lowsin loose
lugs ears
luim loom
lum chimney
lumber a date, as in “lookin fer a lumber”
lum-scutcher chimney sweep
M
machair low-lying land covered with wild grasses next to seashore
mair more
mairchlessness infinity
makar a poet
mak-on impostor
malafoustert destroyed
mane moan, grieve
marrae equal
mauchtless powerless
maumie ripe, mellow
maun must
mense honour, dignity
merk mark
messages shopping
midden dunghill, rubbish dump, compost heap
mind remember
mindin memory
mirk dark, black, gloomy
mishanter misfortune, disaster
mixter-maxter motley, jumble
mizzle vanish
moch moth
molligrants grumbles, small complaints
moue mouth
mozin decay
muckle much, large, great
murgeon mock
murl mould, decay
myndin remembering
mynt aim
N
ned lout
neshie tender, soft, fragile
neuk corner
nieve fistful
nipscart a crabbed, bad-tempered person
nocht nothing
numpty idiot, eejit (see bampot)
nyaff a puny, worthless person
O
oan on
ochenin dawning
onie any
onwith onwards
oor (1) our (2) hour
oorit cold, tired
ootby outwards, a little way off
ootwith outside, beyond
orra other
orra man odd-job man
ort waste
ower over
owersettin translation
oxter armpit
P
pap touch
pattle spade
pawkies gloves, mittens
pech breath, pant, gasp
pechan stomach
peelie-wallie sickly, pallid
peerie little
pelf possessions, plunder, wealth
perjink neat, trim, fussy
perlustrin surveying
pewlie seagull
piece sandwich, snack
pilked shelled
pirlin twisted, crooked, twirling
plack cash, money
pleuch plough
pliskie trick, practical joke
pluff puff, plump up
plype soft, sudden sound
poost strength
pouk pluck
powl pole
pree kiss, taste
prink wink
puckle small quantity, a little
puddock frog, toad
puddock-stuils toadstools
pudgetie dumpy
pug to hide, play truant
purvey church tea
pushion poison
pynes pains
Q
quaich shallow drinking cup with two handles
qued vile
queir choir
quine young woman
R
rack stretch
racket rotten branch, firewood
radge rage, fury, wrath
rael true, honest, genuine
rairie roaring, as in drunk
raivelment muddle, disorder, tangle
rammie fight, scuffle
rammish impetuous, wanton
ramsh to munch, chew noisily
rauchle loose, untidy, disorder
raucle bold, rash in speech or action
redd up to tidy, clear away
reeshelt rustled
reiver robber, thief
rissle twig
rive tear, rip
roch rough
roo quiet, peace, rest
routhie profuse, abundant
ruchelt strong, rough
ruise praise, flatter
rumballiach tempestuous
S
saorsa freedom
saucht peace, tranquillity
saul soul
saut salt
scabbit bare
scart trace, track
scaum burn, scorch
scheme housing project
sclim climb
scob willow or hazel cane
scodge drudgery, menial labour
scoosh gush, splash
scowe flat-bottomed boat
scran food, scraps
scriddan torrent
scrieve write
scrimpit meagre, scanty
scud naked, nude, as in “in the scud/scuddie”
scug shade
sculdered ruined, smashed
scunner sicken
scurrivaig vagabond
seabhag falcon
seannachie storyteller, bard
seelent silent
seendil seldom
seggie flooers yellow-flag irises
seil happiness, good fortune
ser serve
shaikle icicle
shaw wood
sheilin remote summer hut near grazing cattle or sheep
sheuch trench, to dig, to sink, to plant
shilpit puny, thin, ill-looking
shoogle shake
shoon shoes
shot turn, as in a game
sic such
siccan such
siccar certain, safe, cautious
sidhe fairies
siller silver, money, wealth
simmen rope made of straw
simmer summer
simmet vest
skair share
skaithe hurt, injure
skellum rogue, scoundrel
skep basket
skiftin wainscot, skirting board
skiggan bright
skilderin soft glaze
skink to pour
skirl shriek, scream, sound of bagpipes
skoosh spray, squirt
skyce slip away unnoticed
skyre glitter, brightness
slaister splashy mess, smear, daub
sleekit sly
