| abune |
above, overhead |
| aik |
oak |
| ava’ |
at all
|
| back-spang |
a legal flaw or loophole; a trick or legal quirk |
| bairnly |
childlike |
| bannock |
a round, flat cake |
| bawbee |
a halfpenny |
| begude |
begun |
| behoved |
be under an obligation or necessity |
| ben |
inside, within |
| bield |
shelter, protection (bieldy: sheltered or cosy) |
| birks |
a small wood mainly of birches |
| bogle |
a supernatural being, ugly and terrifying |
| brae, braes |
the (steep or sloping) bank of a river or shore of the sea; a hillside |
| braw, braws |
fine, splendid |
| bruik |
enjoy; enjoy the use or possession of |
| brunstane |
brimstone |
| brunt |
burnt |
| buckled to |
joined to, got going |
| bullering |
roaring, bellowing |
| by |
done, over (of past things) |
| by ordnar |
extraordinary, unusual
|
| cairn |
a pyramid of loose stones built as a memorial to the dead; frequently used in place-names |
| callant |
youth, young man |
| caller |
cool; refreshing |
| cantrip |
spell or charm; trick |
| canty |
lively, cheerful; pleasant |
| carline |
old woman (often disparaging); witch |
| cauld-wamed |
cold-blooded |
| chafts |
cheeks |
| chalmer |
chamber, private room |
| chappin’ |
stroking |
| chittered |
chattered |
| clachan |
village |
| claught |
caught, seized |
| claverin’ |
gossiping |
| clavers |
idle tales; nonsense |
| clink |
of words, to jingle together, rhyme |
| coats |
petticoat; skirt |
| collieshangie |
noisy dispute, uproar |
| corbie craws |
carrion crows, ravens |
| craig |
neck |
| cuist |
threw off |
| cummers |
gossips, scandalmongers; witches
|
| daffin’ |
playfully |
| daunton |
taunt |
| daurnae |
dare not |
| deave |
weary with talk |
| deid thraws |
death throes |
| deil |
devil |
| dirl |
rattle, reverberate (play dirl thegether: chatter or clash together) |
| dirling |
piercing |
| door cheeks |
literally, the doorpost; by synecdoche, the door itself |
| dowie |
melancholy, dismal |
| dozened |
dazed, dulled, stupefied |
| dozenedness |
stupidity, torpor, spiritlessness |
| duds |
clothes |
| dunt |
heavy, dull-sounding blow, knock (played dunt: throbbed, quickened) |
| dwining |
wasting away
|
| eldritch |
weird, ghostly, unearthly |
| ettling (at) |
aiming at
|
| fashed |
troubled, bothered |
| fause |
false |
| fecht, fechtin’ |
fight, struggle |
| feck |
quantity |
| ferlies |
marvels, curiosities |
| fleyed |
frightened |
| forbye |
besides, in addition to; except for |
| forjaskit |
exhausted |
| fuff |
hiss
|
| gane |
gone |
| gang |
(see gate and gyte) |
| gangrel |
toad; tramp, vagrant |
| gart |
made, forced |
| gate |
way, path (gang her ain gate: go her own way) |
| gaun |
gone; brisk |
| gear |
possessions; movable property, household goods |
| gey (and) |
rather, very |
| gied |
gave |
| girn |
snarl, grimace |
| girzie |
servant maid |
| glamour |
enchantment, magic |
| glebe |
a parish minister’s allotted land |
| gliff |
a sudden fright, a scare |
| glisk |
glimpse |
| gloamin’ |
twilight, dusk |
| glowrin’ |
staring, gazing intently |
| gousty |
dreary, desolate |
| grogram |
a coarse, often stiffened fabric of silk, mohair, or wool, or a blend of these |
| grue |
terror; a shudder of horror or repulsion |
| gurled |
roared (gurlin’: howling) |
| gut |
a channel or watercourse |
| gyte |
mad, insane (gang gyte: went mad)
|
| ha’e, hae |
have |
| hag |
a hollow of marshy ground in a moor |
| han’sel |
gift for luck or celebration |
| hap |
hop |
| hasp |
clasp |
| haud |
hold (neither to haud nor to bind: beyond con- trol, unable to be restrained) |
| hinder |
at the hinder end: finally, ultimately |
| hirsle |
slither |
| hoot awa |
nonsense |
| howff |
a refuge or shelter |
| howking |
rooting, burrowing |
| hunkers |
sittin’ on his hunkers: squatting down
|
| ilka |
each
|
| jaloose, jaloosed |
suspect, guessed
|
| keeked |
peered, looked sharply |
| keekit |
peeped, watched surreptitiously |
| ken |
know (ken’t: know it) |
