailzeand campioun
shyr Willam Wallace," the MS.
of which is now preserved in
the Advocates' Library, bearing
the date of 1488.
Hedderwick, James, LL.D., a
well - known journalist and
poet, in early life sub-editor of
the Scotsman. He subsequently
started the Glasgow Citizen and
other periodicals. His principal
work is "Lays of the Middle
Ages."
Henderson, Andrew (i 783-1 835).
author of a " Collection of
Scottish Proverbs " published
in 1832, to which William
Motherwell contributed an in-
troduction.
Henryson, Robert, who flourished
in the fifteenth century. The
390
Dictionayy of Lowland Scotch.
date and place of his birth
are unknown. His "Robene
and Makyne" is thought to
be the earhest specimen of pas-
toral poetry in the Scottish lan-
guage. Examples of his verse
are included in Irving' s " Lives
of the Scottish Poets," Hailes'
" Ancient Scottish Poems,"
Ellis' " Specimens," and Sib-
bald's " Chronicle of Scottish
Poetry." His chief works are
"The Bludy Serf," "Fabils"
(printed 1621 ) ; " Orpheus Kyng,
and how he yeid to Newyn
and to hel to seik his Quene"
(printed 1508); "Tailes of the
Uplandis Mons and the burges
mons" (printed 1815), and the
"Testament of faire Crescide "
(printed 1593).
Herd, David (1732-18 10). Sir
Walter Scott, in his " Minstrelsy
of the Scottish Border," speaks
of Herd as "the editor of the
first classical collection of Scot-
tish songs and ballads," and
further acknowledges his in-
debtedness to those manuscripts
entitled "A Collection of An-
cient and Modern Scottish Songs,
Heroic Ballads," &c. This was
published in 1769. Herd also
wrote concerning Scottish poetry
and antiquities in the periodicals
of his time.
Hogg, James (1782-1835), who is
more popularly known as the
Ettrick Shepherd, was born on
the banks of the river of that
name. Entirely self-taught, he
seems, like many others of the
national poets, to have been
early attracted by the beauties
of Blind Harry's "Life of Wal-
lace," and Allan Ramsay's
" Gentle Shepherd." " Donald
M'Donald," his first published
song, soon became very popular,
and was speedily followed by
" When the Kye Come Hame,"
which remains a choice favour-
ite among all who love Scottish
lyric poetry. From this time
his reputation increased. In
all he wrote about twenty
volumes, the chief of which are
" The Forest Minstrels " (a
volume of songs, 18 10), " Mador
of the Moor "(1816, written
in Spenserian stanzas) ; " The
Mistakes of a Night" (1794);
"The Mountain Bard" (1807;
"Pilgrims of the Sun" (181 5);
"The Poetic Mirror" (1814);
" Queen Hynde " (an epic poem,
1825); "Queen's Wake "(1813);
and " Scottish Pastorals, Poems,
and Songs" (1801). Besides
these, he published several prose
works, the chief of which are
"The Altrive Tales" (1832);
" The Brownie of Bodsbeck "
(a tale of the Covenanters, 1 8 1 8) ;
"Lay Sermons" (1834); "Life
of Sir Walter Scott," "Mon-
trose Tales " (1835) ; ** The
Shepherd's Guide (1807) ; " The
Three Perils of Man" (1822);
"The Three Perils of Woman:
Love, Teasing, and Jealousy"
(1823); "Winter Evening Tales"
(1820), and a comprehensive
collection of Jacobite songs and
ballads.
Hume, Alexander (1560-1609), a
sacred poet whose writings were
much appreciated by the Pres-
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 391
byterians. Some of his works
have been reprinted by the
Bannatyne Club. Amongst the
chief may be named, " Hymnes
or Sacred Songs " (1599); " Flyt-
ing betwixt Montgomery and
Polwart ; " " Triumphs of Love,
Chastitie, and Death," pub-
lished posthumously in 1644.
Hume, Alexander (i 809-1 851),
one of the "untutored" muses
of Scotland, many of whose
songs have been set to music.
His "Wee, wee Wife ; " " Menie
Hay;" "Oh! Years hae Come,"
and "My Mountain Hame,"
were especial favourites.
Inglis, Henry, for many years a
leading member of the legal
profession in Edinburgh. He
published "Marican, and other
Poems" in 185 1, and the "Briar
of Threave" in 1855.
