Scotland

From Middle English Scotland, Scotlond, from Old English Scotland (“Ireland", later also "Scotland”, literally “land of the Scots”), equivalent to Scot + -land. Compare West Frisian Skotlân (“Scotland”), Dutch Schotland (“Scotland”), German Schottland (“Scotland”), Danish Skotland (“Scotland”), Icelandic Skotland (“Scotland”).

inh

Our main story this week is Scotland. Americans know it as the birthplace of Shrek, and, and that accent you think you can do but actually can’t.

2014, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

That’s right. Not even English flag poles can suddenly start treating Scotland with the respect it deserves. “Get this rag off me! Get it off! I can’t! Get this blue mess off me!”

A constituent country of the United Kingdom, located in northwest Europe to the north of England

Skotland

country in northwest Europe to the north of England


Highlander

From Highlands + -er, equivalent to a specific application of highlander.


Gaelic

Goidelic; any Goidelic language.
Irish Gaelic.

Goidelic; any Goidelic language.
Manx Gaelic.


Gaelic

Of or relating to the Gaels, the Goidel peoples of Scotland and Ireland, and the Manx, or their languages.


Gaelic

Undoubtedly, the main reasons why many gifted young Irish sportsmen such as Niall Quinn, Kevin Moran and Frank Stapleton opted to play soccer instead of Gaelic is^([sic]) that soccer afforded them the opportunity to display and test their abilities in an international arena and earn a good living.

1995, John Sugden, Alan Bairner, Sport, Sectarianism and Society, page 42:


Glasgow

/ˈɡlɑːz.ɡəʊ/

/ˈɡlɐːz.ɡəʉ/

/ˈɡlɐːz.ɡɐʉ/

From Proto-Brythonic *glas cu (“green hollow”), from *glas (“green”) + *cöü (“hollow”) (for this element see Irish cuas (“hollow”), Welsh cau (“hollow”)); usually romantically translated as "the dear green place." Compare modern Scottish Gaelic Glaschu.

der

up to Glasgow (UK)

Central Glasgow is beautiful. Glasgow Central is also beautiful. Opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1879, it was rebuilt in the Edwardian era to a design by Robert Rowand Anderson.

2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 40:

A major city and council area of Scotland, largest city in Scotland.

A number of places in the United States:

A home rule city, the county seat of Barren County, Kentucky.

A minor city in Howard County and Chariton County, Missouri.

A minor city, the county seat of Valley County, Montana.


Edinburgh

Edinburgh
Edinburgh (disambiguation)
Etymology of Edinburgh

From Middle English Edynburgh, from Old Welsh Eidyn, a Celtic/Brythonic region of uncertain origin (possibly a personal name; compare Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold”)) + Old English burg (“castle, stronghold”). More at Eidyn and Etymology of Edinburgh.


Shetland Islands

Shetland Islands
Shetland Islands Council

A council area of Scotland, one of the 32, the council was originally formed in 1975.


Orkney Islands

A council area of Scotland, United Kingdom.


tartan

en-noun

tartan (countable and uncountable, plural tartans)

→ Catalan: tartà

→ Scottish Gaelic: tartan

Blend of Middle English tartaryn (“rich material”), from Middle French tartarin (“Tartar cloth”), and Middle French tiretaine (“cloth of mixed fibers”), from Old French tiret (“kind of cloth”), from tire (“oriental cloth of silk”), from Medieval Latin tyrius (“material from Tyre”), from Latin Tyrus (“Tyre”).

der

Coordinate term: flannel

A kind of woven woolen cloth with a distinctive pattern of colored stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans and some Scottish families and institutions having their own distinctive patterns; clothing made from this material.

tartà

woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern


Aberdonian

From Medieval Latin Aberdonia (“Aberdeen”) + -an.

(British English, Scotland, ethnography) A citizen or inhabitant of, or person born in, Aberdeen, NE Scotland.


Scottish

en-adj

Scottish (comparative more Scottish, superlative most Scottish)

more Scottish (comparative)
most Scottish (superlative)

From Middle English Scottich, from Old English Sċyttisċ, equivalent to Scot + -ish. Compare West Frisian Skotsk (“Scottish”), Dutch Schots (“Scottish”), German schottisch (“Scottish”), Danish skotsk (“Scottish”), Icelandic skoskur (“Scottish”). Doublet of Scotch and Scot.

Of a thing or concept, of or pertaining to Scotland.

Of a person, native to, born in or whose ancestors originally came from Scotland.


Scottish

(collective, in the plural, with definite article, i. e. the Scottish) the people of Scotland.


Scottish

(uncountable) short for Scottish English, the varieties of English spoken in Scotland.


provost

From Middle English, from late Old English prōfost, prāfost, from Late Latin prōpositus, variant of Latin praepositus (“[one] placed in command”). In some senses, via Anglo-Norman provolt; via Anglo-Norman and Old French provost (modern French prévôt). As a Central European ecclesiastical office, via German Propst, Danish provst, etc.

steward

deputy overseeing medieval estates or fees

police officer

deputy overseeing medieval law enforcement; military police

One placed in charge: a head, a chief, particularly:

(religion) The minister of the chief Protestant church of a town or region in Germany, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia.

(UK, higher education) The head of various colleges and universities.

The repairs were completed in the summer of last year, more than ten months after the line had been closed, and the branch was re-opened on June 29, when Mr. T. F. Cameron, Chief Regional Officer, Scottish Region, received Provost J. S. Collin, of Eyemouth, at the station. The 12.42. p.m. train to Burnmouth was signalled out of the station by the Provost, after he had been introduced to the crew.

