Scottish Words: A Fairy Tale Glossary

Language is not just a means of communication but a tapestry woven with the history and folklore of the people. Each term here, from the mundane to the mystical, carries the whisper of tales told by the fireside and legends passed down through generations.

Compiled to aid readers in understanding the language found in Scottish fairy tales, this glossary serves as a bridge to the rich oral traditions that continue to captivate and enchant. As we explore these words, we not only learn their meanings—like “bairn” for child and “eldritch” for weird—but also open a door to the fairy-tale landscape of Scotland’s linguistic heritage.

A body: a person
Airt: direction
Ahint: behind

Bairn: child
Baudrons: Scotch name for a cat
Ben: in towards an inner room
Ben: a mountain peak
Bicker: to argue in a petty way
Bonnet-piece: an old Scottish coin
Byre: cowhouse

Canty: kindly, cheerful
Cantrip: a freak, or wilful piece of trickery
Chuckie-stone: a small white pebble
Clout: a blow
Cloving: separating lint from its stalk
Clue: a ball of worsted
Creel: a large hand-made basket
Cutty-pipe: a short clay pipe

Daft: silly, weak-minded
Dander: to walk aimlessly
Darkening: the twilight
Divot: a sod
Doo: a dove
Douce: sedate
Dowie: dull, low-spirited
Dyke: a wall

Eldritch: weird
Emprise: an enterprise
Entry: a passage

Fain: gladly
Feared: afraid
Forbye: besides

Gang: go
Girnel: a meal-chest
Gled: a hawk
Gloaming: the twilight
Greeting: crying

Hantle: very much, a considerable number
Havers: nonsense
Heckle: to comb
Hinnie: a term of endearment
Hirple: to limp
Histie: haste thee

Inbye: inside
Ingle neuk: the corner by the fire

Joists: the beams in a roof

Kailyard: a kitchen garden
Ken: know
Kirn: a churn, to churn
Kist: a chest
Knowe: a little hillock

Lift: the sky, the air
Light: alight
Lintie: a linnet
Lout: to stoop
Lum: chimney
Louping-on-stane: a stone from which to mount a horse

Malison: a curse
Meat: food
Migraine: a pain affecting one half of the head
Mutch: a cap

Onstead: farm buildings

Paddock: a toad or frog
Pirnie: a woollen nightcap
Poke: a bag

Rivlins: shoes made of cowhide

Sen’ night: a week
Shoon: shoes
Siccan: such
Siller: money
Sinsyne: since
Smatchet: small boy
Sneck: to latch or shut a door
Snibbit: bolted, snib, a bolt

Thrapple: throat
Thole: to bear

Unchancy: uncanny
Unicorns: Ancient Scottish coins

Wheen: a few
Wheesht: be quiet
Wight: a person
Winnock: a window
Winnow: to separate the chaff from the grain by wind

Yestreen: yesterday
Yule: Christmas