Inglis, Sir James, a poet and
man of letters of the early part
of the sixteenth century. It is
generally supposed that " The
Complaynt of Scotland," the
earliest Scotch prose work ex-
tant, was written by him. It
contains a minute account of
the manners, customs, and
popular literature of Scotland
of that period. He filled the
posts of Secretary to Queen
Margaret, 151 5, and Chancellor
of the Royal Chapel of Stirling,
1527, subsequently becoming
Abbot of Culross. He met with
a violent death in 1530.
James I. of Scotland. After
passing nineteen years of his
earlier life in Windsor Castle,
where he was held in captivity
by the English monarch, he
ascended the throne of Scotland
in 1424. This royal poet ranks
high among old Scottish au-
thors. The MS. of his chief pro-
duction, the " King's Quhair,"
an allegorical poem, was dis-
covered in the Bodleian Library
at Oxford, and was pubhshed in
1783. Two other poems, deal-
ing humorously with the rural
manners and customs of his
day, are also attributed to this
monarch. These bear the titles
of " Christ's Kirk on the Green,"
and " Peblis to the Play." " The
King's Quhair " is a production
of the highest poetical merit,
and was inspired by his love
for a beautiful English lady of
noble birth, whom he saw for
the first time in his youthful
captivity in Windsor, and whom
he afterwards married and took
to Scotland as his queen. He
was assassinated by a company
of aristocratic murderers, who
slew him before her eyes, dur-
ing a struggle in which the
tender, affectionate, noble wo-
man displayed in his defence
the most touching and romantic
heroism.
James V. of Scotland (15 12- 1542),
a monarch who so endeared
himself to his people that he
bore the name of " King of the
Poor." Being fond of romantic
adventure he is reported to have
often disguised himself and
wandered through the country
under the name of " The Gude-
man of Ballangeich," the name
of a pass on the rock on which
392
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Stirling Castle is built. His
adventures formed the basis of
two well-known ballads and
songs attributed to and possibly
written by him, the most popular
of which is still current and
often sung in Scotland, under
the title of "We'll gang nae
mair a Kovin', a Rovin' in the
Night."
Jamieson, John, D.D. (1758-
1838). This writer takes one of
the first places amongst Scottish
authors. Entering the ministry
early in life, his first work con-
sisted of two volumes of " Ser-
mons on the Heart " ( 1 789).
This was followed in the same
year by a poem in blank verse
entitled " The Sorrows of
Slavery," and in 1798 by an-
other poetical work "Eternity."
The publication of various theo-
logical volumes was followed
by " The Etymological Dic-
tionary of the Scottish Lan-
guage" (1809-10). A supple-
ment to this was issued in
1825. Amongst other volumes
from his pen may be mentioned
" Hermes Scythicus, &c." {1814)
*' Historical Account of the An
cient Culdees of lona" (181 1)
* ' Historical Account of the
Royal Palaces of Scotland
(1818).
Kennedy, Walter. Douglas calls
this poet, who lived in the six-
teenth century, ' ' The great
Kennedy." His chief work was
" Flyting." Only two other
short poems have been pre-
served, the rest having unfor-
tunately been lost. These are
" Invective against Mouth-
Thankless," and " Prais of Age."
Laidlaw, William, Born in 1780,
died 1845. He was the farm-
bailiff, amanuensis, and cher-
ished friend of Sir Walter Scott
during his residence at Abbots-
ford. He was the author of
several admired songs, amongst
which the best known is
'* Lucy's Flittin', " which ap-
peared originally in the " Forest
Minstrel" of the Ettrick Shep-
herd.
Lapraik, John, described by
Robert Burns, who greatly ad-
mired his poetry, and wrote a
rhymed epistle to him, as "a
worthy facetious old fellow."
He, was owner of a small farm in
Ayrshire. The date of his birth
is unknown. He died in 1807.
His principal and most popular
poem is " Matrimonial Happi-
ness," addressed to his wife —
which Burns says " thrilled
through his heart-strings a' to
the life."
Lauder, William (—1771). This
author is chiefly known by
his attempt to fasten a charge
of plagiarism upon Milton, and
although at the instance of Dr.
Johnson he withdrew it, he sub-
sequently retracted his denial.
He wrote a well-known work on
Scottish literature, bearing the
title of "Poetarum Scotorum
Musae Sacrae."