slig lie, deception
slinge to lounge or loaf
sloch to drink, quench thirst
sloonge to idle
smattert shattered
smeddum spirit, drive, resourcefulness, energy
smeeg kiss
smoch smoke
smoorach kiss, cuddle
smouch secret smile
smue smile, smirk
smuir (1) to extinguish a fire (2) a covering of smoke
smurach fine dust, dross
sneist gibe, taunt
sneith polished, smooth
snellit sharp
sneuter weep, blubber
snig pilfer, cut
snod trim, spruce
snoke hunt
sonse good fortune, prosperity
sonsie fine, buxom (f) handsome (m), cheerful
sook sycophant, to suck
sottlin cooking
souch sigh, breeze, wind
sowans oatmeal soaked in water
sowe shroud
sowf doze, slumber, snore, whistle softly
spaes prophecies, predictions
spaewife woman fortune-teller
spairge spray, dash, sprinkle
spang pace, stride
speal a spell of t
ime
speeach stick, log
speir to ask, enquire
spiel a game
spirlie slender, spindly
splairge splash, spatter
spoot spring, spout
sprattle contest
sprauchelt climbed, clambered
starn star
stech to stuff, cram
steek stitch, sew
steg prowl, stalk
stell place, position
stentless boundless
stieve firm, fixed, stable
stocious drunk
strae straw
straigly straggly
straik streak
stramash row, uproar, commotion
stravaig wander, roam, stroll
streeks stretches
sturken restore
stushie argument, uproar, brawl
stychelt stifled, suffocated
suith truth, veracity
swallae (1) drink, esp. alcohol (2) fork-tailed songbird
swee swing
swith fleeting, brief
syne since
syple an impertinent, large-bellied person
syte grief, sorrow
sythment recompense, compensation
syver a gutter
T
tack lease
tap top
tapsalteerie topsy-turvy, chaotic
tapster innkeeper
tapteed passionate, eager
tashit tarnished
taury sailor
telt told
teuk chicken
thirlt bound
thole suffer, bear, put up with
thon that
thonder yonder
thoog a poog a lie, a hoax, a leg-pull
thortout utterly
thrain lament
thrapple throat
thrawartlie contrary
thrawn stubborn, contrary
threep to argue assertively
thrie three
throstle thrush
tinkie gypsy, member of the travelling community (respectful rather than derogatory)
tirl spin
tirran brawling
toosht loose bundle
trailach trailing
trinnlin rolling
tuim empty, vacant, a tomb
tulzie skirmish, fight
twa two
tyne lose
U
unco strange, unfamiliar, unusual
undeemous enormous
ungrutten unmourned
ungubbed sober
untashit untarnished
unvinkishable invincible
upby up the way, up there, heaven
V
vauntie jaunty, proud, showy
vieve (1) life (2) bright, quick
virr energy, vigour, force
voar spring (the season)
vowtit vaulted
W
wabbit weak, feeble, exhausted
wae woe
wally dug porcelain dog
wampler a rake, reprobate
ware spend, pass
waucht drink, quaff
waws waves
wean child
wechtie heavy
ween to guess, surmise, think
whase whose
whaul whale
wheech whisk
wheen a small amount
wheer odd, quiet
wheesht quiet, often used in the imperative
whids lies, as in Black Donald of the Whids (the devil, or deil)
whigmaleerie a fancy, whim
whilk which
whilli-wha highwayman
whin broom, gorse
whumgee frivolous
whumleeries hopes, desires
whummel to empty
whurl wheel
wicht valiant, bold
wid (1) wood (2) would
willie-waught a hearty swig, copious draught
windlestrae thin stalks of meadow grass
winze curse, swear
wiss wish, desire
wraith wrath, anger
wynd narrow winding lane
wyteless blameless
Y
yairn (1) wool (2) story
yask dust, ash
yauks aches
yetts gates
yin one
yink dedication
yird earth
yowes ewes
yowt roar
yowtherin plodding
Select Bibliography
GRIGOR MCWATT
Knox-Cardew, Charles, A Vulgar Eloquence (Glenton University Press, 1987)
McPhail, Mhairi, A Granite Ballad—The Reimagining of Grigor McWatt (Thackeray College Press, 2016)