| kilted |
tucked up |
| kirkton |
the town or village in which the church is situated |
| kittle |
tricky, somewhat difficult |
| knock |
clock |
| kye |
cows
|
| laigh |
low |
| lee-lane |
solitary, all by oneself |
| leelang |
livelong, whole |
| leevin’ |
living |
| leir |
learning, knowledge, lore, doctrine |
| limmer |
loose woman; contemptuous term for a woman |
| linkin’ |
moving fast, walking briskly |
| linn |
pool below a waterfall |
| lown |
calm, still |
| lowp, lowped |
leap, leaped |
| luffed |
sailed close to the wind |
| lug |
ear
|
| mad |
infuriated; angry, annoyed |
| maned |
moaned |
| maun; maunnae |
must; must not |
| meddled |
interfered with, bothered |
| mirk |
dark, black, gloomy (mirk nicht: the dead of night; mirk as the pit: dark as a pit or the pit [of hell]) |
| mistrysted |
failed to meet, broken faith (with) |
| muckle |
much; large, great (muckle hell: the depths of hell) |
| mutch |
a close-fitting cap
|
| napery |
table linen |
| neaps |
for neap tides, the smallest tides |
| neuk |
corner |
| niest |
next |
| noo (the) |
just now, at present
|
| ordnar |
one’s regular portion of (chiefly) food or drink |
| owercome |
refrain |
| oxter |
armpit
|
| partans |
edible crabs |
| pechin’ |
gasping |
| pickle |
a little, a few |
| plenished |
furnished |
| preen |
fasten
|
| ram-stam |
headstrong, heedless |
| reishling |
whistling |
| rumm’ld |
rumbled
|
| sabbin’ |
soaking |
| sair |
sore; involving hardship, difficulty; severe, stormy (of the weather) |
| sark |
shift or chemise; shirt |
| saughs |
willows |
| saut |
salt; bitter, painful; the sea |
| scart |
a mark or scrape of a pen |
| scunner |
a feeling of disgust or nausea; a repugnant shudder |
| seepin’ |
dripping, soaking (seep-sabbin: the noise of running water) |
| shaw |
a small, natural wood; a thicket |
| shoother |
shoulder |
| sib |
relative, related by blood |
| siccan |
such |
| sinsyne |
from that time |
| skelpt |
struck, hit |
| skirled |
screamed, shrieked with fear |
| skreigh |
shriek, screech (also skreighs, skreighin’) |
| slavered |
talked nonsense, chattered |
| slockened |
quenched |
| smoored |
smothered; drowned in a bog |
| sook |
flow, current |
| soum |
swim |
| sowp |
sip (used ironically for a draught, a swig) |
| spang |
amount |
| spars |
the bars or rails of a wooden fence or gate |
| spate |
a flood, a rush |
| speered |
asked, questioned (speiring: inquiring) |
| spenster |
sea specter |
| spentacle |
spectacle |
| spunk |
spark |
| spunkies |
spirits, will-o’-the-wisps |
| steeked |
shut tight |
| steer |
stir, commotion |
| stramp |
stamping or trampling |
| stravaguin’ |
roaming, wandering |
| syne |
since, thereafter, thereupon, next
|
| taed |
toad |
| thae |
those |
| the-day |
today |
| thirled |
bound in servitude |
| thrapples |
windpipes |
| thrawn |
twisted, crooked, misshapen; perverse; cross |
| threep |
assert vehemently (threep it doun theirthrapples: force the point down their throats) |
| tint |
lost, destroyed, or disappeared |
| tramp-trampin’ |
washing clothes by treading in soapsuds
|
| uncanny |
dangerous, threatening; unlucky, inauspicious; ominous, eerie |
| unco |
strange, unfamiliar; extraordinary, awful; very, exceedingly |
| unstreakit |
not prepared or laid out for burial |
| upsitten |
indifferent
|
| wa’ |
wall |
| wale |
the choice, the pick, the best |
| wanchancy |
unlucky, inauspicious; dangerous, unreliable |
| warstlin’ |
struggling, wrestling |
| wast |
west |
| waur |
worst |
| wearied |
sad; bored, listless |
| weary fa’ |
damn!, the devil take |
| whammled |
turned round |
| wheen |
few |
| wheest |
be quiet! |
| whiles |
sometimes, (at) times |
| wimple |
a twist, turn, or winding |
| win |
surmount, proceed |
| win through |
get through |
| won |
reached, arrived at |
| wud |
mad, insane |
| yam-yammered |
clamored, chattered incoherently |
| yett |
gate |
| yoke on |
set on, attack |
| yowlin’ |
wailing |