Leighton, Robert, born in 1822,
is the author of "Rhymes and
Poems by Robin " (1855).
Leighton, Alexander, uncle of
the above Robert Leighton,
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 393
and author of an excellent
humorous poem, " The Bap-
teezement of the Bairn."
Lesley, John, Bishop of Ross, a
champion of Mary Queen of
Scots, and the author of a
" History of Scotland."
Leyden, John, M.D. (1775-1811),
a distinguished poet, linguist,
and traveller. His works are
numerous, and in their time
were very popular. The blunt-
ness and independence of man-
ner, which met with little favour
in society, served him in good
stead in his literary labours.
He visited the interior of Africa,
India, and accompanied an ex-
pedition to Java, where he died.
His most valuable work was
" Discoveries and Travels in
Africa" (1799); "Poems and
Ballads" (posthumous, 1858);
"Poetical Remains" (posthu-
mous, 1819) ; " Scottish De-
scriptive Poems" (1803). His
life was written by Rev. J.
Morton (1819), and Sir Walter
Scott (1858).
Lindsay, Lady Anne, daughter of
the Earl of Crawford and Bal-
carres, afterwards Lady Ann
Barnard. She is best known as
the authoress of the exquisite
and universally popular song of
" Auld Robin Gray," which she
published anonymously in 1772,
when yet a young girl. She
first avowed the authorship to
Sir Walter Scott in her old age.
Lindsay, Sir David (1490-1569 ?),
an eminent poet, whose chief
works are" The Dreame"( 1528),
in which he applies the lash
with great truth and force to
abuses in Church and State,
wtiich had arisen from the licen-
tious lives of the clergy and the
usurpations of the nobles ; "The
Complaynt of the King's Pas-
sings," another satirical pro-
duction of extreme pungency ;
a drama bearing the title of " A
Satyre of the Three Estaties ; "
" The Supplication against Syde
Taillis," a satire on woman's
dress ; " Kittie's Confession,"
ridiculing auricular confession ;
" The History and Testament
of Squire Meldrum" (1550, the
most pleasing of his composi-
tions), and the last and greatest
of his works, " The Monarchic "
(1553). The whole of these
books were written in the Scot-
tish tongue, and are marked by
strong satire and broad humour.
Many of his moral sayings have
passed into proverbs.
Lockhart, John Gibson (1794-
1854), best known as the bio-
grapher of Sir Walter Scott,
whose daughter he married.
He was for many years and
until his death the editor of the
Quarterly Revieio. His humor-
ous and quaint lament on
' ' Captain Paton " is well known,
and a great favourite in the legal
and convivial circles of Edin-
burgh and Glasgow. He also
wrote lives of Burns and Na-
poleon the First, in addition to
several novels, and a very popular
volume of Spanish ballads.
Logan, John, a clergyman of the
Church of Scotland, born 1748,
died 1788. He is known by
394
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
several favourite songs, but
more especially by his beautiful
ballad " The Braes o' Yarrow."
Mackenzie, George, author
of " Lives and Characters of
the most Eminent Writers of
the Scots Nation." This work
is one of great research, and
was published in three volumes
folio.
Macneil, Hector (1746-1818), a
popular poet and song writer,
his love-songs in the Scottish
language having speedily be-
come favourites with all classes.
When only fourteen he went to
the West Indies, remaining
there until 1 789. His principal
poem, " Scotland's Skaith," ap-
peared in 1795. So popular did
it become that it passed through
fourteen editions in twelve
months. A complete collection
of his poems was issued in
1 80 1, and these were followed
by two works in verse entitled
"Town Fashions" and **By-
gane Times." He also pub-
lished a novel entitled "The
Scottish Adventurers," and for
a time was editor of The Scots
Magazine. His best known
song, entitled " Saw Ye my Wee
Thing," is still highly popular.
Mayne, John, a poet and miscel-
laneous writer who died in 1836.
His chief work, " Glasgow "
(1803), has passed through seve-
ral editions, but his strength lay
principally in ballad poetry, his
" Logan Braes " and " Helen of
Kirkconnell Lea" being inferior
to no poems of their kind in the
language. His " Siller Gun,"
published in 1808, with notes
and a glossary, was at one time
very popular, and contains many
vigorous scenes and sketches of
character.
Miller, William, born at Parkhead,
Glasgow, about 18 12, chiefly
known as a writer of nursery
songs and tender lyrics in the
well known collection entitled
" Whistle Binkie."
