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Saturday, July 27, 2024

Scottish Words: A Fairy Tale Glossary

Scottish CultureScottish FairytalesScottish Words: A Fairy Tale Glossary

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