1950 January, “Re-Opening of the Eyemouth Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 52:

A mayor: the chief magistrate of a town, particularly (Scotland) the head of a burgh or (historical) the former chiefs of various towns in France, Flanders, or (by extension) other Continental European countries.

pormestari

equivalent of mayor in some Scottish cities


whisky

en-noun

whisky (countable and uncountable, plural whiskies)

Variant of usque, abbreviation of usquebaugh (compare obsolete whiskybae), from Scottish Gaelic uisge-beatha (“water of life”), calque of Medieval Latin aqua vitae. Compare akvavit, aquavit, aqua vitae, eau de vie, and water of life from the same source.

der

That the young Mr. Churchills liked—but they did not like him coming round of an evening and drinking weak whisky-and-water while he held forth on railway debentures and corporation loans. Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(Scotland, Canada, Australia) Alternative form of whiskey, an alcoholic liquor distilled from fermented grain, usually aged in oak barrels, (particularly) Scotch; a drink of this liquor.


Hogmanay

en-noun

Hogmanay (countable and uncountable, plural Hogmanays)

/ˈhɒɡməˌneɪ/

/ˌhɒɡməˈneɪ/

/ˈhɑɡməˌneɪ/

/ˌhɑɡməˈneɪ/

From Scots Hogmanay, probably from Old French aguillanneuf (“last day of the year”).

der

Each year the Hogmanay celebration and the Christmas market on Princes Street Gardens that accompanies it, together with the ever-growing international festival and fringe, eats up more and more of our public spaces.

2020 January 5, Kevin McKenna, “Rebel alliance ready to put a halt to the ‘disneyfication’ of Edinburgh”, in The Observer, →ISSN:


Scottish Gaelic

The Gaelic language of Scotland, spoken primarily in the northern and western parts of the country.


Nessie

That flurry of activity had been set off by a magisterial book (Whyte, 1957), reinforced by Dinsdale’s filming of a Nessie (Dinsdale, 1961) and culminating in successful underwater photography (Rines et al., 1976) by the Academy of Applied Science (AAS). Nessies were assigned the taxonomic identity Nessiteras rhombopteryx (Anonymous, 1975).

2002, Henry H. B. Auer, “The Case for the Loch Ness 'Monster': The Scientific Evidence”, in Journal of Scientific Exploration, volume 16, number 2, pages 225–246:

And if it comes down to just one vote, we all know who will be called upon to break that tie. Go with your gut, Nessie. You do you, Nessie, you do you.

(informal, cryptozoology) The Loch Ness monster.


Loch Ness monster

(cryptozoology) A large creature believed by some to inhabit Loch Ness in Scotland. It is said to have a long neck and one or more humps that protrude from the water.


Scots

Borrowed from Scots Scots, from Middle Scots Scottis, from Old English Scottysċ, a late variant of earlier Scyttisċ (“Scottish”). Doublet of Scottish.

A Germanic language closely related to English and descended from northern dialects of Middle English, spoken in parts of Scotland, now especially in the northeastern and southern regions of the country.


Scot

From Old English Scottas (“people from Ireland, Irishmen”), from Late Latin Scotti (see Scōtī for more).
See Scoti.


bagpipes

en-noun

bagpipes pl (normally plural, singular bagpipe)

From earlier bagpipe, from Middle English bagpipe; equivalent to bag + pipes.

Bagpipes are traditionally played in most Celtic regions and many former parts of the British Empire.

“Iʼll tell you something: there is nothing in the world like the sound of the bagpipes to raise a manʼs morale, to lift his spirits, and give him strength.”

2005, Jennifer Worth, Shadows of the Workhouse, Weidenfeld & Nicholson (2009), page 250:

A musical wind instrument possessing a flexible bag inflated by bellows, a double-reed melody pipe and up to four drone pipes; any aerophone that produces sound using air from a reservoir to vibrate enclosed reeds.


kilt

From Middle English kilten (“to tuck up, gird”), apparently from North Germanic, ultimately from Old Norse kelta, kjalta (“skirt; lap”). Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kelt-, *kelþǭ, *kilþį̄ (“womb”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelt- (“round body; child”). Cognate with Danish kilte (“to tuck”), Swedish kilta (“to swathe”). Related to English child.

der

I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

A plaid, pleated school uniform skirt sometimes structured as a wraparound, sometimes pleated throughout the entire circumference; also worn by boys in the 19th-century United States.


Glaswegian

en-adj

Glaswegian (comparative more Glaswegian, superlative most Glaswegian)

more Glaswegian (comparative)
most Glaswegian (superlative)

From Glasgow, modelled after Galwegian (“inhabitant of Galway”), itself modelled after Norwegian (“inhabitant of Norway”). The noun is from the adjective.


Glaswegian

The Glaswegians bore good-humouredly the mishaps which occasionally disrupted the services during the first month.

1961 February, “Talking of Trains: The Glasgow debacle”, in Trains Illustrated, page 66:


ceilidh

The noun is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidh (“a pilgrimage; a social call, visit; a sojourn; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”) and Irish célidhe (archaic), céilí (“a social call, visit; a social gathering with dancing, etc., ceilidh”), both from Old Irish célide (“social call, visit”), from céile (“companion, fellow; neighbour”) (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kēiliyos (“companion; servant”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to settle”)) + -ide.
The plural form ceilidhean is borrowed from Scottish Gaelic cèilidhean.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Looking for the Possible Dance [by Alison Louise Kennedy] sets up the 'dance', the ceilidh, as a site of personal and possibly national salvation, but one plagued by insecurities.

