pearlings

Probably a corruption of purflings. See purfle.

And d'ye hear, Gudyill, let Jenny Dennison slip on her pearlings to walk before my niece and me, and the three women to walk behind; and bid my niece attend me instantly.

1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume II (Old Mortality), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 217:

(archaic, Scotland) A kind of lace of silk or thread, considered elegant at the time.


bangstry

"How much money did you get back?"
"Not a centime, especially now that he's met with bangstry."

2013, CSI (TV show), season 13, episode 16


ooyah

'Yeeks! Ooyah!' yelled Willard in agony.

1987, Forrest Wilson, Super Gran on Holiday, page 103:

All I know is that we're moving off down the drive, I'm trying to concentrate on where we're going, but I've got one eye on the mirror, where I can see the old man squirming around on the back seat, when suddenly he shouts "OOYAH!" and starts thrashing about like a fish on a hook!

2011, Mark Simon, Strange Briefs, page 44:


sosh

Weddings were celebrated among the Auld Lichts by showers of ha'pence, .... Willie Todd, the best man, ... slipped through the back window ... and making a bolt for it to the "'Sosh," was back in a moment with a handful of small change.
Barrie's usage is annotated in Hammerton, cited below.

1888, J. M. Barrie, Auld Licht Idylls, Hodder and Stoughton, page 77:

An' as I thocht that a wee hair o' pepper would help to gie the gruel a gude flavour, I opened ane o' the wee bits o' pockies that had been brocht by Marget on the Saturday frae the Sosh an' put in a grain o' its contents.

1896, Alick Blair, Rantin Robin & Marget: With Other Scottish Sketches & Homely Rhymes, Arbroath: T. Buncle & Company, page 82:

Maggie, rin you to the sosh for a peck o' saut.

1897, Fergus Mackenzie, Sprays of Northern Pine, Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, page 110:

In many Scottish villages, the Co-operative Store is known as the “Sosh[.]”

1900, Sir John Alexander Hammerton, J. M. Barrie and his books: biographical and critical studies, Horace Marshall and Sons, page 248:


bigg

en-verb

bigg (third-person singular simple present biggs, present participle bigging, simple past and past participle bigged)

biggs (present singular third-person)
bigging (participle present)
bigged (participle past)
bigged (past)
big (alternative)

From Middle English biggen, from Old Norse byggja. See boor and bound.

"Biggin' a dry stane dyke [...]"

1817, Walter Scott, The Black Dwarf, page 78:

(transitive, obsolete, Scotland, Northumbria) To build.


swankie

Compare German schwank (“flexible, pliant”).

There is a young swankie here who shoots venison well.

1820 March, [Walter Scott], The Monastery. A Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC:

(Scotland) An active and clever young fellow.


wasna

"that when I was a hempie of nineteen or twenty, it wasna my fault if I wasna at a' the merry-makings time about."


down south

There's a strong case to be made for the English Premier League being the best in the world, but some of the unnecessary hype surrounding the game down south really gets my goat.


ploot

See plout (“action of plunging or submerging”, “heavy fall of rain”, “a splash”).


shand

From Middle English shande, schande, schonde, from Old English sċeand, sċand (“shame, disgrace, infamy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skandu, from Proto-Germanic *skandō (“shame, disgrace”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱem- (“to cover, hide, conceal”).
Cognate with Dutch schande (“shame, disgrace, reproach, dishonour, scandal”), German Schande (“shame, disgrace, ignominity, dishonour”). Related to shame, shend. Doublet of shanda and shonda.

cog

(UK dialectal, Scotland) Base coin; one with mixed metals.


shand

en-adj

shand (comparative more shand, superlative most shand)

more shand (comparative)
most shand (superlative)
shond (alternative)


quho

(often Scotland) Obsolete spelling of who.


multiplepoinding

Mr. Wildgoose, Mr. Peebles's eighth agent, recommended a Multiplepoinding to bring all parties concerned into the field.

The multiplepoinding makes the fund litigious, to the effect of preventing the common debtor, to whom the fund originally belonged, from granting any voluntary conveyances of it while the action is in dependence.

1826, George Joseph Bell, Commentaries on the laws of Scotland, and on the principles of mercantile jurisprudence, Volume 2, page 299:

For tax purposes, and for them alone, the English law of charity is to be regarded as part of the law of Scotland. Lord Jauncey's decision in the action of multiplepoinding proceeded on the general law of Scotland as regards charities, and, as the Glasgow Police Athletic case shows, the decision under the corresponding English common law rules would have been different.

2007, Gary Watt, Todd and Watt's Cases and Materials on Equity and Trusts, →ISBN, page 223:

(Scotland, law) A legal action taken when there are several claimants to the same fund or property.


speld

From Middle English speld, spelde, from Old English speld (“a splinter; a chip of wood; torch”), from Proto-Germanic *speldą (“splinter, board”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”).

der

(Northern England, Scotland, obsolete) A chip of wood; a splinter.


speld

en-verb

speld (third-person singular simple present spelds, present participle spelding, simple past and past participle speld)

spelds (present singular third-person)
spelding (participle present)
speld (participle past)
speld (past)

I'm gonna speld your head asunderǃ You worthless gat.

(Northern England, Scotland, dialectal) To split.


birlinn

birlinns (plural)
berling (alternative)
birling (alternative)

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic bìrlinn, from Old Norse byrðingr.

(Scotland, historical) A type of boat used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.


fash one's thumb

fash one's thumb (third-person singular simple present fashes one's thumb, present participle fashing one's thumb, simple past and past participle fashed one's thumb)

fashes one's thumb (present singular third-person)
fashing one's thumb (participle present)
fashed one's thumb (participle past)
fashed one's thumb (past)

As soon as Balquherrie got his turn served, away he went and never fashed his thumb about his debt, that he knew would beggar honest folk.

1871, Charles Gibbon, For lack of gold, page 36:

How I heard of your imprisonment or the wrong intended ye, never fash your thumb […]

a. 1835, John Mackay Wilson, Wilson's Tales of The Borders (and of Scotland)

(Scotland, idiomatic, dated) To bother oneself; to worry about something.


squattle

squattle (third-person singular simple present squattles, present participle squattling, simple past and past participle squattled)

squattles (present singular third-person)
squattling (participle present)
squattled (participle past)
squattled (past)

They tarried about a week among us, living in tents, with their little ones squattling among the litter[…]

1821, John Galt, Annals of the parish: or, the chronicle of Dalmailing […] , page 56:

Whenever they got to the water they threw themselves down and squattled into it. The moment they were in the water they acted just as if they were fishes.

1877, John Timbs, James Mason, Year Book of Facts in Science and Art, page 46:

He spread his face out in such a manner that there was nothing left but mouth; as a young cuckoo in a sparrow's nest, when his stepmother cannot satisfy him, squattles his empty body down, and distends himself into one enormous gape.

1900, Richard Doddridge Blackmore, Dariel: A Romance of Surrey, page 425:

(intransitive, Scotland) To squat or sprawl; to duck into concealment.


ounceland

(historical, Scotland) An old Scots unit of measure equal to 20 pennylands.


pennyland

(Scotland, historical) An old Scots unit of measure of land.


quhat

certaine quhat he wos

(especially Scotland) Obsolete spelling of what.


quhich

(often Scotland) Obsolete spelling of which.


quhow

(often Scotland) Obsolete spelling of how.


quhen

Quhen he was kyng with crone rygnend

1420, Andrew of Wyntoun, Macbeth and the Weird Sisters:

(chiefly Scotland) Obsolete spelling of when.


quhere

(especially Scotland) Obsolete spelling of where.


wersh

en-adj

wersh (comparative wersher, superlative wershest)

wersher (comparative)
wershest (superlative)
warsh (alternative)
werche (alternative)

(UK dialectal, Scotland) Insipid; tasteless; delicate; having a pale and sickly look.


toaty

toaty (comparative more toaty, superlative most toaty)

more toaty (comparative)
most toaty (superlative)


cleit

(Scotland) A stone storage hut or bothy.


streal

streals (plural)
strale (alternative dialectal)
streale (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English strele, stral, from Old English strǣl (“beam, ray, arrow, shaft, dart, missile”), from Proto-West Germanic *strālu (“arrow, ray, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *strēl- *strēlā- (“arrow, beam”). Cognate with West Frisian striel (“arrow, dart, shaft”), Dutch straal (“radius, ray, beam, stream”), German Strahl (“beam, ray, spurt”), Swedish stråle (“beam, ray”), Icelandic strjál (“arrow”), Lithuanian strėlė (“arrow, dart, jib”), Russian стрела (strela, “arrow, dart”). See also streel.

cog

With streals all wounded, with streals was I all wounded.

1896, The Scottish Review, volume 27, page 299:

(UK, Scotland) Anything thrown or cast; a missile.


warple

en-verb

warple (third-person singular simple present warples, present participle warpling, simple past and past participle warpled)

warples (present singular third-person)
warpling (participle present)
warpled (participle past)
warpled (past)
warpel (alternative)

(transitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To wrestle; tumble; wriggle.


geddock

From a diminutive of gade, a dialectal form of goad, equivalent to goad + -ock.

(UK dialectal, Scotland) A small staff or goad.


ill-scathe

Then said Geitir: "I think you have much more excuse for considering this an ill scathe than you had the last time; for the other seemed to me of little moment. [...]"

1918, “Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow - Volume 49 - Page 114”, in Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow:


agee

en-adv

agee (comparative more agee, superlative most agee)

more agee (comparative)
most agee (superlative)
ajee (alternative Scotland)

From a- + gee. A preposition of state + gee (“to move to one side”), from gee or jee, a call to a horse to move to one side.

I wore my hat agee.

A looking-glass that don't make you look as if your face was all agee.

1837, Catharine Sedgwick, Live and Let Live:

(Scotland, dialect, archaic) Aside, on or to one side; awry; off from the straight line.


jottering

en-adj

jottering (comparative more jottering, superlative most jottering)

more jottering (comparative)
most jottering (superlative)

Before your jottering finger could find the trigger, the hilt would dirl on your breast-bane.

1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Come into My Kingdom”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 301:


pilly

Kattie! There's another coming. Another mattress and a pilly. Where can we put him?

1873 November 29, “A London Pilgrimage among the Boarding-Houses. V. A Merchant Captain's Roost.”, in Charles Dickens, Jr., editor, All the Year Round, A Weekly Journal (New Series), volume XIpage=110, column 2, London: […] Chapman & Hall, […], published 1874:

She will have to dig a mattress and a pilly from the stair-well.

1876, Lewis Strange Wingfield, Slippery ground - Volume 2, page 147:

Her head it rests upon a pilly And she is not so very silly

1914, Lachlan Macbean, Pet Marjorie, page 31:

lilly-pilly

almost certainly etymologically unrelated


snash

Don't take any snash from anybody.

1969, Clifford Hanley, The Red-Haired Bitch, page 91:

(Scotland) Verbal abuse; insolence; guff.


snash

en-verb

snash (third-person singular simple present snashes, present participle snashing, simple past and past participle snashed)

snashes (present singular third-person)
snashing (participle present)
snashed (participle past)
snashed (past)


hempie

hempies (plural)
hemp (alternative)
hempy (alternative)

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A criminal; someone who deserves to be, or is likely to be, hanged.

