Category: Scots (Scots leid)

Cromarty fisher dialect

By Simon

According to a report I found today in the Herald Scotland, the last fluent speaker of the Cromarty fisher dialect of Scots, Bobby Hogg, died recently. It was a dialect spoken by fisherfolk in the northeast of Scotland. According to experts, it was “the first ever linguistic demise to be so exactly recorded in Scotland.” While there are still a few people who know bits of the dialect, nobody speaks it anymore.

There are some recordings and examples of the dialect on Am Baile an interview from 2007 with Bobby Hogg and his brother Gordon.

There is a book, The Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect, which contains words and phrases in and information about the dialect.

Here are a few examples:
– At wid be scekan tiln ken? = What do you want to know?
– Am fair sconfished wi hayreen; gie’s fur brakwast lashins o am and heggs. = I’m so fed up with herring, give me plenty of ham and eggs for breakfast.
– Foamin for want = Desperate for tea
– Theer nae tae big fi a sclaffert yet! = You’re not too big for a slap!

The dialect appears to include a number of words from Scottish Gaelic, though the spelling disguises them.

Cuddies

By Simon

An interesting Scots word I came across this week was cuddy which means coalfish or donkey and featured in the English translation of a Gaelic song. From the context I knew it was some kind of creature, but which one I wasn’t sure.

According to the Scots Language Centre website cuddy is a Scots word meaning donkey, a foolish person, a saw horse or a vaulting horse. A Scotch cuddy is a pedlar.

Another word that came up that was new to me was gaberlunzie /ɡæbərˈlʌnji/, an old Scots word for a licensed beggar who would seek fees to pray for the souls of other people [source].

Have you come across these words before?

Scottish adventures

By Simon

I’ve been in Scotland since last Saturday, mainly at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye. I’m doing a course in Gaelic mouth music (puirt à beul) and waulking songs (òrain luaidh) with Christine Primrose, and am having a wonderful time.

There are eight of us in the singing class – some from Scotland, some from England, one from Japan and one from Sardinia. The ones from Japan and Sardinia are both professional singers, and earlier today we were treated to some lovely songs from Okinawa, which sound quite similar to Irish traditional songs.

I’ve been speaking quite a bit of Scottish Gaelic, and find that I can now understand most of what I hear in Gaelic and have relatively complex conversations – so my Gaelic has improved a lot since I was last here four years ago. When I don’t know how to say something in Scottish Gaelic I try saying it in Irish and it’s usually understood, though not always.

I’ve also spoken some French, German, Czech and Welsh here, and quite a bit of Japanese. My Japanese is very rusty, but it’s starting to come back. It’s great to have opportunities to speak so many languages 🙂

Stookies, stucco and stalks

By Simon

I heard the word stookie on the radio the other day as was mystyfied as the it’s meaning – the context didn’t help. Forunately the person who mentioned it explained that it’s a Scottish word for plaster cast – the kind of thing you might have on a limb if you facture a bone. It’s also mention in this story on the BBC News site.

The Urban Dictionary provides this example of usage, Gonnae let me right a menshie oan yer stookie? (Are you going to let me write graffiti on your plaster cast?).

Wikitionary defines stookie as: plaster of Paris; plaster cast; (dialect) idiot; (dialect) shy person, and it apparently comes from stucco plus the diminutive suffix -ie.

Stucco comes from Italian, and means “stucco or plaster”, which comes from the Lombardic *stucki (crust, fragment, piece), from the Proto-Germanic *stukjan, *stukjaz, *stukō, *stūkō (stick, beam, stump), from the Proto-Indo-European *stAug- (stalk).

To me a stookie sounds like a more friendly thing to have on your arm or leg than a plaster cast, which is also known as a orthopedic or surgical cast. What do you think?

Stooshie

By Simon

Stooshie [ˈstɑʃi, ˈstɪʃi, ˈstʌʃi] is a Scots word I came across recently that means an uproar, a commotion, a fuss, a row, a brawl, a fight, a fuss, commotion or to-do. It is often crops up in relation to protests and complaints – people might create a stooshie about something they don’t like or which displeases them.

The Online Scots Dictionary spells this word stishie [‘stɪʃi, ‘stʌʃi, ‘staʃi] or strushie [‘strʌʃi, ‘struʃi] and defines it as “an uproar, hubbub, disturbance, commotion, turmoil, quarrel, brawl, row. A frolic, banter.” When used as a verb it means “to engage in a frolic, to banter, bandy words.” and the past participle is stishit or stishied.

The Dictionary of the Scots Language / Dictionar o the Scots Leid spells this word stashie, stashy, stachie; stushie, steeshie, steishie and stishie and defines it as “an uproar, hubbub, disturbance, commotion, turmoil, quarrel, brawl, row”.

Some examples include:

– Mony an aukward stashie was he in. (Many an awkward stashie was he in)
– The hail toun’s been in a stushie about it. (The whole town’s been in a stushie about it)
– There was a great stishie gaen on ower the road. (There was a great stishie going on over the road)
– Michty me, sic a muckle stushie at the clamjamphry in Embra! (Good heavens, such a mighty fuss at the gathering in Edinburgh!)

The origins of this word are uncertain, though it has been suggested that it might be a version of the English word ecstasy. Then again it might be related to the word stoush, which is used on Australia and New Zealand to mean fight or quarrel and is of uncertain origin.