2009, Michael Gardiner, “Arcades – The 1980s and 1990s”, in Ian Brown, Alan Raich, editors, Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-century Scottish Literature, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, page 188:

'Traditional' British dance is a rather woolly genre; its bounds drawn without much discrimination and inclusive of folk dancing, ceilidh, country dancing and pretty much anything pre-20ᵗʰ century that didn't involve a tutu.

2009, “Performing Arts”, in Andrew Whittaker, editor, Britain: Be Fluent in British Life and Culture (Speak the Culture; 3), London: Thorogood Publishing, →ISBN, page 208:

We asked guests to bring something to share: poems, songs, short stories, music, even juggling—whatever they wanted to perform. Afterwards, we all danced the ceilidh, […]

2015, Jodie Gould, quoting “Clark”, “#4: Create: Expressing and Expanding the Inner Self”, in High: Six Principles for Guilt-free Pleasure and Escape, Center City, Minn.: Hazelden Publishing, →ISBN, Part 2 (The Six Pleasure Principles), page 174:


Fifer

A person who hails from the county of Fife in Scotland.


Fife

From Scottish Gaelic Fìobha, said to date back to the eponym Fib, one of the seven sons of the legendary Pictish king Cruithne. From Scottish Gaelic fiùbhaidh (“hero, valiant warrior”) from fiù (“worth”).

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996.


Scotch

Contraction of Scottish.
The chess opening is supposedly after its having been played in a correspondence game between Edinburgh, Scotland, and London, England.

But Rob was just saying what a shame it was that folk should be shamed nowadays to speak Scotch – or they called it Scots if they did, the split-tongued sourocks!

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 156:

The Scotch are a hardy bunch.


Scotch

en-noun

Scotch (countable and uncountable, plural Scotches)

Paul has drunk a lot of Scotch.

(uncountable) Whisky distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.


Scotch

Behind all his assumed unsocialism there lay a true warm heart; nor could anything be kindlier than the welcome which, whenever they did come to him, any of his Scotch relatives received.

1801, William Hanna, Memoirs of the life and writings of Thomas Chalmers, page 422:

our landlord informed us, with a sort of apologetic tone, that there was a Scotch gentleman to dine with us.


haggis

haggis (countable and uncountable, plural haggises)

→ Irish: hagaois

→ Scottish Gaelic: taigeis

Burns supper
en:Haggis (disambiguation)
en:haggis

From Late Middle English hagis (“haggis”), from hag, haggen (“to chop, cut, hack; to cut into”) (from Old Norse hǫggva (“to hew”)), or from hakken (“to chop, hack; to dice, mince”) (from Old English hēawan (“to chop, hew; to dice, mince”)), both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to hew; to beat, strike; to forge”).

der

HAGGESS, haggas, or haggis, ſort d’appret fait avec des herbes, du larde caupé menu, des épices, des œufs, & du fromage, le tout mis enſemble & bouilli dans une panſe de brebis.

[1677, Guy Miege [i.e., Guy Miège], “HAGGESS”, in A New Dictionary French and English, with Another English and French; According to the Present Use, and Modern Orthography of the French. Inrich’d with New Words, Choice Phrases, and Apposite Proverbs; Digested into a Most Accurate Method; and Contrived for the Use Both of English and Foreiners (in French), London: Printed by Tho[mas] Dawks, for Thomas Basset, at the George, near Cliffords-inn, in Fleetstreet, →OCLC, column 3:

HAGGESS, haggas, or haggis, a sort of preparation made with herbs, bacon, spices, eggs, cheese, all put together and boiled in a sheep's belly.

I congratulate the Caledonians on the acquiſition of this new Saint, but wonder if the German crows were ſo civil to refrain from ſo ſavoury a Scotch haggiſs.

1717 January 16 (Old Style), Lady Mary W. Montague [i.e. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu], “Original Letter of Lady Mary W. Montague, Never before Published. Found Lately amongst the Papers of a Lady Deceased.”, in The Scots Magazine; or General Repository of Literature, History, and Politics, volume LXI (volume VI, New Series), Edinburgh: [Printed by Alex[ander] Chapman and Co.] Sold by James Watson, No. 40. South Bridge, and by the principal booksellers in Town and Country and by T. Kay, Strand, London, published February 1799, →OCLC, pages 101–102:

"[…] You are all for providing other things before we have fixed upon the victuals. Let us ſettle about them firſt." / This word raiſed a tumult, ten times greater than the former; every one in the room roaring out at once for ſome particular diſh, either that it was his trade to provide, or which he was fond of himſelf. / […]—"An haggis,"—ſaid a Scot. / —"Leek-pottage,"—ſputtered Taffy. In a word, they all raiſed their voices with ſuch vehemence, not one attending to what another ſaid, that ſince the building of Babel, there was not ſuch a ſcene of confuſion.

1762, [Charles Johnstone], The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools. By the Editor of The Adventures of a Guinea. In Two Volumes, volume II, Dublin: Printed by Dillon Chamberlaine, in Smock-alley, →OCLC, page 185:

And thank kind heav'n, their country can afford / A tumid haggeſs to adorn their board.