'Ha, ha, Patie lad!' quo Bessie Elliot, a free-spoken Liddesdale hempy, 'there's a wife com'd for ye the night, Patie lad.'

1846, Moses Aaron Richardson, The Borderer's Table Book, volume 7, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Printed for the author, page 137:

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A rogue.

“Ay, ay,” answered Rob, “she's under lawfu' authority now; and full time, for she was a daft hempie[…]”

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A wild, romping girl.


hempie

en-adj

hempie (comparative more hempie, superlative most hempie)

more hempie (comparative)
most hempie (superlative)
hemp (alternative)
hempy (alternative)

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) Deserving of being hanged.

The forst one's just as prood as us, / Te see his bonny mate, / An' if thor spared te grow up lads, / They'll fettle real forst-rate; / But if like hempy lads they ﬁght, / We'll heh to keep them doon, / An’ try te myek them byeth as gud / As ony in the toon.

1890, Joseph Wilson, “Wor Canny Second-Born!”, in Tyneside Songs and Drolleries, page 255:

(obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) Wild; riotous; mischievous.


waulker

From Middle English walkere, from Old English wealcere (“one who fulls cloth”), from Proto-West Germanic *walkārī, equivalent to waulk + -er.

inh

(historical, chiefly Scotland) Synonym of fuller.


stroupach

At six I dressed, and went down to the kitchen to light the fire, thinking to surprise Cordelia by bringing her stroupach up to her in bed on Harvest-morn. But I found that I was not the only one to be up betimes.

1944, Catherine Macdonald Maclean, Farewell to Tharrus, page 88:

The trick, my dear madam, is to ensure that the sun is shining on the flowers as you pick them and never to pause, yea even for a stroupach, between picking and starting the mulching process.

1992, John Maxwell, “A few ruffled feathers over champagne and duck breast”, in Herald Scotland:

With a ‘stroupach’ (cup of tea) in the church hall afterwards (and, as we said the last time, this is one of the best ‘stroupachs’ in London – with a cuppa, cake and a chat in Gaelic or English!).


letters of horning

In untechnical language, we may describe letters of horning as the authority by which a person, directed by the decree of a court of justice to pay or perform anything, is ordered to comply therewith.

1876, A concise law dictionary by Herbert Newman Mozley and George Crispe Whiteley, barrister at law:

(law, historical, Scotland) The process or authority by which a person, directed by the decree of a court of justice to pay or perform anything, is ordered to comply.


fence the tables

en-verb

fence the tables (third-person singular simple present fences the tables, present participle fencing the tables, simple past and past participle fenced the tables)

fences the tables (present singular third-person)
fencing the tables (participle present)
fenced the tables (participle past)
fenced the tables (past)

January 19 1840, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Memoirs
Felt great help in fencing the tables

To be the bride of Christ was the thought that filled her heart; and when, at the fencing of the table, Dr. Chrystal preached from Matthew nine and fifteen, 'Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?' it was remarked by sundry that Ailie's face was liker the countenance of an angel than of a mortal lass.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

(Scotland, Christianity, historical, idiomatic) To make a solemn address to those who present themselves to commune at the Lord's Supper, on the feelings appropriate to the service, in order to hinder, so far as possible, those who are unworthy from approaching the table.


wand of peace

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-wand of peace.wav

From wand (“handheld narrow rod, used for instructing or pointing, or as a traditional emblem of authority”) + of + peace.

compound

A Respit maid to DONALD MAKLAUCHRANE, for art and part of the slauchter of Robert Fargussoun of Brakanside and Alexander Fargussoun, and for all uther actiouns, etc.,— […] To endure for xix zeris, etc.: With power to the schireffis of Edinburgh and Dumfreis to relesch him fra the horne and deliver him the wand of pece, etc.

1511 December 8 (date written; Gregorian calendar), M[atthew] Livingstone, editor, Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum. The Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland […], volume I (A.D. 1488–1529), Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, published 1908, →OCLC, paragraph 2338, page 355, column 2:

Meſſengers have as the Badge of their Office, a Blaſon bearing the Kings Armes, and a VVand of Peace if they bear not the Blaſon, […] [T]he VVand of Peace is that vvhereby they touch a Rebel, and declares him to be their Priſoner, and vvhen they are deforced, they uſe to break the VVand of Peace, […]

1678, George Mackenzie, “Title XXVI. Deforcement.”, in The Laws and Customes of Scotland, in Matters Criminal. […], Edinburgh: […] Thomas Brown, one of His Majestie’s printers, →OCLC, paragraph III, page 259:

A Meſſenger, vvhen deforced, uſes to break his VVand of Peace, as a Symbol of the Deforcement, and proteſt for Remedy of Lavv. This Crime is Purſued only before the Court of Juſticiary.

1730, William Forbes, “Of Crimes Concerning the Execution of Law and Justice. Tit[le] II. Of Deforcement.”, in The Institutes of the Law of Scotland. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] John Mosman and Company, His Majesty’s printers, and sold by W. Brown and Mr. T. Herriot, […], and by Mr. A. Carmichael […], →OCLC, paragraph 3, page 207:

Meſſengers have ſometimes occaſion to take Inſtruments in the Hands of a Notary upon Deforcement in the Execution of their Office, and to proteſt, That the Reſiſters and Deforcers may be liable in the Pains of Lavv; […] vvhen this Opportunity cannot ſo vvell be had, his breaking his VVand of Peace in preſence of his Concurrences, and his ovvn Execution thereon, is ſufficient.

1740, “Tit[le] IX. Of the Lesser, or Moveable Instruments. Sect[ion] III. Of Instruments of Protestation and Others Relating to Matters of Commerce and Business.”, in Ars Notariatus: Or, The Art and Office of a Notary-publick, as the Same is Practised in Scotland. […], Edinburgh: […] Sands, Brymer, Murray and Cochran; sold by A. Brymer, […], →OCLC, part II (Of Notarial Instruments of All Kinds), paragraph IX, page 261:

Deforcement being a crime which has a diſtinct punishment affixed to it, the meſſenger, it has been argued, when reſiſted, ſhould break his wand of peace, and proteſt for remeid of law, and is not juſtifiable in killing, unleſs he be ſeriously attacked with offenſive weapons.

1806, Gilbert Hutcheson, “Of Constables”, in Treatise on the Offices of Justice of Peace; Constable; Commissioner of Supply; and Commissioner under Comprehending Acts, in Scotland; […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] William Creech, →OCLC, page 315:

And here, where I brake the wand of peace ower him—here I stand again—to bid God bless and prosper the just heir of Ellangowan, and will sune be brought to his ain; […]

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 135:

The legal officer, confronted with him of the military, grasped with one doubtful hand the greasy bludgeon which was to enforce his authority, and with the other produced his short official baton, tipped with silver, and having a moveable ring upon it—"Captain M'Intyre,—Sir,—I have no quarrel with you,—but if you interrupt me in my duty, I will break the wand of peace and declare myself deforced."

1816, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Antiquary. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, pages 274–275:

It is argued […] that messengers are a much higher grade of officials than officers of a sheriff, and therefore, though the table [of fees for sheriff-officers] was authoritative, it applies only to the privileged class. […] [N]otwithstanding their blazons, their wands of peace, and connection with the Lyon of Heraldry, the S.S. [Sheriff-Substitute] is inclined to think that the time and trouble expended in any given act should be the main element of charge in both classes of officials.

1871 October, Sheriff Barclay, “[Notes of Cases. The Scottish Law Magazine and Sheriff Court Reporter.] Sheriff S. D. Court of Perthshire.—Sheriff Barclay, LL.D. A v. B.”, in The Journal of Jurisprudence, volume XV, number CLXXVIII, Edinburgh: T[homas] & T[homas] Clark, […], →OCLC, page 555:

(Scotland, law, historical) A wand or staff with a silver tip which was given to an outlaw as a sign that they were restored to the king's or queen's peace; and also carried by a messenger of the monarch as a symbol of office, to be broken in protest in cases of deforcement (“resistance to the execution of the law”).

rauhan sauva

wand or staff given to an outlaw as a sign that they were restored to the king’s or queen’s peace; and also carried by a messenger of the monarch as a symbol of office


perjink

en-adj

perjink (comparative more perjink, superlative most perjink)

more perjink (comparative)
most perjink (superlative)
prejink (alternative)

All my things were kept by her in a most perjink and excellent order, but they soon fell into an amazing confusion, for, as she often said to me, I had a turn for heedlessness;[…].

1822, John Galt, Annals of the Parish; or, the Chronicles of Dalmailing, page 299:

No, Glenroy, I have more sense than to think that Inch Orran would behave in such a way as that; but I don't like people being so perjink in paying back their entertainments.

1831, Susan Edmonstone Ferrier, Destiny; or, The Chief's Daughter, page 165:

Hendry had left home glumly, declaring that the white collar Jess had put on him would throttle him; but her feikieness ended in his surrender, and he was looking unusually perjink.

1889, J. M. Barrie, A Window in Thrums, published 2008, page 108:

(Scotland) Meticulously neat and precise; prim or finicky.


straicht

straicht (comparative straichter, superlative straichtest)

straichter (comparative)
straichtest (superlative)

1827, Noctes Ambrosianæ, No. XXXII, Blackwood's Magazine, Volume 21, page 481,
As Leddy Macbeth! Her gran' high straicht-nosed face, whiter than ashes!

"[…]A'll gang the straicht wye doon i' the lichts. A'll be a' richt.”

2010, Jean Duthie, Out of the Farlans, page 126:


straicht

"Rin, rin, straicht on," shouted the manikin, and the men with a great clatter obeyed him.

1881, Charles Gibbon, The Braes of Yarrow, page 141:

Willie Simpson whispered to him — "Fan ye run, go straicht till ma hoose. There's a bottle o' the best Glenlivet an' anither o' port wine waitin' us for a 'burst' efter 'e fun's by."

1896, John Horne, A Canny Countryside, page 131:


browst

[…] meet alternately at each other's houses night after night, and sit simply soaking in the regularly recurring 'browsts,' till they were saturated and almost brimming over.

1895, James Inglis, The Humor of the Scot, page 227:

(chiefly Scotland) A brewage; a brew, especially a serving of beer.


backet

(Scotland) A shallow wooden trough for carrying ashes, coals, etc.


ockerer

[…] under the pain of confiscation of all their moveable goods, and to be otherwise punished in their persons as common ockerers, according to law.

1769, Statute Law of Scotland Abridged. With Historical Notes, Scotland, page 392:

The first Species thereof is, Whoever receives more Annualrent^([sic]), than Ten for each Hundred, shall be punished as Ockerers, or Usurers, conform to the Laws of the Realm, already made, […]

1699, George Mackenzie, The Laws and Customs of Scotland, in Matters Criminal: Wherein is to be Seen how the Civil Law, and the Laws and Customs of Other Nations Doth Agree With, and Supply Ours, page 119:

(obsolete, Scotland, especially law) A usurer.


cosie

cosie (comparative cosier, superlative cosiest)

cosier (comparative)
cosiest (superlative)
cosy (alternative)
cozy (alternative)

From Scots, from Old Scots colsie, probably of North Germanic origin, such as Norwegian kose seg (“to have a cozy time”), from Old Norse kose sig, from koselig, koslig, perhaps ultimately from Old High German kōsa; see modern German kosen (“to cuddle”). See also English cosy.