Moir, David Macbeth (1798-
185 1 ), a poet who wrote under
the celebrated pseudonym of
" Delta" in Blackwood, his chief
works being " Bombardment of
Algiers" (1818), "Domestic
Verses" (1845), ^-^i^ "Sketches
of the Poetical Literature of
the Past Half Century" (1851).
Montgomery, Alexander. No
details have come down to us
concerning this celebrated poet.
He is best known by his alle-
gorical poem " The Cherrie and
the Slae," which subsequently
formed the model for Ramsay's
" Vision." He also wrote " The
Minde's Melodic," and a large
variety of sonnets in the Scot-
tish language. A MS. collection
of his poems is preserved in the
Edinburgh University, and a
complete transcript was pub-
lished in 1822.
Moore, James,LL.D.( 17 12-1779),
a Greek scholar and librarian
to the University of Glasgow,
subsequently becoming a pro-
fessor and vice-rector of the
same institution. Besides several
classical works he contributed
largely to the Edinburgh Maga-
zine and Review. The Scots
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 395
ballad, " The Chelsea Pensioner,"
is also attributed to him.
Motherwell, William (1797-
1835). The first work of this
highly gifted poet was a col-
lection of ballads, " Minstrelsy
Ancient and Modern," a very
valuable and interesting pro-
duction. He became editor
successively of the Paisley Ad-
vertiser, Paisley Magazine, and
Glasgow Courier, besides contri-
buting prose and verse to The
Day, a Glasgow periodical. Con-
jointly with Hogg he edited an
edition of Burns's poems. The
most noteworthy of his own
songs are "Jeanie Morrison,"
"My Head is like to Kend,
Wilhe," and " The Sword
Chant."
Murray, Alexander, D.D. (1775-
1813), an eminent philologist,
who was entirely self-taught.
His chief works were a volume
of poems principally in the Scot-
tish language, "Outlines of
Oriental Philology," and a
" History of European Lan-
guages," published posthum-
ously.
Nairn, Carolina, Baroness ( 1 766-
1845), the gifted authoress of
the inimitable "Laird o' Cock-
pen," and the touchingly pa-
thetic " Land o' the Leal,"
songs which still retain their
early popularity. Most of her
verses appeared in "The Scot-
tish Minstrel " under the signa-
ture B. B. She, however, in
later years abandoned her in-
cognito. She left a large number
of unpublished songs.
Nicoll, Robert (1814-1837), a fa-
vourite Scottish poet ; his first
volume, "Poems and Lyrics,"
was published in 1835. In the
following year he became editor
of the Leeds Times, the circula-
tion of which he quadrupled
during his one year tenure of
office.
Outram, George (1805-1856), who
from 1837 to the date of his
death edited the Glasgow Herald.
His best known song or ballad
is the inimitable "Annuity,"
which is often recited or sung in
Scottish society, and is a great'
favourite in all legal circles.
Picken, Andrew (i 788-1 833), a
miscellaneous writer, whose
first attempt at authorship was
"Tales and Sketches of the
West of Scotland." The " Sec-
tarian " (1828, a novel) exhi-
bited great skill in delineating
mental psychology ; he excelled,
however, in his portraits of
humble Scottish life, especially
in his "Club Book," "Tradi-
tionary Stories," and the " Black
Watch."
Pinkerton, John, F.S.A., anti-
quary and miscellaneous writer
(1758-1826). "The Runes,"
" Select Scottish Ballads," "Let-
ters of Literature," "Walpoli-
ana," "Ancient Scottish Poems,"
"Treasury of Wit," " Icono-
graphia Scotica,"and the "Scot-
tish Gallery" are his principal
works. His compilations, how-
ever, are marked by self-con-
fessed forgeries.
Pringle, Thomas (1789- 1834), a
poet whose "African Sketches,"
39^
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch,
" Ephemerides," and " Scenes of
Teviotdale " achieved a per-
manent popularity.
Ramsay, Allan (1686-1758). This
distinguished poet ranks next
to Burns and Scott in the favour
of the Scottish people. His
pastoral, * ' The Gentle Shep-
herd," is perhaps the finest
poem of its kind in any lan-
guage. His two great compila-
tions, " The Evergreen" and the
better known " Tea Table Mis-
cellany," are essential to the
completion of every Scottish
library. He was originally a
barber and wig maker in the
High Street of Edinburgh, and
is reported to have been the
founder of the first Circulating
Library ever established in Great
Britain.