[1769], [John Maclaurin, Lord Dreghorn], “The Disappointed Epicures”, in Essays in Verse, [Edinburgh]: [Privately printed at the author's press], →OCLC, page 78:

The Haggies is that very diſh (if I may ſo call it) and a very good diſh it is. […] [W]henever inſtead of the paunch, refinement ſhall invent a veſſel, in which to ſerve up the Haggies, it will certainly reſemble in its model the original prototype, whether it be formed into a turrene or a ſilver vaſe, having the ſinged head as ornamented handles to the ſides.

1778 February 5, Thomas Pownall, “XXXII. Observations Arising from an Enquiry into the Nature of the Vases Found on the Mosquito Shore in South America.”, in Archaeologia: Or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, volume V, London: Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London; sold at the house of the Society, in Chancery-Lane; and by Messieurs White, Robson, Conant, Leigh and Sotheby, Brown and H. Payne, published 1779, →OCLC, page 322:

[T]he thousands of Englishmen who annually visit our romantic country can attest, that, even in the wildest Highland glens, something better can be found for their roast-beef stomachs, than sheep's-heads, haggises, and oat-meal cakes.

1821 October, “The Voyages and Travels of Columbus Secundus. Chapter XIII. The King’s Birth-day.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume X, number LVI, Edinburgh: William Blackwood; London: T[homas] Cadell, Strand, London, →OCLC, footnote, page 305:

Another one of those revered patriarchs whom it were almost sacrilege to touch is [Robert] Burn's, with "honest sonsie face," the haggis. […] It is a pity that one of the last minstrels, if only one of humble rank, did not fix unchangeably in verse the component parts of the national haggis, as some one has done the "Eve's pudding," and Sydney Smith did for his salad, and another did for mulled wine. We have a compound called haggis, without the preceding article, composed of meat, chopped anchovies, eggs, bread, sour wine, pepper and salt. But that does not seem to correspond with the remarks of an editor of Burns, who says the haggis was to Scotland what the plum pudding is to England, and it was the pride of her people that all the ingredients and even the bag it was boiled in were of native production.

1894, Jessup Whitehead, “The Hotel Book of Puddings”, in The American Pastry Cook: A Book of Perfected Recipes, for Making All Sorts of Articles Required of the Hotel Pastry Cook, Baker and Confectioner, Especially Adapted for Hotel and Steamboat Use, and for Cafés and Fine Bakeries, 7th edition, Chicago, Ill.: Jessup Whitehead & Co., publishers, →OCLC, page 78, column 1:

Haggis has a faggot-like consistency that certainly isn't short of flavour. I like to make individual portion haggises (traditional haggises are cooked in the sheep's paunch or stomach). It can also be made into a steamed haggis pudding simply by making the recipe, placing the mix in two 1.75 litre (3 pint) pudding basins, covering with buttered foil and then steaming for 3½ hours.

1999, Gary Rhodes, “Home-made Haggis”, in New British Classics, London: BBC Worldwide, →ISBN:

[T]he final dish of the day arrived in the form of a giant blood pudding, which was about the size of a basketball and wrapped in the goat's stomach. It reminded me more of Scottish haggis than of anything else I had seen on my travels around the globe. I took a tentative bite. It was fantastic, but I was completely done by this point and made my apologies to the disappointed restaurant owner. He seemed happy enough, particularly when he smiled and said, "Don't worry, anything that's left, I'll be taking home for dinner."

2015, Simon Majumdar, “The Baron and the Bronx”, in Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America with My Fork, New York, N.Y.: Hudson Street Press, →ISBN, pages 62–63; trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Avery, Penguin Random House, 2016, →ISBN:

A traditional Scottish dish made from minced sheep offal with oatmeal and spices, etc., originally boiled in the stomach of a sheep but now often in an artificial casing, and usually served with neeps and tatties (mashed swede and potatoes) and accompanied with whisky.


Angus

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Aonghas, perhaps literally "one choice".


thistle

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-West Germanic *þistil, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þīh- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick.
Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel and Icelandic þistill.

This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.


Established in the United Kingdom as the first emergency service number in the world, initially chosen because of its suitability at a time of rotary-dial telephones.

I don't know why they couldn't just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911?
You mean 999...
I mean 999!
That's the American one!
Yeah!

2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 2

When you call 999 in the UK, the operator usually answers the phone with "Emergency. Which service?"

The telephone number for emergency services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Burma, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Sudan, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Dominica, Kiribati, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and the Seychelles.

三條九 /三条九 (saam¹ tiu⁴ gau², literally “triple nine”)


Pict

From Latin Pictus, probably rendering a Pictish autonym; see the Latin entry for details. Compare Old English Peohtas, which appears to show the effects of Grimm's law.

A member of an ancient people of northern and central Scotland.


Scottish English

A variety of the English language that is spoken mostly in Scotland.


Scotia

1958 - Scotia Plan Loans [...] The Bank of Nova Scotia becomes the first Canadian bank to promote lending to the average consumer.

1958, “Scotiabank Timeline”, in Scotiabank Canada, retrieved 2023-06-20, page 2:

Just listen how the flow sounds / And you gon' learn quick I represent Sco-town (Scotia) / Illville to be exact / Shout out to Uniacke / Straight up to w:North Preston and back

2009, “I'm So Scotian”performed by Hellafactz:

At Scotia Dental in Halifax, our dentists [...]

2023 June 20 (last accessed), Scotia Dental:

census-designated place
census-designated place

A census-designated place in Humboldt County, California, United States.