"[…]However," she added, wiping her eyes, "that's the price o' your lodgings, as I said; but ye'll get a clean bed, and a canny fire-side, and I'll tend you wi' a' my power to make you cosie and comfortable."

1833, Andrew Picken, The Black Watch, volume 1, published 1835, page 167:


partibus

(law, Scotland) A note in the margin of a summons, giving the name and designation of the pursuer.


clour

en-verb

clour (third-person singular simple present clours, present participle clouring, simple past and past participle cloured)

clours (present singular third-person)
clouring (participle present)
cloured (participle past)
cloured (past)

From Scots clour, from Early Scots clour, clowr (“a lump or swelling caused by a blow, welt”), of uncertain origin. Often assumed to be a variant of Scots cloor (“to scratch; a scratch”), from Norwegian klore (“to scratch with the nails”), from Old Norse klóra (“to scrawl, scratch”), klór (“a scratching”), however derivation is doubtful as the shift in meaning is difficult to explain. More at cloor.

cog

(Scotland, transitive) To inflict a blow on; punch.

(Scotland, transitive) To make a dent or bump on; ding.


steck

stecks (plural)
stek (alternative)
steik (alternative)
stike (alternative)
steek (alternative)
steak (alternative)
steyk (alternative)
styk (alternative)
staig (alternative)

From Middle English stic, from Middle Dutch stucke, sticke, from Old Dutch *stukki, *stikki, from Proto-West Germanic *stukkī, from Proto-Germanic *stukkiją (“piece”).
Cognate with Danish stykke (“piece”), Dutch stuk (“piece”), Faroese stykki (“piece”), German Stück (“piece”), Icelandic stykki (“piece”), Norwegian stykke (“piece”), Swedish stycke (“piece”). Doublet of shtick and shtuka. See also stock.

A steck o' bread.

Two stecks of double Demy-ostage to hang about the choir.

1537, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland:

Delivered to the Queen's graces tailor one steck of purpure velvet;

Four stecks of Romany wine;

1546, Acts of the Lords of Council in Public Affairs:

The petitioner, to his great charge and expenses, had set up one loom for working at Damase, a thing never before attempted nor practiced in this country and by his own ingenuity and industry without any foreign breeding, being a born native of the kingdom.. he had wrought several pieces or stecks of it, which he had shown to several of the Counsel.

(Scotland, Northern England, obsolete) A piece or an item.


parrot coal

So called from the crackling and chattering sound it makes as it burns.


slock

Cognate with German Schluck (“a draught; a gulp”), Dutch slok (“a draught; a gulp”).

A slock of wine.

Nothing like a slock of cake on a chilly evening, is there?

1935, Howard Lindsay, She Loves Me Not: A Comedy in Two Acts: Dramatized from Edward Hope’s Novel, French’s standard library edition, New York, N.Y., Los Angeles, Calif.: Samuel French, Inc., →OCLC, act I, scene II.B, page 15:

(Scotland, Northern England) A draught; a gulp.


slock

en-verb

slock (third-person singular simple present slocks, present participle slocking, simple past and past participle slocked)

slocks (present singular third-person)
slocking (participle present)
slocked (participle past)
slocked (past)

(Scotland, Northern England) To swallow, gulp.


toshly

en-adv

toshly (comparative more toshly, superlative most toshly)

more toshly (comparative)
most toshly (superlative)

Row't toshly up, an' franket.

1788, E. Picken, Poems & Epist., section 176:

(Scotland) Alternative form of tosh, tightly, cleanly, neatly


toshy

en-adj

toshy (comparative toshier, superlative toshiest)

toshier (comparative)
toshiest (superlative)

And see how it's keepit sae toshy and clean.

(Scotland) Alternative form of tosh, clean, neat


love darg

(Scotland, archaic) A spell of work, such as ploughing, carried out for free in a time of need.


chippie sauce

(Scotland, chiefly Edinburgh) A mixture of vinegar and brown sauce, used as a condiment for chips.


jannie

He was the jannie. He couldnae not know.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 474:

(chiefly Scotland, colloquial) A janitor.


photie

I hear you've got my photie on your wall, out in Anniesland.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 132:


dammish

en-verb

dammish (third-person singular simple present dammishes, present participle dammishing, simple past and past participle dammished)

dammishes (present singular third-person)
dammishing (participle present)
dammished (participle past)
dammished (past)

From Scots dammish, probably from Middle English damagen. Doublet of damage.

I was benummed (as it were) and dammished with the sight of the excellent majesty and glory that I saw in him […]

1660, James Durham, A Commentarie Upon the Book of the Revelation:

(Scotland, obsolete) to stun, to stupefy


how no

- I don't want to go out today.
- How no?


calloo

This is how the luckless feel / how the calloos [translating allit] think— / like hard snow under a ridge / like water in a deep well.

1989, Elias Lönnrot, translated by Keith Bosley, The Kalevala, section IV:

The Scots called it the ‘wild calloo’ from the unearthly call it had which seemed almost to bewitch fisher-folk hunting for herring in calm autumn nights off the Scottish Isles.

2012 January 8, Richard Williamson, West Sussex Gazette:

Clangula hyemalis
Clangula hyemalis#Translingual

(chiefly Scotland) The long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis, an Arctic sea duck.


ground annual

(law, Scotland, historical) An estate created in land by a vassal who instead of selling his land outright reserves an annual ground rent, which becomes a perpetual charge upon the land.


skoosh

Apparently imitative of a squirting or squishing sound.

onom

imitative

But Mrs Strain ducked and dodged and weaved, keeping the bucket steady between her feet and managing to give the two or three cats running about the place a skoosh of milk straight from the udder into their mouth.

2002, Hugh Robinson, Back Across the Fields of Yesterday, →ISBN:

1 pint of filtered water
2 dessert spoons of sugar (or honey)
4 nobs of butter (or one big lump)
1 big skoosh of lemon juice, hand squeezed
6 large free range eggs.

2012, Harry Morris, The Last Night on the Beat: The Best of Harry the Polis, Black & White Publishing, →ISBN:

(informal, chiefly Scotland) A squirt (of liquid).

After what we had learned in the Navy, police training was a skoosh.

(informal, chiefly Scotland) Something very easy; a piece of cake.


skoosh

en-verb

skoosh (third-person singular simple present skooshes, present participle skooshing, simple past and past participle skooshed)

skooshes (present singular third-person)
skooshing (participle present)
skooshed (participle past)
skooshed (past)

onom

imitative

Untouchable. I am untouchable. I cannot touch. But in these other states, I am the citizen of many nations. To that woman on holiday in Millport many, many years ago, I am that cheeky wee boy who skooshed her in the face with my water pistol […]

2001, Andrew Campbell, Dead Letter House, Neil Wilson Pub Limited

She positions herself in the middle of each room, then sprays every surface as if she's Lara Croft holding one of those paintball guns. By the time I've mopped up all the puddles of polish she's skooshed on Mum's good furniture, […]

2006, Catherine Forde, Firestarter, Egmont Books, →ISBN:

She shut the doors, covered the food and then skooshed DDT at them. That killed them all and we were choked but fly-free for a few minutes. I have no doubt Mrs Low's was the healthier option - however grotesque it may have been.

2008, Charlie Allan, The Truth Tells Twice: The Life of a Buchan Farm, Birlinn:

She skooshed some foam from a spray can onto her hand and applied it to her hair.
"What's that?" said Gerry.
"Styling mousse."

2017, Bernard MacLaverty, chapter 8, in Midwinter Break, page 160:

(informal, chiefly Scotland) To have an easy time.


smearer

[…] when the smearer had inlaid with his mixture of butter and tar, that number of the fleeces of the living flock which it was his daily task thus to cover from the cold,

1807, Robert Heron, The Comforts of Human Life, London: Oddy and Co., Dialogue 4, page 110:

The animal is placed upon a stool just broad and long enough to contain his body either when laid across or at length; and having a narrow projection at one end, forming a seat on which the smearer sits astride.

1841, chapter 39, in British Husbandry, volume 2, London: Baldwin & Cradock, page 478:

I know of a farm having a sheep stock of 5000 head; it gives permanent employment to seven shepherds, six hands at clipping, twelve smearers for six weeks, three extra hands at wintering, and three extra at lambing.

1893, James Cameron Lees, Stronbuy; Or, Hanks of Highland Yarn, Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace, page 168:

[…] I emptied the trickling mire upon my baking wound, rubbing it in with my fingers as a smearer rubs his tar into the divided fleece of a sheep.

1895, John A. Steuart, chapter 21, in In the Day of Battle, London: Sampson Low, Marston, page 256:

1910, Duncan Campbell, Reminiscences and Reflections of an Octogenarian Highlander, Inverness: Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing and Publishing Company, Chapter 33, p. 217,
Smearing has long been displaced by dips, to the detriment of the poor sheep […] . It could not be kept on much longer than it was, because with the desolation of the country districts, smearers were not to be found in most places.

(Scotland, agriculture, historical) A worker employed to apply a tar-based salve to sheep to protect their skin during the winter.


sybow

c. 1786, Robert Burns, "To Mr McAdam of Craigen-Gillan", 1896, Robert Burns, Robert Chambers (editor), William Wallace (revisor), The Life and Works of Robert Burns, Volume 1, W. & R. Chambers, page 410,
A lee dyke-side, a sybow-tail, // And barley-scone shall cheer me.


penny wedding

penny weddings (plural)
penny-wedding (alternative)

"Vera true, vera true—we'll have a' to pay, I doubt, less or mair—a sort of penny-wedding it will prove, where all men contribute to the young folk's maintenance, that they may not have just four bare legs in a bed together."

1822, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 37, in The Fortunes of Nigel:

Penny weddings, or weddings where volunteer guests brought each his or her contribution to the entertainment, instead of its expense being defrayed jointly by the bridegroom and the bride, were still in vogue and still reckoned respectable.

1870 Sept., "Adam and Mally: A story of Scottish farm-lfe," in Eclectic Magazine, p. 345 (Google preview)

"And what's a penny wedding?"
"It's a' kin' o' a custom amo' the fishers. There's some gey puir fowk amon' 's, ye see, an' when a twa o' them merries, the lave o' 's wants to gie them a bit o' a start like. Sae we a' gang to the weddin' an' eats an' drinks plenty, an' pays for a' 'at we hae; and they mak' a guid profit out o' 't, for the things doesna cost them nearhan' sae muckle as we pay."

1875, George MacDonald, chapter 5, in Malcolm:

(Scotland, obsolete, idiomatic) A wedding at which the guests contribute payments to help cover the cost of the event and to benefit the newly-married couple.


spraff

en-verb

spraff (third-person singular simple present spraffs, present participle spraffing, simple past and past participle spraffed)

spraffs (present singular third-person)
spraffing (participle present)
spraffed (participle past)
spraffed (past)

(Scotland, colloquial) To speak excessively or pointlessly.

(Scotland, colloquial) To speak (in general).


orature

From Scots oratur, orature, a variant of oratour, oritour, from Middle English oritore, a variant of ōrātōrī, ōrātōrīe (“room or other place for prayer or private study; chapel, church, temple; shrine”), from Old French oratur, orator, oratore, oratori, oratour (modern French oratoire (“oratory; oratorical”)), from Latin ōrātōrium, from ōrātōrius (“oratorical”), from ōrātor (“orator, speaker”) (from ōrō (“to deliver a speech, orate”), from ōs (“mouth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s (“mouth”)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).