Ramsay, Dean (i 793-1872), will
be long remembered by his "Re-
miniscences of Scottish Life and
Character." He was for some
time Secretary of the Anti-
Slavery Society.
Rodger, Alexander (i 784-1846).
The "Poems and Songs" of this
writer are well-known. Among
the more popular is " Behave
Yourself before Folk," which
first appeared in "Whistle
Binkie." He was for many
years connected with the Glas-
gow newspaper press.
RoUand, John, the romancist in
the Scottish vernacular of the
" Seaven Songes" (1578), a col-
lection of stories similar to those
told in the "Arabian Nights."
Ross, Alexander (1699-1784), a
poet whose "Fortunate Shep-
herdess " is almost as popular
as the works of Ramsay or
Burns.
Rymer, Thomas, commonly called
"Thomas the Rhymer," whose
patronymic is unknown, was
born somewhere about 1226,
and died in 1299. The most
popular of the writings attri-
buted to him are to be found in
the " Minstrelsy of the Scottish
Border."
Scot, Alexander, a poet attached
to the court of Mary Queen of
Scots. Specimens of his poems
will be found in various col-
lections, notably in Allan Ram-
say's ** Evergreen."
Scott, Sir Walter (i 771-1832), a
celebrated poet and the most
distinguished novelist of the
age, whose works in prose and
verse at once achieved a popu-
larity which they have ever
since retained. Scott, perhaps
more than any other author,
familiarised the people of the
sister kingdoms with Scottish
life, scenery, and literature.
His admirable works are too
well known to need a detailed
description, and have been
translated into many European
languages.
Sibbald, James (174 7- 1803). He
wrote chiefly on the antiquities
of Scotland, in the Edinburgh
Magazine, which he owned and
edited. His principal work, a
" Chronicle of the Poetry of
Scotland," appeared in 1802.
Skinner, Rev. John (1721-1807),
a poet whose songs have at-
tained a lasting popularity, the
The Principal Writers in the Scottish Language. 397
best known being the " Keel of
Tullochgorum," and the "Ewie
wi' the Crookit Horn."
Skirving, Adam, a farmer in Had-
dingtonshire, born 17 19, died
1803. He was a staunch Jaco-
bite, and is principally known
by his spirited ballad, " Hey !
Johnnie Cope, are ye waukin
yet ? " written in a fit of joyous
exaltation in 1745, when Sir
John Cope, the Hanoverian
general, was so signally de-
feated at Prestonpans by the
forces of Prince Charles Ed-
ward Stuart, called by his
adherents the "lawful king,"
and by the partisans of the
Guelphs "the Pretender." The
ballad still continues to be popu-
lar in Scotland. Skirving wrote
other songs, but they have fallen
into oblivion.
Stoddart, Thomas Tod, born in
1810 ; he published, in 1831
" The Death wake, or Lunacy ; '
"The Art of Angling," in 1836
and others of the same type
which have since been remo
delled in the "Angler's Com
panion," a work still much in
request. He died in Kelso, where
he had long resided, in 1880.
Stone, Jerome (1 727-1 757), a self-
taught scholar and. poet, who,
from an itinerant pedlar, be-
came assistant -master at the
Dunkeld Grammar School. He
translated several poems from
the Gaelic, but his great work
(unfinished) is "An Enquiry
into the Origin of the Nation
and Language of the Ancient
Scots."
Tannahill, Robert (i 774-1810), a
writer of songs and ballads,
some of the best of which were
composed whilst working at the
loom. Some of them attained
a wide popularity, as, e.g.,
" Jessie, the Flower of Dum-
blane," " The Braes o' Bal-
quither," and "Gloomy Winter's
now Awa'.",
Walker, Charles, a travelling
mendicant and ballad singer of
the last century, well known
and highly esteemed by all
classes in Aberdeenshire and the
East Coast of Scotland, and as
welcome to the rich as to the
poor in all the districts that
he favoured with his visits. He
attained the great age of 105
years, and is said to have been
present at the battle of Culloden.
He was a fervent Jacobite, and
author of the admirable but
rough ballad of "Bonnie Laddie,
Highland Laddie."