Scotsman

Coordinate term: Scotswoman


Galwegian

en-adj

Galwegian (comparative more Galwegian, superlative most Galwegian)

more Galwegian (comparative)
most Galwegian (superlative)

/ɡɔːlˈwiːdʒən/

Of or pertaining to Galloway, Scotland, or to its historic people, language and culture.


burgh

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“city, stronghold”).
Cognate with Dutch burg, French bourg, German Burg, Persian برج (borj, “tower; battlement, fort”), Swedish borg. Doublet of borough, Brough, and Bury.

cog

1815, William Wordsworth, The Excursion, Book Eighth, The Parsonage, lines 95-104, http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww405.html
With fruitless pains / Might one like me 'now' visit many a tract / Which, in his youth, he trod, and trod again, / A lone pedestrian with a scanty freight, / Wished-for, or welcome, wheresoe'er he came— / Among the tenantry of thorpe and vill; / Or straggling burgh, of ancient charter proud, / And dignified by battlements and towers / Of some stern castle, mouldering on the brow / Of a green hill or bank of rugged stream.

This road leads to the burgh and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants.

1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 6, in The Silver Chair, Collins, published 1998:

(UK) a borough or chartered town (now only used as an official subdivision in Scotland).


Selected by the European Union as the 3-digit number fastest to dial on cellular and rotary phones without the likelihood of accidental dialing caused by hanging up a landline telephone, sometimes interpreted by phone networks as a 1.

When you call 112 in the United Kingdom, the call is automatically rerouted to 999 operators.

The telephone number for emergency services on all GSM cell phones and in the EU, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, the Seychelles, Uganda, East Timor, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Vatican City, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Saint Vincent.


tam o'shanter

/tæməˈʃæntə/

After Tam O’Shanter, from the eponymous poem by Robert Burns.

A type of woolen hat developed in Scotland; a toorie bunnet.


tam-o'-shanter

Alternative form of tam o'shanter (“traditional Scottish wool hat”)


Stirling

Likely from Scottish Gaelic srib (“stream”) + Scottish Gaelic linn (“pool, lake”).

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, with its administrative centre in the city.


Scotswoman

Coordinate term: Scotsman


Shetlander

From, or related to, the Shetland Islands.


Shetlander

A native or inhabitant of the Shetland Islands.


Caledonian

Someone from the ancient Celtic tribe (or group of tribes) called Caledonians, in Scotland


broch

From Scots broch, from Old Norse borg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz. Doublet of borough and burgh.

Finella's carles builded the Kaimes, a long line of battlements under the hills, midway a tower that was older still, a broch from the days of the Pictish men […].

1933, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Cloud Howe (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 268:

The last man slid the bolt in the single low narrow door. The broch was impregnable then.

1972, George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe, Polygon, published 2019, page 20:

Ian's eyes rolled slowly up, as though following the rough stones of the broch upwards. 'That tower rises sixty feet from the ground,' he told me, 'and it's thirty feet in diameter, wi' three floors.'

1991, Diana Gabaldon, chapter 29, in Outlander, London: Random House:

(archaeology) A type of Iron Age stone tower with hollow double-layered walls found on Orkney, Shetland, in the Hebrides and parts of the Scottish mainland.


baillie

To ease street traffic congestion, improve transport facilities, and reduce unemployment, one Glasgow baillie has suggested establishing a Regional Passenger Transport Board.

1963 April, “News and Comment: Glasgow bus-rail disappointment”, in Modern Railways, page 228:

(Scottish local government) The equivalent of alderman in some Scottish cities.


Scotch whisky

en-noun

Scotch whisky (countable and uncountable, plural Scotch whiskies)

Whisky distilled in Scotland, especially from malted barley.


Church of Scotland

The national Presbyterian church of Scotland.


Moray

From Medieval Latin Moravia, Morauia, from Scottish Gaelic Moireibh, Moireabh, Moreb, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *mori (“sea”) + *trebā (“settlement”).

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996.


Highland

Specific application of highland, equivalent to high + land.

Highland (council area)
Highland (disambiguation)

A council area in north-west Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996.


Sabbatarian

From Medieval Latin sabbatarius, from Latin sabbatum, from Ancient Greek σάββατον (sábbaton), from Hebrew שבת (shabát) + -an. In use from c. 1610.

A person who regards and keeps the seventh day of the week ("Saturday", the Israelite or Jewish Sabbath) as holy in conformity with the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, such as an Orthodox Jew, Seventh-day Adventist, Seventh Day Baptist, a member of the Church of God (Seventh Day); a Sabbath-keeper, a Saturday-keeper.

съботянин

seventh-day Sabbatarian, Sabbath-keeper, Saturday-keeper


Scottish Borders

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996; it was named Borders Region prior to that.


crannog

Portuguese: crannog

Borrowed from Irish crannóg, from Middle Irish crannóc.

An artificial island, used in prehistoric and medieval times in Scotland and Ireland for dwelling.


finfolk

(Orkney) Sorcerous shapeshifters of the sea in Orkney folklore.


Hebridean

/ˌhɛbɹɪˈdiːən/

/ˌhɛbɹəˈdiːən/


Scotlander

A person from Scotland or of Scottish descent; a Scot.


St. Andrew's Cross

St. Andrew's Cross (plural St. Andrew's Crosses)

Saint Andrew's cross
Saint Andrew's cross#English

Alternative spelling of Saint Andrew's cross


Kingdom of Scotland

United Kingdom of Great Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain

A kingdom in western Europe, until the foundation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain on the First of May 1707.