/ˈɔɹəˌt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹ/

This bishop was ane wyse and godlie man, and answered the king in this maner, as after follows, saying, “Sir, I beseech your Grace, that ye take a little meat to refresh you, and I will passe to my orature and pray to God for you, and the commonwealth of this realme and cuntrie.[”]

16th century, Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, edited by John Graham Dalyell, The Cronicles of Scotland, … Published from Several Old Manuscripts, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed by George Ramsay and Company, for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, published 1814, →OCLC, footnote, page 128:

Yet nertheleſſe within mine orature / I ſtode, whan Titan had his bemis bright / Withdrawin doun, and ſcylid undir cure, / And faire Venus the beaute of the night, / Upraiſe, and ſette unto the weſte ful right […]

1793, [Robert Henryson], “[Troilus & Creseide.] Testament of Faire Creseide.”, in The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, [...] To which is Prefixed the Life of the Author, Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, […], →OCLC; republished in Robert Anderson, editor, A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, volume I (Containing Chaucer, Surrey, Wyatt & Sackville), London: Printed for Iohn & Arthur Arch, […]; and for Bell & Bradfute & I. Mundell & Co. […], 1795, →OCLC, page 409:

The author [of the poem Testament of Faire Creseide, Robert Henryson] has conceived in a very poetical manner his description of the season in which he supposes himself to have written this dolorous tragedy. The sun was in Aries; his setting was ushered in with furious storms of hail; the cold was biting and intense; and the poet sat in a solitary little building which he calls his "orature." [footnote: oratory.]

1804, William Godwin, “Sequel to Troilus and Creseide by Robert Henryson.—Tragedy of Shakepear on the Subject.”, in Life of Geoffrey Chaucer, the Early English Poet: […] In Four Volumes, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed by T[homas] Davison, […]; for Richard Phillips, […], →OCLC, pages 489–490:

(Scotland, chiefly Christianity, archaic) Variant of oratour (“a small room or chapel used for prayer and worship, or for private study; an oratory”).


crottle

crottles (plural)
crotal (alternative)
crottel (alternative)

It was known and uſed as a dye-ſtuff in the Highlands of Scotland by the name of corkes or crottel, ſome hundred years ago.

1791, John Sinclair, The Statistical Account of Scotland, volume 12, page 113:

Not that crotal and white was as humdrum as a simple definition of it as ‘brown and white’ implies. Crotal was the grey lichen which, over hundreds of years, had grown over the moorland rocks particularly

1982, Finlay MacDonald, Crotal & White, page 128:

Parmelia omphalodes and P. saxitilis, the “crottles” used traditionally in Britain and Ireland, are sub-alpine lichens in North America.

1993, Karen Leigh Casselman, Craft of the Dyer: Colour from Plants and Lichens, Dover Publications, page 270:

The older people, they knew all about the dyes, and we’d go and gather the crottles [a kind of moss used for dyeing woolens]. I don’t know what you call them here. They were round and you’d scrape them off a rock or stone.

1993, Joan Morrison, Charlotte Fox Zabusky, American Mosaic: The Immigrant Experience in the Words of Those Who Lived It, University of Pittsburgh Press, page 41:

The Land Conservancy's lichen is a member of the genus Parmelia or "crottle lichen", and has strap-like lobes pale grayish above and black below. […] Some crottle lichens have been used in Scotland in the dyeing of wool for socks and Harris tweed since the 16th century. They yield a reddish brown color.

2011 August 8, Keith McNeill, “North Thompson Valley naturalist auctions naming right to new species”, in North Thompson Journal, Barriere, British Columbia, page 1:

(orignally Scotland) Any of various lichens gathered for dyeing, especially those of the genus Parmelia.


kevil

1821 [1802], Walter Scott (transcriber), Fause Foodrage, W. Scott (editor) Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 3, 5th edition, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, page 4,
And they cast kevils them amang, / And kevils them between; / And they cast kevils them amang, / Wha suld gae kill the king.

1887, Transactions of the Buchan Field Club, Volumes 1-2, Buchan Field Club, page 176,
"Casting the kevils" was and still is a common mode of deciding a thing.

(Scotland) A lot (object used to determine a question by chance or independently of human choice).


pawkiness

But to wallow in your own phrases, to be rejoiced by the savour of your own shrewd pawkinesses, to feel your rhythm balanced and yet sober – that is a pleasure beyond most, and an inexpensive one at that.

1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not... (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 12:

(Scotland, Northern England, Ireland) Something that is pawky; something arch or shrewd; a subtlety.


sleck

sleck (third-person singular simple present slecks, present participle slecking, simple past and past participle slecked)

slecks (present singular third-person)
slecking (participle present)
slecked (participle past)
slecked (past)
slekk (alternative)

From Middle English slecken, slekken, from Old Norse slekkja, sløkkva (“to extinguish, quench, slake”), from Proto-Germanic *slakjaną, *slakwijaną (“to slake”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lēg- (“weak, faint, limp”). Cognate with Old English sleċċan, slæċċan (“to make slack or slow, delay”).

der

(Scotland) To groan when overloaded with food; sigh with repletion.


speering

(Scotland) An enquiry; an asking about something.


masterstick

From Dutch meesterstuk. Cognate with Scots maisterstick. Compare also dialectal Dutch stik (“piece”), English steck (“piece”). See also masterpiece.

(Scotland, historical) An essay written by a tradesman in order to qualify for his trade.


fore-elder

From Middle English foreldre, from fore- (“fore-”) + eldre (“elder, ancestor”); equivalent to fore- + elder.


so mickle

(now chiefly Scotland and Northumbria) A particular amount, often a large or excessive amount; so much.

(now chiefly Scotland and Northumbria) A demonstrated amount.


so mickle

(now chiefly Scotland and Northumbria) To a certain degree or extent; so much.


so mickle

(now chiefly Scotland and Northumbria) Great in quantity, degree etc; so much.


bairnish

en-adj

bairnish (comparative more bairnish, superlative most bairnish)

more bairnish (comparative)
most bairnish (superlative)
barnish (alternative Northern-England)

From Middle English *bernis, *barnisch, from Old English *bearnisċ and Old Norse bernskr (“childish”), from Proto-Germanic *barniskaz (“childish”), equivalent to bairn + -ish. Cognate with Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐍂𐌽𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (barnisks, “childish”).

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Having the manners of a child; childish; silly.


leaful

leaful (comparative more leaful, superlative most leaful)

more leaful (comparative)
most leaful (superlative)
leafful (alternative)

From Middle English leful, lefful, leafful, from Old English lēaffull, ġelēafful (“full of belief, full of faith, believing, faithful”), equivalent to leave + -ful. Cognate with Scots leful, levefull (“right, permissible, legal, just”).

(archaic, dialectal, Scotland) Faithful.


forfairn

forfairn (comparative more forfairn, superlative most forfairn)

more forfairn (comparative)
most forfairn (superlative)
forefairn (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English forfaren, past participle of forfaren (“to forfare”). By surface analysis, forfare + -n.

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Forlorn; destitute; worn out; jaded.


blawort

en-noun

blawort (countable and uncountable, plural blaworts)

Centaurea cyanus
Centaurea cyanus#Translingual

(Scotland) Centaurea cyanus, cornflower.


Indyref

Abbreviation of independence referendum.

In the first foreign policy initiative launched in Edinburgh since 1707, senior SNP figures have begun an intense round of behind-the-scenes meetings with foreign dignitaries as they prepare the ground for next year's indyref.

2013 October 23, David Leask, “SNP’s mission to woo the world”, in The Herald, Glasgow, archived from the original on 2017-05-17:

Experienced politicians were surprised by the astounding vitality that the indyref unleashed.

2014 September 23, Peter Jones, “Referendum shows the power of people”, in The Scotsman, Edinburgh, archived from the original on 2017-05-17:

Coming exactly a year after the same “impossible” moment when the Yes vote hit 51 per cent before the indyref, this concerted and hysterical attack will have stirred memories and prompted sympathy among fellow Trident and austerity-opposing Yes voters.

2015 September 13, Lesley Riddoch, “Corbyn could play well with Scots”, in The Scotsman, Edinburgh, archived from the original on 2016-03-24:

My only regrets are thatbrad T2 failed to get to grips with the new era of #indyref and Scottish national identity – for which Renton's famous "shite" speech helped plant a tiny seed in 1996 – and that the second film didn't give the women characters much to do, especially the excellent Kelly Macdonald and Shirley Henderson.

2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn’t disappoint”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 2017-01-20:

(Scotland, informal) The Scottish independence referendum held on 18 September 2014.


undergang

en-verb

undergang (third-person singular simple present undergangs, present participle underganging, simple past and past participle underganged)

undergangs (present singular third-person)
underganging (participle present)
underganged (participle past)
underganged (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-undergang.wav

From Middle English undergangen (“to undego, endure, be baptised”), from Old English undergangan (“to undergo”); equivalent to under- + gang (“to walk, step, go”).

inh

(rare or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To undergo; pass through; endure.


undergang

(rare or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A passage beneath any obstruction, e.g. a roadway tunnel beneath a railway, etc.


burgh of barony

en-noun

burgh of barony (plural burghs of barony)

(Scotland, historical) A burgh in Scotland, distinct from royal burghs in being granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown.


blathery

en-adj

blathery (comparative more blathery, superlative most blathery)

more blathery (comparative)
most blathery (superlative)

(chiefly Scotland) Unsubstantial; trashy.


blathery

(chiefly Scotland) That which is unsubstantial, trashy, or deceptive.


thot

From Scots thoucht, thocht, thoth, from Middle English thought, thouȝth, þauȝt, þauȝth, a variant (probably through combination with that, as in though that) of though, thogh (“though”). More at though.

Thoᵗ he wes wicht he wes not wyss.

1568, Christis Kirk on Grene, section 266:

(Scotland, obsolete) Alternative form of though.


thot

...Ffor, wer ȝe foursum in a flok,
I compt ȝow noᵗ a leik,
Thoᵗ I had rycht noᵗ bot a rok
To gar ȝour rumpill reik

c. 1560, Alexander Scott, Poems, "Ffollowis the Justing and Debait...", line 147


cappie

18??, James Napier, Folk Lore: Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland Within This Century
After a time, he was surprised to see the hopper beginning to go, and, looking up, he saw a little manakin holding a little cappie in his hand and filling it at the hopper.

(Scotland) a small, usually wooden drinking vessel


wurlie

wurlie (comparative wurlier or more wurlie, superlative wurliest or most wurlie)

wurlier (comparative)
more wurlie (comparative)
wurliest (superlative)
most wurlie (superlative)

Wurlie, 1. Contemptibly puny, or small in size; as "a wurlie bodie," an ill-grown person, Fife, Loth.

[1825, John Jamieson, “Wurlie”, in Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language: […], volume II (K–Z) (in Scots), Edinburgh: […] University Press; for W[illiam] & C[harles] Tait, […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, →OCLC, page 700, column 2:

WIRL, sb. Sc. Yks. […] A small and harsh-featured person; an ill-grown child; a stunted animal. […] Hence (1) Wirly, adj. puny, small; (2) Wirly-bit, sb. a short time; a little way; a small portion. (1) Sc. There's nae a pilchard in my creel, Nor wurlie sprat … They're firm and fat (Jam.).