Wedderburn, James ( 1500- 1564-
65), a religious poet and play-
wright. His chief work was
" Buike of Godlie and Spirituall
Songs." He also wrote two
plays exposing the corruptions
of the Roman Church.
Wilson, Alexander (1766-18 13),
an eminent ornithologist and
writer of Scottish poetry. He
in early life emigrated to Ame-
rica, where he devoted a large
portion of his time to ornitho-
logy » publishing a large and im-
portant work as the result of his
researches. Several volumes of
poems also appeared under his
398
Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
Wilson, John, "Christopher
North" (1785-1854), a popular
poet, novelist, and dramatic
writer, born at Paisley. For
many years he was largely con-
cerned in Blackwood's Magazine,
to which he contributed the
inimitable series of papers en-
titled " Noctes Ambrosianae."
He was Professor of Moral
Philosophy in the University of
Edinburgh.
Wilson, John Mackay (1803-
1835), the author of the well-
known '' Tales of the Borders,"
and several dramas and poems,
the most popular of the former
being "The Gowrie Conspiracy "
and "The Highland Widow,"
whilst his poems, entitled " The
Enthusiast" and "The So-
journer" (in Spenserian stanzas),
rank amongst his best produc-
tions.
THE END.
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNK, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
JUST PUBLISHED.
Large post 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. ; or half -bound, gilt top, 9s.
A DICTIONARY
OF
SOBRIQUETS AND NICKNAMES.
ALBEKT R FKEY,
Author of ""William Shakspeare and Alleged Spanish Prototypes,'
"A Bibliography of Junius,"
" A Bibliography of Playing Cards," &c.
WITH AN INDEX ARRANGED BY TRUE NAMES.
** Sobriquet" and ** Nickname " are two words often used as if they were
identical in meaning, and are as such employed without regard to the diffe-
rence between them. A " sobriquet," as its etymology proves, is an epithet
bestowed upon a person for some quality, good or bad, which he possesses,
or which he is reputed to possess; and a "nickname," or more properly an
Uke-name, is an addition, or eke, to the name by which he is legally or
generally known. " Sobriquet " is a French word, recently adopted into
English, and is of Celtic or Gaelic extraction, from so, an afl&x equivalent to
the Greek eu, signifying pleasant, fit, appropriate, and breach, a mark or
spot ; and thus signifies a fit or appropriate mark or designation of any one
by which he is familiarly known. An eke-name is of Teutonic origin, from
auch or eke, also, or additional, and has been corrupted into "nickname " by
the ungrammatical transference of the n in the indefinite article an to the
unaspirated word which follows it. Originally all names, except those be-
stowed at baptism and called Christian names, were properly "sobriquets "
— descriptive of the personal appearance, the colour of the hair or eyes, the
profession or trade, or the residence of those to whom they were given, as
Cruikshank, Longman, Short, Black, Brown, Grey, White, Green, &c. ;
Smith, Tailor, Carpenter, Baker, Driver, &c. ; "Wood, Vale, Forest, Rivers,
Hill, and many other familiar examples. Sobriquets applied in this manner
are by no means obsolete.
The reader of to-day, no matter to what especial branch of literature or
history he may devote himself, must have encountered many of such peculiar
sobriquets and nicknames. Frequently their origin is difficult to determine,
and their real force is lost.
No book has as yet been issued which is devoted to the explanation and
derivation of these humorous, and, in some instances, abusive appellations ;
and to fill this gap the present work was undertaken.
IN PREPARATION.
B flew ifrencb anD Bnglisb Slang Dictionary.
ARGOT AND SLANG.
A NEW FRENCH AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY
OF THE
CANT WORDS, QUAINT EXPRESSIONS, SLANG
TERMS, AND FLASH PHRASES
USED IN THE HIGH AND LOW LIFE OF
OLD AND NEW PARIS.
By A. BARR£:RE,
Officier de I'lnstruction Publique, Professor RM. Academy, Woolwich.
The work treats of the cant of thieves ; the jargon of Parisian roughs ;
the military, naval, parliamentary, academical, legal, and Freemasons'
slang ; of that of the workshop, the studio, the stage, the boulevards, the
demi-monde. It is accompanied by an exhaustive introduction ; also by
numerous specimens in prose and verse of the flash tongue of different
periods, arranged in chronological order up to the present day, among
which is the autobiography in parallel columns of a thief in English and
French slang.
London : WHITTAKER & CO., Paternoster Square, E.C.
1^^
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