Grampians

Grampian (disambiguation)
Grampian Mountains

A region in western Victoria, Australia.


Cullen skink

From Cullen (“a village and former royal burgh in Moray, Scotland, United Kingdom”) + skink (“(originally) pottage or soup made from a boiled joint of beef; pottage or soup made from other ingredients”).

CULLEN SKINK (Smoked Haddock Soup) […] Cullen is a fishing village and "skink" is the old Scots name for broth. It is a splendid soup, just right for wintry weather, especially in this modern version. […] Christopher Oakes, head chef of the Castle Hotel in Taunton, Somerset, has put together two traditional Scots soups, Cullen Skink (Smoked Haddock) and Cock-a-Leekie (Chicken Soup), to produce an interesting new soup.

1986, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, “Soups”, in From the Tables of Britain: Exploring Exciting English Cuisine in 250 Recipes, Lanham, Md., London: M. Evans, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, pages 102–103:

In Scotland he had no trouble eating haggis, stovies or Cullen skink. He still had trouble with porridge, however, and when it crept up on him disguised under the name of Highland Brose and containing cream, honey and whisky, it was transformed into a powerful emetic.

1992, Geoff Nicholson, chapter 5, in The Food Chain, Woodstock, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, →ISBN:

[…] Cullen skink is to the Hebrides what clam chowder is to New England. In fact, it's very similar to clam chowder, the main difference being that instead of clams, Cullen skink calls for smoked haddock.

2006 March, David Lansing, “HopScotching the Inner Hebrides”, in Christine Richard, editor, Islands, Winter Park, Fla.: Islands Media Corp., →OCLC, page 92, column 2:

Like most traditional Scottish cooking, Cullen skink is simple, rib-sticking fare made from a handful of ingredients. It starts with a smoked haddock, known locally as a finnan haddie. The fish is gently poached in milk with onions, then flaked. The bones may go back into the pot for simmering to make the base of the soup. The strained broth is then thickened with mashed potato, a delicious way for a cook to use up last night's leftovers. […] With the North Sea winds rattling the windows, there is comfort in a bowl of Cullen skink.

2007, “Soups and Salads”, in 1001 Foods to Die For, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN, page 124:

A thick soup made of smoked finnan haddock, milk, onions, and potatoes, a local speciality of Cullen in Moray, Scotland.

קאלן סקינק

thick soup made of smoked haddock, milk, onions, and potatoes


claybeg

From Scottish Gaelic claidheamh beag (literally “small sword”). First attested in 1825 as Clay-beg.

bor

When Sir Walter Scott speaks, prior to 1715, of the inferiority of the claymore to the rapier, he refers not to the claybeg or Andrew Ferrara, now worn by the officers and sergeants of the Highland corps, and which has usurped the venerable name of the ancient Scottish weapon.

1835, letter to the editor of The United Service Magazine, page 109

(historical) The Scottish broadsword used during the Early Modern period.


Highland Gaelic

The Scottish Gaelic language, as distinguished from the now defunct dialects of Lowland Gaelic.


procurator fiscal

en-noun

procurator fiscal (plural procurators fiscal)

There was word of the procurator fiscal taking note of his doings, and troth, if they had continued long he must have fled the country.

1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

For Lothian and Borders Police, the early-morning raid had come at the end one of biggest investigations carried out by the force, which had originally presented a dossier of evidence on the murder of Jodi Jones to the Edinburgh procurator-fiscal, William Gallagher, on 25 November last year.

2004 April 15, “Morning swoop in hunt for Jodi's killer”, in The Scotsman:

For other notifications that do not meet the investigative threshold, RAIB may respond by writing a letter to the industry and issuing a press statement, taking no further action, or in the event of a fatality writing a letter to the coroner or the procurator fiscal (in Scotland) containing a summary of evidence.

2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident investigators”, in RAIL, number 947, page 32:

A local coroner and public prosecutor in Scotland.


Dundee cake

Dundee cake (countable and uncountable, plural Dundee cakes)

A traditional rich fruit cake of Scotland.


Orkneyan

en-adj

Orkneyan (comparative more Orkneyan, superlative most Orkneyan)

more Orkneyan (comparative)
most Orkneyan (superlative)

The Orkneyan skerries

1845 January, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Seaweed”, in Graham's Magazine:


Orkneyan

A native or inhabitant of the Orkney Islands.


Pictish

The extinct, poorly attested language spoken by the Picts.


Scotticism

But Scott's veneration for the past reached its highest and most shrewd and intelligent form in his Scotticism.

1859, David Masson, British Novelists and their Styles:

A phrase or idiom peculiar to Scotland or Scottish people.


Dumfries and Galloway

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, formerly a region created in 1975 from the counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire.


Falkirk

Inherited from Middle English Faukirke, from Old English fāg (“multicoloured”) + ċiriċe (“church”), a calque of Middle Irish Eiglesbrec (literally “speckled church”), probably ultimately from Cumbric. The l is first attested in the 15th century, likely a hypercorrection under Scots influence by analogy with terms such as wall (Scots wa). Compare Medieval Latin Varia Capella (“Falkirk”).

cog

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, and previously a local government district in Central Region (1975–1996).


Aberdeenshire

/ˌæb.ɚˈdinˌʃɚ/

A council area in north-east Scotland, created in 1996 on the abolition of Grampian Region. (The city of Aberdeen is separate and has its own council.)


Pictland

He, through the wealth wherein he did abound, / This daughter thought in wedlocke to have bound / Unto the Prince of Picteland […].