[1905, “WIRL, sb.”, in Joseph Wright, editor, The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume VI (T–Z, Supplement, Bibliography and Grammar), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 515, column 1:

(Scotland) Alternative spelling of wurly (“derisorily small”).

Wurlie, […] 2. Rough, knotted; as, "a wurlie rung," a knotted stick, S. It is applied to a stick that is distorted, Lanarks. As this sense, however, is considerably remote from the other, the term may have had a different origin. 3. Wrinkled, applied to a person; as, a wurly body, Lanarks.

(Scotland) gnarled, knotted; wizened, wrinkled.


forestone

(metallurgy, Northern England, Scotland) A piece of cast-iron which lies across the hearth with its ends resting between the keystones, and which can be moved toward the front or back of the hearth as required. It is a part of the small rectangular furnace called the "ore-hearth," used in the smelting of lead.


death-sough

deathsough (alternative)
death sough (alternative)

(Scotland) The last heavy breathings or sighings of a dying person.


Norland

From Old English norþ (“north”) + land (“land”).

(Scotland) A Norlander; a person from the north.


taupie

Related to words in various Scandinavian languages meaning "fool". For example, Norwegian tåp, Danish taabe, and Swahili tåpig.

"Peter! Peer man, aw doot he hisna sol't 's beets wi' 's transack amo' the lasses. But an' he war goodman o' 'Newtoon,' 's Dawvid ca's 't, an' Mary Howie needin' to gae awa' to the frem't, she maybe winna be sae saucy, aiven though an inhaudin, unedicat taupie chiel in a kwintra chop sud be garrin 'er troo that he 's wuntin' 'er—Fat sorra wud he wunt 'er for but to get 's han's o' the siller that Gushet 's len'it 'im, or I 'm sair mista'en?"

1881, William Alexander, “The Settlement of Mr. Maccassock”, in Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk, pages 230–231:

(Scotland and Northern England) A foolish or thoughtless young person, especially a lazy or slovenly woman.


milwell

milwells (plural)
millwell (alternative)
mulvil (alternative)
melwell (alternative)
mellwell (alternative)
myllewell (alternative)
myllwell (alternative)
melwel (alternative)
mulvel (alternative)
milwel (alternative)
mellewelle (alternative)
mylwell (alternative)

From Middle English milwell (amid many other forms), from Anglo-Norman meluel (amid other forms) and Old French moluel, probably from moruel, from Old Breton mor (“sea”) (from Proto-Brythonic *mor) + Old French lus and luz (“pike, [as sea-luce] hake”) + -el (diminutive suffix).

(Scotland, dialectal or historical) The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).


peched

peched (comparative more peched, superlative most peched)

more peched (comparative)
most peched (superlative)

The poor old dog did look fairly peched, and didn't bat an eyelid when I lifted up the nearest pup, a black and white ball of fluff.

2008, Jess Smith, Sookin' Berries: Tales of Scottish Travellers, published 2013, unnumbered page:

“I'm fair peched,” Grandad said, as he said every Sunday.
“That's 'cos you're old, Granda.” Wee Jean cooried into the old man's side, hiding from the North Sea wind.

2010, A. D. Scott, A Small Death in the Great Glen, page 94:

(Scotland) Tired, out of breath, worn out.


scaffy

From scavenger (“street sweeper”) + -y (“diminutive suffix”).

suffix

The scaffies were out, hosing down the pavement. I liked the aura of early morning – it felt like the end of the world, which suited my mood.

(Scotland, colloquial) A street sweeper; a dustman, a refuse collector.


car-handed

Northern and Scottish dialects from Scottish Gaelic caerr (“awkward”) + handed.

Farm labourers are apt to turn back from their work and go to bed on meeting a car-handed neighbour, he says.

2006, Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, Alan Tuffery, Words We Use, page 19:


ratton

rattons (plural)
ratten (alternative rare)

From Middle English ratoun, from Anglo-Norman ratoun and Middle French raton, corresponding to rat + -oon.

“A Yorkshire burr,” he affirmed, “was as much better than a Cockney’s lisp, as a bull's bellow than a ratton’s squeak.”

1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Mr. Yorke (continued)”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 67:

To dark is still used in Swaledale (Yorkshire) in the sense of to lie hid, as, 'Te rattens [rats] mun ha bin darkin whel nu [till now]; we hannot heerd tem tis last fortnith'.

1873, Richard Morris, Walter William Skeat, “Glossarial Index”, in Specimens of Early English, volumes II: From Robert of Gloucester to Gower, A.D. 1298—A.D. 1393, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 490:

(now Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) A rat.


didny

'But I didny fucking do it.'
'Didny do what? Didny stalk me through the woods?

2010, Karen Campbell, Shadowplay, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

'I thought ye didny know the barman's name.'
'I knew his name. It wis ma freen' here that didny.'

2011, Anges Owens, Agnes Owens: The Complete Novellas, Birlinn, →ISBN:

Well, I got going, then the other two, but if you ask me they didny do much, they'd had a right skinful and they were – anyhow, I don't remember much after that, it all goes a bit hazy.

2012, Edwin Morgan, New Selected Poems, Carcanet, →ISBN:


jockteleg

Originally Scots; first attested as jackteleg, perhaps with Jack, Jock and leg, alluding to knife handles carved in the form of a leg.


workie

workies (plural)
worky (alternative)
Workie (alternative)

From work (noun) + -ie (suffix forming colloquial nouns denoting persons associated with the words to which they are affixed). Sense 1 (“intern”) alludes to work experience.

affix

(chiefly Scotland) A worker, especially a manual labourer.


toom-handed

Tis maybe better, I'll take fat ye gee, Ye're nae toom-handed gin your heart be free

1812, Alexander Ross, Alexander Thomson, Helenore: Or, The Fortunate Shepherdess. A Pastoral Tale, page 8:


toom-handed

I wis he had na been so headstrong ; but it's a' his ain fault : howsever, it would na be canny to gang toom-handed, and I hae got a bit bill for five score pounds that I'm mindit to gie him.

1823, John Galt, The Entail: Or, The Lairds of Grippy - Volume 1, page 156:

It's but sma' propine ; but I wad na come a'- thegither toom-handed, were it but for luck's sake

1827, Christian Isobel Johnstone, Elizabeth de Bruce - Volume 2, page 241:

What's come o' our supper, goodman, that you are coming toom-handed? Do you no think it is time your guests had something to eat, or hae ye naething either to eat or drink in this great gousty castle?

2010, James Hogg, The Three Perils Of Man, →ISBN, page 177:


thigging

en-noun

thigging (countable and uncountable, plural thiggings)

From Middle English thyggynge (“ingestion, consumption; begging”), equivalent to thig + -ing.


wrongously

(UK dialectal, Scotland, especially law) Wrongfully; in a wrongous (wrongful) manner.


bizen

bizens (plural)
byzen (alternative)
byzont (alternative)

From Middle English bysen, partly from Old English bȳsen (“example, pattern, model, similitude, parable, parallel, rule, command, precept”), and partly from Old Norse býsn (“a wonder, a portentous thing”), both from Proto-Germanic *būsniz (“command, precept”), from Proto-Germanic *beudaną (“to ask, beg”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewdʰ- (“to be awake, perceive fully”).

der

She's a shem and a bizen to all the heale town.

1823, Robert Anderson, Ballads in the Cumberland Dialect, page 155:

[…] and a bizen like this.

1866, Eliza Lynn Linton, Lizzie Lorton of Greyrigg, page 97:

It'll be a sham an' a bizen, if we cannot find him a menseful of a dinner.

c. 1874, E. Waugh, Jannock ii. 13, as quoted in The English Dialect Dictionary and in the quotation, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1887), of J. H. Nodal and G. Milnar's Gloss[ary of the] Lancashire Dial[ect] (1875)

(UK dialects, Northern England, Scotland, rare, obsolete) Something monstrous or portentous; a shocking sight; sorry spectacle; disgraceful thing.

(UK dialects, Northern England, Scotland) Something serving as a warning or an example to be avoided.


plackless

en-adj

plackless (comparative more plackless, superlative most plackless)

more plackless (comparative)
most plackless (superlative)


preasse

en-verb

preasse (third-person singular simple present preasses, present participle preassing, simple past and past participle preassed)

preasses (present singular third-person)
preassing (participle present)
preassed (participle past)
preassed (past)


tawie

en-adj

tawie (comparative more tawie, superlative most tawie)

more tawie (comparative)
most tawie (superlative)

18th c, Robert Burns, The Auld Farmer's New-Year Salutation to His Auld Mare, Maggie, 1959, Ralph Knight (editor), Songs and Poems of Robert Burns, page 124,
Tho' ye was trickie, slee, an' funnie, / Ye ne'er was donsie; / But hamely, tawie, quiet, an' cannie, / An' unco sonsie.

(Scotland, of an animal) Docile or tractable to the extent of allowing itself to be handled without complaint.


tomhan

(Scotland, folklore) A magical fairy mound.


scraugh

en-noun

scraugh (countable and uncountable, plural scraughs)

Allan Ravenswood, that was then master, wi' a bended pistol in his hand, - it was a mercy it gaed na aff, -- crying to me, that had scarce as much wind left as serve the necessary purpose of my ain lungs, 'Sound, you poltron! sound, you damned cowardly villain or I will blow your brains out !” and, to be sure, blew sic points of war, that the scraugh of a clockin-hen was music to them.

1819, Sir Walter Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor:

The old woman o'er the way To our cheer a scraugh gave back ;

1867, John Wilson, The Works - Volume 1, page 198:

She haird the scraugh, and Mr. Boriloff frighted her half asleep as she was, by sayin' the R- r- revolution is corne!

1976, Abraham Merritt, Hannes Bok, The fox woman and The blue pagoda and The black wheel, page 93:


insucken

(law, Scotland) Pertaining to a district astricted to a certain mill.


unfeued

(Scotland, of land) Not held in feudal tenure.


nieveful

April 21, 1785, Robert Burns, epistle to J. Lapraik
their worthless nievefu' o' a soul

Flesh and blood could not stand it, more especially when I thought on who had dared to presume to call me such; so, in a whirlwind of fury, I swept up two nievefuls of dominoes off the table, and made them flee into the bleezing fire […]

1840, David Macbeth Moir, The life of Mansie Wauch: tailor in Dalkeith:


pictarnie

“It's a pictarnie, sir, ” said Edie

1816, [Walter Scott], The Antiquary. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

(Scotland, obsolete) A sea bird, the great tern.


stowp

(Scotland, England) Alternative form of stoup.


wisnae

His head... his head... his face... it wisnae there. Nae black curly hair, nae eyes - I've never seen eyes sae blue as Joe's. Irises blue as yon sky. Blown tae smithereens... his gorgeous, bonny head, no there.

2012 Spring, Gerda Stevenson, “Federer versus Murray”, in Salmagundi:


disna

Ah but, Nanse woman, I'm sad to say that he disna believe what he reads in his Bible.

1874, “Is a Miracle Credible?”, in The Evangelical Repository and United Presbyterian Worker, page 209:

She was awful raised kind, and wanderin' and that, at the first; but she disna ken onything now, and she disna speak; she's just a sort o' done out, peer creature; but doctor thinks maybe there'll come a lightenin' or she go.