Related words include:
– stramash [strɑˈmɑʃ] – an uproar, commotion, hubbub, disturbance, a broil, squabble, row; to shatter, to smash to pieces.
– collieshangie [kɔlɪ̜ˈʃɑŋi] – a noisy dispute, an uproar, row, disturbance

Sources
http://heritage.caledonianmercury.com/2011/03/04/useful-scots-word-stooshie/001942
http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/stooshie/
http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/search.asp
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/
http://www.newstatesman.com/200104160022

Come-all-ye

By Simon

Last night I went to a fascinating talk by Cass Meurig about the history of the crwth (a type of medieval bowed lyre) and its place in Welsh music and tradition, which included songs in Welsh.

After the talk there was a very enjoyable ‘Come-all-ye’ singing session lead by Clare Kilgallon and members of Cliogaree Twoaie (‘Northern Croakers’), a Ramsey-based choir who sing in Manx and English. There were songs in Manx, English, Welsh and Cornish, and I did a Scots lullaby (Hush, Hush, Time to be sleeping).

I think the phrase ‘come-all-ye’ refers to the type of songs known as “Come all ye’s”, which tend to begin with “Come all ye (sons of liberty/ good people/ tramps and hawkers etc) and listen to my song”. That’s according to Dick Gougan anyway. We didn’t actually sing any such songs last night though.

Mawdelit

By Simon

Mawdelit is one of the Scots words discussed in a programme I watched last night called Blethering Scots. It was described as an illness you pretend to have to get time off work, and comes from the French mal de lit, which is related to the medieval Latin malum lecti – an illness that confines one to bed or a bed-sickness.

Other words mentioned in the programme include:

– fankle – to catch in a snare, to trap; to tangle, ravel, mix up; confused, tangled, and the related words fankled and fanglet

Example: It was jist the ither day I got fankled wi’ some o’ ma accoonts.

– stramash – an uproar, commotion, hubbub, disturbance, a broil, squabble, row; to shatter, to smash to pieces

Example: There arose a stramash doon stairs fiercer than ordinary.

– glaikit – stupid, foolish; thoughtless, irresponsible, flighty; playful, full of pranks; wanton; sportive, roguish (of the eyes); deceitful, shifty.

Example: There rest him weel; for eith [also] can we Spare mony glakit gouks [fools] like he.

One contributor to the programme mentioned that it was unusual to see such words written down when he was young and that children were told that these words were wrong when they used them in school. Nowadays, however, some schools are teaching Scots and encourage its use. It is also used to a limited extent in the media.

Source: Dictionary of the Scot Language / Dictionar o the Scots Leid

Word of the day – spurtle

By Simon

Spurtle

I came across today’s word, spurtle, in a book I’m reading at the moment. It’s described as “a wooden utensil for stirring porridge” in the book, while according to Wikipedia it is:

a Scots kitchen tool, dating from at least the fifteenth century. It was originally a flat, wooden, spatula-like utensil, used for flipping oatcakes on a hot griddle. This terminology is now confined to Angus and Perthshire.

Over time, the original implement changed shape and began being used specifically for stirring oatmeal and soups. The rod-like shape is designed for constant stirring which prevents the porridge from congealing and so becoming lumpy and unappetising. It looks like a fat wooden dowel, often with a contoured end to give the user a better grip.

A Golden Spurtle is the first prize at the World Porridge Making Championships, which take place in Carrbridge in Scotland.

The Spurtle is also the name of a Scottish Country dance.

The etymology of spurtle is uncertain, however while searching for it, I found a possibly related word in A etymological dictionary of the Scottish language:

SPURKLE, A sort of spattle. “Scutching spurkle, a stick to beat flax.” “Thacking spurkle, a broad-mouth’d stick for thatching with”. […] perhaps Spurkle is merely a variety of Spurtle.

Word of the day – cawl

By Simon

Today’s word, cawl /kaul/, is a Welsh word meaning soup, broth, gruel or a mess.

Cawl is also a traditional Welsh stew made with meat and vegetables. It’s the kind of dish that’s made from whatever is available so the exact ingredients vary, but it often includes lamb and leeks, and is often served with bread and cheese. There a recipe for cawl and more information here.

The word cawl probably comes from the Latin caulis, which means the stalk of a plant, a cabbage stalk or a cabbage. It is related to the Irish cál, the Scottish Gaelic càl, the Cornish caul, the Breton kaol, the German Kohl, the English cole, as in coleslaw, and the Scots kail, all of which mean cabbage. The Welsh word for cabbage is completely different – bresychen.

The Proto-Indo-European root of caulis is *kaw(ǝ)l, which means tubular bone or pipe.

It’s a braw bricht moonlicht nicht

By Simon

Full moon

I went for a walk with some friends last night and one of the things we were talking about was the moon, which was nearly full and very bright. One of my companions suggested that there should be an adjective similar to sunny to describe such a night. He came up with moony, and I couldn’t think of anything better – can you?

I’ve since discovered that full moons have different names in different months. A December full moon like the one tonight, for example, is known as the oak moon in the medieval English calendar, as the cold moon in the Celtic calendar, as the peach moon by the Choctaw, as the snow moon by the Cherokee, and as the bitter moon by the Chinese. More moon names.

By the way, the title of this post is the Scots for ‘It’s a beautiful moonlit night’ and comes from a song by Sir Harry Lauder called Wee Deoch an Doris, which you can hear here. Deoch an Doris comes from the Scottish Gaelic expression ‘deoch an dorais’ – lit. ‘drink of the door’, which means ‘one for the road’ or ‘the parting glass’.