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Either the long-dead wheelwright didn't think of that – or else early Pictland had gravelled roads.

(Scottish history) The northeastern part of Scotland, formerly inhabited by the Picts.


Land o' Cakes

In reference to the oatmeal cakes for which the country is famous.


devo max

Clipping of devolution maximum. First attested in 2009http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Qa9DAQAAIAAJ&q=%22devo+max%22&dq=%22devo+max%22&hl=es&sa=X&ei=xoQRVJbvE4T07Ab604G4Bg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBTge.

We will know soon enough whether Cameron's was a masterly piece of nerve keeping, or the fatal blunder that broke the union of 1707. In 2012, Salmond gave some listeners the impression that devo max is what he really wanted. Whatever the outcome, Fleet Street's introspective pundits will say: "I told you so", and make dire predictions for the future, which are likely to be off the mark.

2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in The Guardian:

(UK, politics) Full fiscal autonomy for Scotland.


Clackmannanshire

Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross#English

A council area of Scotland (one of 32 created in 1996) bordering the council areas of Stirling, Fife, and Perth and Kinross.


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.


cybernat

Clipping of cybernationalist as a play on cybernaut, said to have been coined by British politician George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock (born 1942): see the 5 July 2012 quotation.

He [Iain Gray] added: “Back in May I asked Alex Salmond to get a grip of these ‘cyber nats’ bloggers. At the time they were spreading rumours about me and other politicians as well. I think Alex Salmond has to come to parliament, apologise, and explain just exactly what has gone on.”

2009 November 29, “Parties Demand Salmond Holds Blog Smear Inquiry”, in BBC News, archived from the original on 2009-12-02:

The time could not be more crucial, with the referendum on Scottish independence only two years away, and fears emerging that the war of words between so-called ‘cybernats’ and ‘cyberbrits’ could distort or even stifle mainstream political discourse. Labour peer Lord Foulkes claims crediting for coining the term cybernat to describe Nationalists and supporters of independence who conduct rhetorical guerrilla warfare on Twitter, Facebook and the comment threads of newspaper websites. Rather than initiating discussions about policy or ideas, cybernats demonise those opposed to the SNP and independence and dismiss them as, inter alia, cowardly, unpatriotic, and even traitorous.

2012 July 5, “Cybernats and Cyberbrits: How Do They Affect Mainstream Political Debate?: Scotland Tonight Discusses the Phenomenon of Abusive Online Comments and Attacks”, in STV, archived from the original on 2016-10-27:

Currently, he [Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan] openly presents himself as a 'vauntie cybernat, former ambassador, and human rights activist', keeping him in sync with the alternative diplomatic culture he always practised, though he now freely engages in the everyday ambassadorship he once struggled to legitimate among his peers.

2015, Jason Dittmer, Fiona McConnell, editors, Diplomatic Cultures and International Politics: Translations, Spaces and Alternatives (Routledge New Diplomacy Studies), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:

The much-vaunted phenomenon of the "cybernat", spraying online vitriol from a dingy bedroom, does indubitably exist, but so does its exact equivalent on the opposite side.

2016, Mike Parker, “Caledonia Dreaming: September – December 2014”, in The Greasy Poll: Diary of a Controversial Election, Talybont, Ceredigion, Wales: Y Lolfa, →ISBN:

(British, informal) A Scottish nationalist who takes part in Internet activism.


en-proper noun

the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland

(historical) The British state when Great Britain and Ireland were a republic ruled by Oliver Cromwell.

Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland


Dalriada

Learned borrowing from Old Irish Dál Riata.

lbor

(historical) A Gaelic overkingdom that included parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ulster in Ireland, across the North Channel.


Scotocentric

en-adj

Scotocentric (comparative more Scotocentric, superlative most Scotocentric)

more Scotocentric (comparative)
most Scotocentric (superlative)


Scoto-

From Latin Scoto-, from Scotus (“Scottish; a Scot”).

The Scoto-Norse originated in Viking colonies established in Scotland and its surrounding islands.

A combining form relating to Scotland or Scottish people.

(historical) A combining form relating to the Scotti of medieval Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.


Norse-Gaelic

The names MacLeod, Doyle, MacAskill and MacIvor are of Norse-Gaelic descent.

Pertaining to the Viking raiders who settled Ireland and western Scotland and assimilated into the local Gaelic culture


tartanry

kitsch elements of Scottish culture, emphasized by the tourist industry


Scotch verdict

From its use in the Scottish legal system.

(Scots law, criminal law, dated) A verdict of "not proven".

Scots law; criminal law; Scots law; criminal law


Renfrewshire

/ˈɹɛnfɹuːʃɪəɹ/

/ˈɹɛnfɹuːʃəɹ/

A council area of Scotland, created in 1996 on the abolition of Strathclyde region in part of the area of the historic county.


Edina

A city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States.


West Dunbartonshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32, formed in 1996 on the abolition of Strathclyde Region. Its headquarters are in Dumbarton.


Perth and Kinross

A council area of Scotland, and a former administrative county of Scotland created from the administrative counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire in 1929. Between 1974 and 1996, it was a local government district of the Tayside Region.


Kincardine and Deeside

A former local government area in Grampian region, north-east Scotland, created in 1975 and abolished in 1996. It was absorbed into the Aberdeenshire council area.


Inverclyde

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, with its administrative centre in Greenock.


East Lothian

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, with its administrative centre in Haddington.


West Lothian

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996 on the abolition of Lothian Region and other regions.


South Lanarkshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 formed in 1996, which includes part of the historic county of Lanarkshire. Its headquarters are in Hamilton.


East Ayrshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996, with its headquarters in Kilmarnock.


Edinbronian

The impression she left upon the Edinbronians was so vivid that they didn't care for Celeste after her, and they wouldn't stand Webster at any price after Murray in " Muster Grinnidge."

1890, John Coleman, Players and Playwrights I Have Known:

Alternatively there may be a sly joke here as the Highlander Ramsay is more 'northern' than the Edinbronian Hume.

2015, Michael Morris, Scotland and the Caribbean, c.1740-1833: Atlantic Archipelagos, →ISBN:

The wind wasn't so fierce but few Edinbronians had ventured out.

2015, Douglas Corleone, Gone Cold: A Simon Fisk Thriller, →ISBN, page 124:


Edinbourgeois

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

Brian Cassells' theory about morbid publicity being good publicity had proved incorrect and the average Edinbourgeois was too affronted by the title alone to consider seeing the show.

2011, Simon Brett -, So Much Blood, →ISBN:

Christopher Wallace, originally German but now an Edinbourgeois, in his The Resurrection Club (1999) queries the dissection and consumption of ourselves through markets of memory like Edinburgh Festivals.

2012, Caroline McCracken-Flesher, The Doctor Dissected: A Cultural Autopsy of the Burke and Hare Murders, →ISBN:

In 1822 the Edinbourgeois started to build the Parthenon on top of the Calton Hill, to commemorate the war.

2014, Christopher Harvie, Scotland: A Short History: new edition, →ISBN, page 148:


Edinburger

At this time there happened to be a traveling skeptic in Edinburg, who was determined not to enter a church, or pay the least deference to the religious habits of the God-fearing Edinburgers.

1875, Wayside Gleanings in Europe, page 19:

Why would he want to become an Edinburger? He's proud of his Fife roots.

2013, Daniel Gray, Stramash!: Tackling Scotland's Towns and Teams, →ISBN, page 108:

Socially, Edinburgh is a finely balanced mixture of middle and working classes; conservative in manner, often muted in voice, Edinburgers are perhaps the polar opposites to the brash, tanned, self-aggrandizing population of its near neighbour, Glasgow.

2014, Andrew-Henry Bowie, The Death of Mr. Grumble, →ISBN:


Argyll and Bute

A large council area on the west coast of Scotland.


North Lanarkshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 created in 1996.


South Ayrshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 formed in 1996; it has its headquarters in the town of Ayr.


Northern Isles

A pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland.


North Ayrshire

A council area of Scotland, one of 32 formed in 1996, with its headquarters in Irvine. It includes the Isle of Arran.


Cumbric

From Cumbria + -ic under influence from Welsh Cymraeg (“Welsh (language)”). Doublet of Cymric.

A Brythonic-Celtic language (code xcb) closely related to Welsh that was spoken in Northern England and Southern Scotland but went extinct in perhaps the 13th century.


East Dunbartonshire

A council area of Scotland (one of 32); it was formed in 1996 on the abolition of Strathclyde Region.


Abbreviation of second independence referendum.

(Scotland, informal) A proposed second referendum on Scottish independence

Proposed second Scottish independence referendum


Scots law

(formal) The legal system of Scotland, a hybrid of civil law and common law.


Morayvian

Morayvian (comparative more Morayvian, superlative most Morayvian)

more Morayvian (comparative)
most Morayvian (superlative)

From Moravia + -ian, influenced by the spelling Moray.

[…]onward transportation to the Morayvian salt mines.

1970, HMS Eagle Commissioning Book 1969-1970, page 29:


Scottish verdict

en-noun

Scottish verdict (plural Scottish verdicts)


Scexit

Blend of Scotland + exit, by analogy with Brexit.

As Brexit becomes a settled fact of life, it will still be a cause of remainer grievance. But it could also fuel reluctance to go through the same trauma all over again as “Scexit”. […] The message that Scexit would be even worse than Brexit can still be delivered, just not by Johnson himself.

2021 February 9, Rafael Behr, “Sturgeon and Johnson have made Scottish independence seem inevitable. It isn't”, in The Guardian:

(UK politics) The (possible) act of Scotland becoming independent from the United Kingdom.


fern cake

The last fern cake, and you hid it, you deceitful girl!

1978, Mary Burg Whitcomb, Tee-Bo in the Great Hort Hunt, page 68:

So both of us were satisfied when she whispered "Wid ye like my pie" and sometimes it stretched to a fern cake or an eiffel tower as well.

1998, Robert L. Aitken, Not Many Noble: A Story of the Lanarkshire Coalfield, page 210:

McCoy was in a booth with a pot of tea and a fern cake in front of him, that day's Tribune open on the table.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 378:

A Scottish confection consisting of a small round iced cake with a chocolate fern traced on top.


Invernessian

We know not very well what a Ross man feels to an Invernessian; we must leave this to greater adepts than ourselves; but we understand that Argyleshire; but we must understand that Argyleshire prides itself on comparative civilization.

1827, The Port Folio, Editor and Asbury Dickens:

A native or inhabitant of Inverness, United Kingdom.


ceilidh house

(historical) A building, often a private residence, where a ceilidh was held.


Brigadoonery

An unrealistic, romanticized view of Scotland and its culture, based on stereotypes.


Commonwealth of England

(historical) The British state when Great Britain and Ireland were a republic prior to rule by Oliver Cromwell.