1884, Mary Charlotte J. Leith, From over the water, page 328:

No, she disna, she bides at the tother end o' the road.

1906, “The Auld Lads of Corrievreckan”, in The Idler: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume 28, page 145:

the East is just a smell ! It begins at Port Said and disna stop till ye come to San Francisco, … if there !

1923, “Olfaction and Public Health”, in Aromatics and the Soul: A Study of Smells, page 10:


bairnhood

Borrowed from Scots bairnheid, equivalent to bairn + -hood.

In my bairnhood I would often linger in the glens where they dwelt, to jeer at them.” “Truly, yours was a wild boyhood, Olvir. You have yet told me little of it.” “A merry bairnhood, though Otkar's was a heavy hand.”

1905, Robert Ames Bennet, For the White Christ:

(chiefly Scotland) The quality, condition, or state of a bairn (child); childhood


blirty

en-adj

blirty (comparative blirtier or more blirty, superlative blirtiest or most blirty)

blirtier (comparative)
more blirty (comparative)
blirtiest (superlative)
most blirty (superlative)
blirtie (alternative)

a blirty day

(nautical, chiefly Scotland) Characterised by blirts or gusts of wind and rain.


curglaff

Even as the curtains are being pulled in around you, you will probably experience the curglaff, which is another old Scots term, this time for the feeling you get when you're hit with cold water. Your heart gallops, your blood rushes, and, if you're Benjamin Franklin, you don't like it one little bit.

2012, Mark Forsyth, The Horologicon, →ISBN:

The recent spate of – welcome – technology IPOs sent the market into a curglaff when many offerings promptly started a freefall from their market highs, leaving many burned retail investors in their wake.

2013 March 9, Alex Wilhelm, “Stocks at all time highs? Not if you look at these recently public tech companies”, in TNW News:

Paul Morphy died of curglaff.

2013 July 16, “Obituaries”, in Georgia Chess Magazine:

(Scotland, dialectal) The shock felt when one first plunges into cold water.


watergang

From Middle English watergang (“watercourse, drainage, ditch”), equivalent to water + gang.


mirkning

From Scots mirken (“to grow dark, darken, become overcast”), from Old Norse myrkna (“dark, gloomy”) + -ing (noun-forming suffix), equivalent to mirken + -ing.

der

mirkenin (alternative)
mirkinnen (alternative)
mirknin (alternative)
murknin (alternative)
mirkening (alternative)

The gloaming glories o’ the lift hae dwined awa’ to grey,
And clachan lichts begin to blink ayont the mirkning brae.

1883, Anthony Cunningham M’Bryde, edited by David Herschell Edwards, Modern Scottish Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices, page 185:

(Scotland, now Orkney and Shetland) Late twilight, dusk; darkening of evening.


wameful

(Scotland, Northern England) A bellyful.


dabbity

(Scotland) A little ornament; a knick-knack.

(Scotland) A transfer for the skin, used as a sort of temporary tattoo.


kippage

en-noun

kippage (usually uncountable, plural kippages)

To find a kippage for a convict ship was no easy matter, for many a seaman would heave sharp about at the prospect of signing on to a vessel with a cargo of cutthroats.

2008, Amitav Ghosh, Sea of Poppies, Penguin, published 2015, page 76:

(chiefly Scotland, now rare, historical) Those sailing together on a ship, both crew and passengers.

(Scotland, obsolete) Confusion, disorder.

(Scotland, obsolete) A fit of temper; rage.


bletherer

(especially Northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland) Alternative spelling of blatherer.


mischancy

en-adj

mischancy (comparative more mischancy, superlative most mischancy)

more mischancy (comparative)
most mischancy (superlative)


flamfew

(Scotland, obsolete) A worthless thing; a trifle or bauble.


hoatching

"Isn't the haill country hoatching with disbanded sojers, men with guns and swords that haven't been paid for months, that'll cut a throat for a couple of maiks?"

2003, Robin Jenkins, Lady Magdalen, →ISBN, page 317:

So in 1651, at the age of 16, his adventure began when he took ship from Aberdeen to Danzig, and even on the first leg of his journey to Königsberg, he quickly realised that the country was hoatching with his fellow countrymen.

2011, Billy Kay, The Scottish World: A Journey Into the Scottish Diaspora, →ISBN:

Everybody knows that Glasgow is hoatching with film companies shooting movies on its mean streets.

2013, Michael Munro, “See Glasgow? See Culture?”, in The Crack: The Best of Glasgow Humour, →ISBN:

(Scotland, usually followed by with) Infested; swarming; teeming.


ingleside

John, however, walked quietly in, and sat down on a heap of rubbish by the ingleside […]

1830, The Log Book; Or, Nautical Miscellany, number 2, page 455:

(obsolete or Scotland) Beside an open fireplace.


ABE

As the World Cup starts, it is interesting to note the large number of people around the world cheering on ABE to win, including many millions of British.

2012 June 12, The Chief, “OT: Come on ABE!!”, in alt.talk.royalty (Usenet):

'ABE' T-shirts will sell well north of the border this summer as the World Cup gets underway in Brazil.

2014, Scott Caladon, Darke Mission, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 507:

2014 June 4, Gary Johnston, “It's obviously ABE at the World Cup, but who will you support?”, in The Herald:

(humorous, especially Ireland, Scotland and Wales) Initialism of anyone but England: any team playing a sports match against the England team.


Domatic

(Freemasonry, chiefly Scotland) Practical (operative), as opposed to theoretic (speculative).


Geomatic

(Freemasonry, chiefly Scotland) Theoretic (speculative) as opposed to practical (operative).


lichtly

en-adv

lichtly (comparative more lichtly, superlative most lichtly)

more lichtly (comparative)
most lichtly (superlative)

I will mak a lang ladder, Wi' fifty steps and three, three, I will mak a lang ladder, And lichtly come doun to thee, thee, And lichtly come doun to thee.

1827 -, George Ritchie Kinloch, The ballad book:

Saft in his arms he caught her up, Winsome Annie Ramsay. An' swang her lichtly to the croup, Winsome Annie Ramsay.

1851, Dublin University Magazine: A Literary and Political Journal:

Than, tae her gret surprise, he touched her hair, sae lichtly that she cud haurdly feel it, an rinnin a finger doonwart, he fund her yae lang braid an pickit it up.

2011, Wulf Kurtoglu, Caroline Macafee, Braken Fences, →ISBN, page 63:

(Scotland) lightly; gently or without great force.

But a wuman wha wad sae misguide the son o' her ain body, an' for naething but that as she had broucht him furth sic he was, — it "s no to be lichtly believed nor lichtly endured.

1874, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine: A Popular Journal of General Literature:

“Dinna speak sae lichtly, Thamas," remonstrated his wife. “

1877, Henry Johnston, The Dawsons of Glenara: A Story of Scottish Life, page 38:

Weel, time gaed by: and the idler sort commenced to think mair lichtly o' that black business.

1887, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Merry Men and Other Tales and Fables:

(Scotland) In a manner that is not serious.


lichtly

en-verb

lichtly (third-person singular simple present lichtlies, present participle lichtlying, simple past and past participle lichtlied)

lichtlies (present singular third-person)
lichtlying (participle present)
lichtlied (participle past)
lichtlied (past)

nevertheles the sadis Johnne of Haldane and James, and thar complices, now again has cummyn to the samyn, and masterfully has tain and occupiis thaim, and has of new castin furth thar gudis, corne and catall, but ony resoune, as is allegit, in great lichtlying, contempt, and dissobeying of our autorite, lettres, mandmentis, and charges.

1835, Mark Napier, History of the Partition of the Lennox, page 130:

This is nae change-hoose, John Munro, And ye needna come nae mair: Ye crookit yer mou', and lichtlied me, Last Wednesday, at the fair."

1865, George MacDonald, Alec Forbes of Howglen, page 150:

Then, when to avenge this "lichtlying" of their sovereign lord, as the Estates term it, a great army was raised to pass to the invasion of England, a nuncio appeared, who required the two nations to stop their quarrel, presenting a Papal requisition to all Christian sovereigns to be at peace with each other, and unite against their common enemy the Turk.

1873, John Hill Burton, The History of Scotland:

But I canna — no, I canna gae forret," she told herself, wringing her horny hands, " and see the puir thing's hie hopes dashed to the ground, and listen in her hearing to the lichtlying and denying to her face o' her richt to her bairns, who are the apples o' her een, and their claim to the Castle and lands o' their forbears when the Duke is dune wi' them.

1895, George Augustus Sala, Edmund Yates, Temple Bar:

'Wae be to you, Blackly,' she said, 'Aye and an ill death may you die! You are the first, and I hope the last, That eer made my lord lichtly me.'

2013, Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, →ISBN:

(Scotland) To slight; to treat contemptuously or without seriousness.


feal and divot

(Scotland) The construction technique for building sod structures by building walls out of feal and covering them with divot.

Feuars and tenants, likewise, had right to cut and carry off sod, called feal and divot, from the moors and commons, for building and roofing their cottages and hovels, and other purposes;

1825, James Mitchell, The Scotsman's Library; Being a Collection of Anecdotes and Facts, page 473:

(Scotland) Sod that is used for construction.


trotcozy

(Scotland, historical) A covering to keep the neck and head warm when travelling, drawn over the head and hat, and buttoned under the chin.


youk

youk (third-person singular simple present youks, present participle youking, simple past and past participle youked)

youks (present singular third-person)
youking (participle present)
youked (participle past)
youked (past)


bytime

en-noun

bytime (usually uncountable, plural bytimes)

From Scots bytime, equivalent to by- + time.

"[…] Doth our doughty Captain go birdsnesting and nutting in his bytimes?”

1976, Robert Haven Schauffler, Thanksgiving:

(chiefly Scotland) A period of leisure; spare time


scrieve

en-verb

scrieve (third-person singular simple present scrieves, present participle scrieving, simple past and past participle scrieved)

scrieves (present singular third-person)
scrieving (participle present)
scrieved (participle past)
scrieved (past)

Unlike the monotonous tones of London's streets, the sounds changed every few steps, so that the rattle of pollarded oaks could be followed by the trumpeting of bullfrogs and then the sudden sigh of scrieving swifts.

1997, Nicholas Crane, Clear Waters Rising : a mountain walk across Europe, London: Penguin Books:

(dated, Scotland) To glide or move smoothly.


remeid

en-noun

remeid (countable and uncountable, plural remeids)

remeids (plural)
remead (alternative)
remede (alternative)

From Middle English remede, from Anglo-Norman and Old French remede. Doublet of remedy.

(Scotland and Northern Ireland) Any correction of a wrong or undesirable thing.

(Scotland, obsolete) The proportion by which a coin may acceptably deviate from its ideal weight or proportion of precious metal.


remeid

en-verb

remeid (third-person singular simple present remeids, present participle remeiding, simple past and past participle remeided)

remeids (present singular third-person)
remeiding (participle present)
remeided (participle past)
remeided (past)
remead (alternative)
remede (alternative)

(Scotland, obsolete) To remedy, in its various senses.


subfeu

subfeu (third-person singular simple present subfeus, present participle subfeuing, simple past and past participle subfeued)

subfeus (present singular third-person)
subfeuing (participle present)
subfeued (participle past)
subfeued (past)
sub-feu (alternative)

From sub- + feu. Cognate with subfief and Latin subfeudum, subfeodare.

(transitive and intransitive, Scotland law, historical) To subinfeud: to grant land via a subfeu.


bountith

bountiths (plural)
bounteth (alternative)

"Woman," reiterated the traveller, "do you think we can stand here all day till you have cheated that poor servant wench out of her half-year's fee and bountith?"

1816, [Walter Scott], The Antiquary. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

(Scotland, historical) A bonus payment made by an employer to a servant.


pettle

pettle (third-person singular simple present pettles, present participle pettling, simple past and past participle pettled)

pettles (present singular third-person)
pettling (participle present)
pettled (participle past)
pettled (past)

(transitive, Scotland) To fondle or pet; to pamper.


first-foot

en-noun

first-foot (plural first-foots or first-feet)

first-foots (plural)
first-feet (plural)

(Northern England, Scotland) The first person to enter the home of a household on New Year's Day.

მეკვლე

first person to enter the home of a household on New Year’s Day


jawbox

From jaw + box, from jaw (“to pour, throw out, splash”).

After a week he had to accept that he was growing a black beard, not because he wanted one, but because he could think of no way of shaving. There was a jaw-box in the tiny kitchen but no taps.

1983, Bernard MacLaverty, Cal (chapter 3, p.90 in the 1998 Vintage paperback edition)

She snatches towels from the laundry basket — two, three, four —soaks them at the jawbox sink and lays them along the bottom of the kitchen door.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 5:


Galoshin

From the name of a play by Guizard, and the title character of that play.

In they stalk, got up in grotesque improvisations of mumming costume, and each armed with a wooden sword, and garrying a ghostly lantern hollowed out of a giant turnip, “Hara domes in Galoshin,” as that individual himself informs the company —being doubtless the traditional representative of some forgotten Templar Knight; and presently he is engaged in a sanguinary hand-to-hand encounter with another wooden-sworded champion upon the floor.

1888, “Hallowmas Eve”, in The Illustrated London News, volume 93, page 498:

The only exception to this is the full text of a guising, or Galoshin, play from Balmaghie.

2009, Stephen Miller, “'I HAVE THE PROSPECT OF GOING TO GALLOWAY': THE REV. WALTER GREGOR AND THE ETHNOGRAPHIC SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM”, in Transactions of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society:

This is especially true of the Galoshins plays where his fixation on numbers and line lengths led him to mistake the nature of the play.

2012, E Cass, “The James Madison Carpenter Collection of British Folk Plays”, in Folklore, volume 123, number 1:

Referred to as Daft Days by the Galoshin mummers in Scotland, this was a liminal period when normal conventions were in abeyance and abnormal conduct was permitted.

2012, Robert Wyndham Nicholls, The Jumbies’ Playing Ground, →ISBN, page 23:

(Scotland) A mummer or guiser who performs in a midwinter Mummers play.


pirlicue

[I]f you distaste the sermon, I doubt the pirliecue [footnote: A second sermon.] will please you as little.

1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Flight in the Heather: The Quarrel”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 245:

A pirlicue which pleased them but little, so that some rode off that they might not be known, and some dourly remained, but were impotent for evil.

1895, Samuel Rutherford Crockett, The Men of the Moss-hags: Being a History of Adventure, page 261:

Much in the same way would a minister in Thrums, hard up for a pirlicue, never fail to find it in having 'one more whap, my freens, at the Painted Whure of Babylon.'

1938, Patrick Reginald Chalmers, The Barrie inspiration, page 90:

(Scotland) A summary, given at the end of an address or sermon, repeating its main points.


wreck the hoose juice

(Scotland, slang) Buckfast Tonic Wine, a brand of fortified wine.


tewit

tewits (plural)
teuchat (alternative)
teuchit (alternative)
tewhit (alternative)
tuchet (alternative)

The crest was a tewit's head and neck erased or.

1866, Edward Peacock, English Church Furniture, Ornaments and Decorations, page 226:

My father and uncle searched for a tewit's nest and brought home two eggs which were beaten with milk and sugar for me to eat raw.

Once in a while, Banks or Sophia would approach too close to a tewit's ground nest, and the birds would start to panic, twittering and flying nervously back and forth, defending their territory.

2008, Peter Robinson, All the Colours of Darkness, →ISBN, page 151:

Vanellus vanellus
Vanellus vanellus#Translingual

(Northern England, Scotland) A northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus.


usquabae

VVhat dangers thou canſt make us ſcorn! / VVi' tippeny, vve fear nae evil; / VVi' uſquabae, vve'll face the devil!— […]

1790 (date written; published 1791), Robert Burns, “Tam o’ Shanter. A Tale.”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 201:

(chiefly Scotland) Obsolete spelling of usquebaugh .


usquebae

[A]re the Gael to-day of softer flesh or whiter blood than their fathers were? Knock the head out of a cask of usquebae, let that be their night gear— […]

1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume III (A Legend of Montrose), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 269:


birsy

en-adj

birsy (comparative birsier, superlative birsiest)

birsier (comparative)
birsiest (superlative)

From birse + -y (“having the quality of”).

A big, birsy, gray wolf looked over its two fallen comrades, then all at once it lifted its gaze and looked John straight in the eyes, letting out a low guttural snarl.

Raw upon raw the birsy bere, Rax't up, sae routh and green.

2000, William Soutar, Into a Room: Selected Poems of William Soutar https://books.google.ru/books?id=5zAeAQAAIAAJ&q=birsy&dq=birsy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEj--U8K3LAhXHGCwKHcAuAek4ChDoAQgqMAM

(Scotland) bristling, bristly (of an animal such as a wolf or a bear).


bawty

Bourdna wi' bawty lest he bite ye.

Well, he's grown into such a nice bawty.

Some drunken idiot ran over my son's bawty.

He's like the wife's bawty—kens naething about it.

2008, Alexander Hislop, The proverbs of Scotland:


beswathe

en-verb

beswathe (third-person singular simple present beswathes, present participle beswathing, simple past and past participle beswathed)

beswathes (present singular third-person)
beswathing (participle present)
beswathed (participle past)
beswathed (past)

From Middle English *beswathen (“to becover”), from Old English swaþian (“to cover”), equivalent to be- + swathe (“to becover”).

inh

A truth beswathed by the cover of lies.

The night beswathed the sloomy holt with a pall of darkness.

He had beswathed his bleeding wound with a tattered piece of cloth.

For a swollen soreː at starting one shall cure with onlayings, that is, external applications, and salves; the salve shall be of barley groats sodden in ley, and cluvers sharn wrought with honey, and then let one lay the salve on a hot cloth, or on a skin, or on paper, beswathe with that, the swelling soon becometh nesh and bursteth within.

1865, Thomas Oswald Cockayne, Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early England: Being a Collection of Documents, for the Most Part Never Before Printed, Illustrating the History of Science in this Country Before the Norman Conquest, Volume 2https://books.google.ru/books?id=KtaiSC1TJYsC&pg=PA203&dq=beswathe&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiehMGDg67LAhXivXIKHQr_DtkQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=beswathe&f=false

(Scotland, dated) to cover (something) (both literally and figuratively).


colden

en-verb

colden (third-person singular simple present coldens, present participle coldening, simple past and past participle coldened)

coldens (present singular third-person)
coldening (participle present)
coldened (participle past)
coldened (past)
colde (alternative)

From cold + -en. Compare Middle English colden (“to colden”), from Old English cealdian (“to colden”). More at cold.

Even the snowboarding accident that he had last year that left him bedbound for 2 weeks did not seem to colden his passion for this sport.

The air had coldened and a light chill wind rose from the river.

1899, John Buchan, Grey Weather: Moorland Tales of My Own People https://books.google.ru/books?id=6chI6yyZLrYC&pg=PA57&dq=coldened&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilmZucgK_LAhUE6CwKHVnsAts4ChDoAQg9MAU#v=onepage&q=coldened&f=false

(Scotland, ambitransitive, sometimes figurative) To grow or make cold.


nabby

nabbies (plural)
nabbie (alternative)
naby (alternative)

Of uncertain origin, but perhaps an alteration of the adjective nobby (“elegant, graceful”), on account of the appearance of such skiffs.


cascrom

cascroms (plural)
caschrom (alternative)

From Scottish Gaelic, from cas (“foot”) + crom (“crooked, bent”).

1843, James Logan, The Scottish Gaël; Or, Celtic Manners: As Preserved Among the Highlanders, 1st American Edition, page 309,
That excellent instrument the cascrom, literally crooked foot, a kind of foot plough, which the Highlanders can manage with great dexterity, and which is too little known,* is still used in mountainous districts, and, from its excellent adaptation to the culture of rugged and steep hills, where a plough cannot be used, is not likely ever to be superseded by any implement.

1866, The St. James's Magazine and United Empire Review, Volume 16: April—July, page 90,
The other was the “cascrom,” a very old Celtic implement, intermediate between the spade and the plough.

And so complete was the carnage within the gloom of the corrie that never a man of the erewhile friendly crofters returned to work the cascrom within the township of Achnashee.

1900, The Badminton Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 10, page 293:

The cascrom, or foot-plough, was at this time unknown in Arran.

1982, W. M. MacKenzie, The Book of Arran: History and Folklore, page 200:

The ‘cascrom’, or crooked spade, was the most important tool for agriculture throughout the Western Isles and major parts of the mainland Highlands.

2007, Martin Rackwitz, Travels to Terra Incognita: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides in Early Modern Travellers' Accounts c. 1600 to 1800, page 298:

(Scotland, Highlands) A type of foot plough with a crooked spade component, used in the Scottish Highlands.


everycunt

From every + cunt, after Scots everycunt.

I mean everycunt's carrying blades these days.

1994, Duncan McLean, Bucket of Tongues, Vintage, →ISBN:

Too big for everycunt else's boots - that's a good one.

But when they knew they were going back they lost his paperwork. No just his. Everycunt who'd tried to leave.

2010, Gregory Burke, Black Watch, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:


cludgie

Uncertain, but probably from closet (“private room; outhouse”), possibly compounded with lodge (“building”) and -ie (affectionate diminutive suffix). Or simply onomatopoeic, from the sound of the flushing.

(Scotland) A lavatory: a room intended for urination and defecation.

(Scotland) A toilet: a fixture intended for urination and defecation.


down the cludgie

(Scotland slang, idiomatic, euphemistic) Alternative form of down the toilet: wasted or irretrievable.


kirner

It may be noted here that all the holes were bored with an ordinary boring ratchet, and although the hole is larger than the one prepared for powder, yet it was not considered that any extra labour was taken in the boring owing to the boring ratchet being used instead of the ordinary jumper or kirner.

1887, Mining Institute of Scotland, Transactions - Volume 8, page 178:

Tools for Single Hand Boring -- Hammer, weighing 3 or 4 lbs. ; jumpers, made of 1 inch or 3/4 inch octagon steel, or iron tipped with steel — length, 2 feet, 3 feet, and 4 feet; face of jumper 1 1/2 inch, 1 1/4 inch, and 1 inch; kirners of same material, and about 4 feet long; cleaners of copper, 4 feet long.

1894, William Williamson, Mining Notes and Formulæ for Students Preparing for the, page 65:

The kirner was made to give repeated blows in the hole, turning it partly at each blow to keep the hole cylindrical.

(mining, Scotland) A hand-operated jumper.


murgeon

murgeon (third-person singular simple present murgeons, present participle murgeoning, simple past and past participle murgeoned)

murgeons (present singular third-person)
murgeoning (participle present)
murgeoned (participle past)
murgeoned (past)

/ˈmɜː.d͡ʒən/

(transitive, Scotland) To grimace at, make faces at (a person).


murgeon

/ˈmɜː.d͡ʒən/


lang may yer lum reek

/ˈlæŋ meɪ jə ˌlʌm ˈɹiːk/

PIE word
 *dlongʰos
Borrowed from Scots lang may yer (or your) lum reek (expression of good wishes for one’s prosperity, literally “long may your chimney smoke”): from lang (“long”), lum (“chimney”), and reek (“of a chimney: to emit smoke”).

bor

The B[ritish] P[rinter] is much appreciated in our office. It is regarded as indispensable, and is beyond doubt the best Trade Journal. Lang may your lum reek.

1895 March–April, Andrew Craighead, “‘Lang May Your Lum Reek’”, in The British Printer, volume VIII, number 44, London: Raithby, Lawrence & Co. […], →OCLC, page 117:

If he will only see that Protestantism is protected, my daily prayer shall be, "Lang may your lum reek," a prayer which warms and gladdens every Scottish heart.

1896, Joseph Parker, “Note XXIX. [Concerning ‘Bits’.]”, in Might Have Been: Some Life Notes, New York, N.Y.: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 187:

Lang may your lum reek and your kalipot boil!

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 14: Oxen of the Sun]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 404:

And as they say—lang may yer lum reek!

1998, Alan Grant, Batman: Scottish Connection, London: Titan Books, →ISBN, page 47:

'And lang may yer lum reek on other folk's coal,' Jock reciprocated.

2005, Peter Kerr, From Paella to Porridge: A Farewell to Mallorca and a Scottish Adventure, Chichester, West Sussex: Summersdale Publishers, →ISBN:

In the event I don't see you again before you leave Glory—well, you know, cheerio, cheery-bye and lang may yer lum reek!

2008, Ron Benrey, Janet Benrey, chapter 14, in Season of Glory (Love Inspired Suspense), New York, N.Y.: Steeple Hill Books, →ISBN, page 155:

‘Lang may your lum reek,’ called Fingal as his guest drifted out of sight. […] ‘Lang may your lum what?’ Ben murmured to himself. Just catching the question, Alec whispered – ‘reek. Lang may your lum reek. Long may your chimney smoke. That’s what. Long may you live, you see.’

2012 May 2, Will Riding, chapter 9, in Flight of the Yellow Bowler, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 126:

"A'll see y Monday next, then," Grinning Hottie says, giving Angus one of those Macho Man half hugs with the bruising back slap. "Lang may yer lum reek." Angus laughs, slaps Grinning Hottie on the back, and repeats the salutation. He says it so fast, though, that it almost sounds like, "Long may your bum reek."

2015, Leah Marie Brown, Finding It (An It Girl Novel), New York, N.Y.: Lyrical Press, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN:

wish someone well
wish someone well#English

(Scotland) Used to wish someone well, especially as a drinking toast or a farewell.


littling

From Middle English *litling, from Old English litling, lytling, lȳtling (“a little one, child”), equivalent to little + -ling.

(archaic, Scotland) A little one; a child.


souming

(Scotland, historical) A measure of the number of animals that can be fed on a given amount of pasturage.


wharve

en-verb

wharve (third-person singular simple present wharves, present participle wharving, simple past wharved or whorf, past participle wharved or whorven)

wharves (present singular third-person)
wharving (participle present)
wharved (past)
whorf (past)
wharved (participle past)
whorven (participle past)

From Middle English wharven (“to turn”), from Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwerban (“to turn”), from Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną (“to turn”). Cognate with Dutch werven (“to recruit”), Icelandic hverfa (“to turn”), Faroese hvørva (“to disappear”), German werben (“to recruit, advertise”).

inh

without the wine–whine merger, without the horse–hoarse merger

“Junda” Klingrahool (1898)ː
It wharves the wair and stirs the sand.

(Scotland, Northern England) To turn, turn over (especially of mown grass).


bowfing

en-adj

bowfing (comparative more bowfing, superlative most bowfing)

more bowfing (comparative)
most bowfing (superlative)
boufing (alternative)
bouwfing (alternative)

She woke up in the morning with him gone and this bouwfing smell so she sat up and was covered in it, cause he must have got down on his hunkers and done one right there on her stomach then put the toilet paper he used in her purse.

1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 14:


high doh

en-noun

high doh (countable and uncountable, plural high dohs)

high dohs (plural)
high doe (alternative)

Youve been on the ran dan you couple of wee tinkers and your mother's up to high doe.

1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 27:

(Scotland, Ireland, colloquial, uncountable) A state of great agitation.


sideyways

en-adv

sideyways (comparative more sideyways, superlative most sideyways)

more sideyways (comparative)
most sideyways (superlative)

With the mirrored shades on I zipped up the tent then ran sideyways down the brae to pop the milk back in the pool.

1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 73:

I like to stand there making the rope loop sideyways and back again and looking across at the women in their turbans leaning out the windows blethering to each other or shouting down to their weans in the street […]


crousely

crousely (comparative more crousely, superlative most crousely)

more crousely (comparative)
most crousely (superlative)

(Scotland) In a brisk, lively, or bold manner.


quhatsoever

(especially Scotland) Obsolete spelling of whatsoever.


harigals

(Scotland, obsolete) The heart, liver and lungs of an animal.


jirble

en-verb

jirble (third-person singular simple present jirbles, present participle jirbling, simple past and past participle jirbled)

jirbles (present singular third-person)
jirbling (participle present)
jirbled (participle past)
jirbled (past)

(Scotland, transitive) To pour out liquid, especially carelessly or in a messy way.


fattrels

(Scotland, archaic) The ends of ribbons.


laddock

Thereon he left the spinster, blest With guineas, birth and paddocks; For why him thought the counsel best Propounded by the laddocks.

1925, George Ratcliffe Woodward, Domestica:

(rare, chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A little lad; laddie


chucky

I blinked again and screwed up my eyes to look across the chuckies.

2006, Bernard MacLaverty, Work: new Scottish writing : The Scotsman & Orange short story collection 2006, →ISBN:

She hopped out of the van, and waited calmly as Mr Gray approached. His feet crunched on the chuckies and as he walked, he took out his wallet, again counting the money.

2013, Grace Banks, Sheena Blackhall, Aberdeenshire Folk Tales, The History Press, →ISBN:

(Scotland) A pebble, stone chip or piece of gravel.


speldring

speldrings (plural)
spelding (alternative)
speldrin (alternative)
speldron (alternative)

From Scots speld (“to spread out”); compare German spalten (“to split”).

(Scotland) A split dried haddock or other small fish.


consuetudinarily

en-adv

consuetudinarily (comparative more consuetudinarily, superlative most consuetudinarily)

more consuetudinarily (comparative)
most consuetudinarily (superlative)

So that the mode consuetudinarily now adopted for assessing poor's rates for the real poor, is borrowed from that part of the Scots acts which relates solely to the provision to be made for sending idle vagrants, able to work, to those correction-houses where they were to have been compelled to labour.

1802, The Great Britain Board of Agriculture - The Reverend Mr. Charles Findlater: Minister of the Parish of Newlands, in the Country of Peebles, General View of the Agriculture of the Country of Peebles with Various Suggestions as to the Means both of the Local and General Improvement of Agriculture, Princeton University Press, page 230

If a practice which conformed with those three requirements had been conducted consuetudinarily, the court was authorised to infer from this practice the common conviction of the people.

2007, Amanda Perreau-Saussine & James Bernard Murphy, The Nature of Customary Law: Legal, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, page 136

Affirmative as consuetudinarily, now shoo!

1949, Paul J. Phelan, A Time to Laugh: A Risible Reader by Catholic Writers, Longmans Green Publishing, page 274

Consuetudinarily, the term May Fourth Movement is used by scholars as synonym for the New Cultural Movement, New Poetry Movement or Literary Revolution.

1991,國立臺灣師範大學文學院, 敎學與硏究 - Issues 13-15, The University of California Press, page 284

The number of variables studied in urine and plasma, exceeding what is usual in similar investigations resulted from increasing awareness that the actions of diuretics upon variables other than those consuetudinarily considered may be of clinical importance or have characteristics which are helpful in explaining the mechanisms of action of diuretics.

1985, A. J Reyes • M Velasco • L Alcocer, Progress in Pharmacology - Volume 6, Fischer Publishing, page 93

The first occasion in which the status distinction between the free and unfree was introduced to Japan but rather as that in which that institution already existing consuetudinarily in the pie-ritsuryo age was codified for the first time.

1976, Tōhō Gakkai, Acta Asiatica: Bulletin of the Institute of Eastern Culture - Volumes 30-31, Indiana University Press, page 95

To use the more picturesque term from Dr. Woods' paper, consuetudinarily I admitted that one may smoke without being despicable, and that compared with the comfort, the soothing and solacing influence balmily spread over the world at large.

1899, American Medical Association, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 32, The Michigan University Press, page 870

(chiefly Scotland) In a manner that pertains to consuetude; customarily; traditionally.


killogie

(Scotland, obsolete) The fireplace of a kiln.


bairnless

From Middle English barnles, from Old English bearnlēas; equivalent to bairn + -less. Cognate with West Frisian bernleas (“childless”).

(chiefly dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) childless


chuckies

(Scotland) The game of jacks or jackstones; chucks.


speldrin

(Scotland) Alternative form of speldring.


feckful

en-adj

feckful (comparative more feckful, superlative most feckful)

more feckful (comparative)
most feckful (superlative)

(Scotland, Northern English) Powerful, effective, efficient, vigorous.


noust

From the (unattested) Norn reflex of Old Norse naust (“boathouse”). Cognate with Faroese neyst, Norwegian naust, Danish nøst (“boat-shed”).

Willie discovered Samuel trying to drag a strange yawl up the noust.

1972, George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe, Polygon, published 2019, page 230:

(Scotland, chiefly Orkney, Shetland) A trench or other hollow area, sometimes with walls, where a boat can be hauled up and left ashore.


mislippen

en-verb

mislippen (third-person singular simple present mislippens, present participle mislippening, simple past and past participle mislippened)

mislippens (present singular third-person)
mislippening (participle present)
mislippened (participle past)
mislippened (past)

(transitive, British, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To neglect.

I thought it best to slip out quietly though, in case she should mislippen something of what we're gaun to do— [...]

1816, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Tales of My Landlord, […], volume I (The Black Dwarf), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for William Blackwood, […]; London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 75:

(transitive, British, dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To suspect; to be suspicious of.


sumphish

en-adj

sumphish (comparative more sumphish, superlative most sumphish)

more sumphish (comparative)
most sumphish (superlative)

(Scotland, Northern England) stupid; blockheaded


imphm

1931, Dorothy L. Sayers, “Chapter VIII: Gowan”, in The Five Red Herrings, London: Victor Gollancz Ltd:


goodsire

From good + sire; compare Scots guidsire.