McWatt, Grigor, The Fascaray Compendium, ed. Mhairi McPhail (to be published in seven volumes by Cumlin Press, 2017)
COLLECTED JOURNALISM
Frae Mambeag Brae: Selected Columns and Essays of Grigor McWatt (Stravaigin Press, 1980)
Wittins: Mair Selected Columns and Essays of Grigor McWatt (Stravaigin Press, 2011)
MEMOIR
Forby (Virr Press, 1962)
Ootwith (Smeddum Beuks, 1994)
POETRY
Kenspeckelt (Virr Press, 1959)
Kowk in the Kaleyard (Virr Press, 1975)
Wappenshaw (Virr Press, 1986)
Warld in a Gless: The Collected Varse of Grigor McWatt (Smeddum Beuks, 1992)
Teuchter’s Chapbook (Smeddum Beuks, 1998)
Thoog a Poog (Smeddum Beuks, 2010)
That’s Me Awa (Smeddum Beuks, 2013)
The Whigmaleerie’s Ower—The Complete Collected Verse of Grigor McWatt, ed. Ailish Mooney (Smeddum Beuks, 2015)
CULTURE
Bold, Alan, MacDiarmid (John Murray, 1988)
Carmichael, Alexander, Ortha Nan Gaidheal: Carmina Gadelica (Floris Books, six-volume facsimile, 2006)
Fergusson, Maggie, George Mackay Brown, The Life (John Murray, 2007)
Green, Stanley Roger, A Clamjamfray of Poets (Saltire Society, 2008)
MacDiarmid, Hugh, Lucky Poet (Jonathan Cape, 1972)
Nic a’ Phi, A., The Fascaray Songbook (Gartcosh Press, 2015)
Shaw, Margaret Fay, From the Alleghenies to the Hebrides (Birlinn, 2008)
ETHNOGRAPHY
Grant, Isabel, Highland Folk Ways (Routledge, 1961) and The Making of Am Fasgadh (NMSE, 2007)
McPhail, Mhairi, The But’n’Ben Baroness (Aikenhead Press, 2010)
Webster, Joseph, The Anthropology of Protestantism: Faith and Crisis Among Scottish Fishermen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014)
HISTORY
Allan, Stuart, Commando Country (National Museums Scotland, 2007)
Devine, T. M., The Scottish Nation: A Modern History (Penguin, 2012)
Goring, Rosemary, Scotland the Autobiography (Viking, 2007)
Hunter, James, On the Other Side of Sorrow: Nature and People in the Scottish Highlands (Birlinn, 2014)
Lynch, Michael, The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (OUP, 2001)
Rixson, Denis, Knoydart, A History (Birlinn, 1999)
Struan, Jim, Silent Killing for Cubs and Scouts (Buirlie Books, 1973)
ISLAND LIFE
Brown, George Mackay, Portrait of Orkney (John Murray, 1988)
Campbell, John Lorne, The Book of Barra (Routledge, 1936)
Dressler, Camille, Eigg: The Story of an Island (Birlinn, 2014)
Gordon, Seton, Hebridean Memories (In Pinn, 2013)
Haswell-Smith, Hamish, An Island Odyssey (Canongate, 2015)
Maclennan, Donald John, Dalmore—Tales of a Lewis Village (Create Space, 2013)
McPhee, John, The Crofter and the Laird (House of Lochar, 1998)
Rea, F. G., A School in South Uist (Birlinn, 1997)
LANGUAGE
Jamieson, John, Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (Alexander Gardner, 1879 edition, 5 volumes)
Macafee, Caroline, and Iseabail Macleod, eds., The Nuttis Schell: Essays on the Scots Language (Aberdeen University Press, 1987)
MacLennan, Malcolm, Gaelic Dictionary (Acair and Mercat Press, 2001)
Macleod, Iseabail, and Pauline Cairns, eds., Essential Scots Dictionary (Edinburgh University Press, 1996) and The Scots Thesaurus (Aberdeen University Press, 1990)
NATURAL HISTORY
Botting, Douglas, Gavin Maxwell: A Life (HarperCollins, 1994)
Cunningham, Peter, A Hebridean Naturalist (Acair, 1979)
Fish, J. D. and S. Fish, A Student’s Guide to the Seashore (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Maxwell, Gavin, Ring of Bright Water Trilogy (Penguin, 2001)
Shepherd, Nan, The Living Mountain: A Celebration of the Cairngorms (Canongate, 2011)
POLITICS
Ascherson, Neal, Stone Voices (Granta, 2003)
Brand, Jack, The National Movement in Scotland (Routledge, 1978)
Harvie, Christopher, No Gods and Precious Few Heroes: Scotland 1914–1980 (Edward Arnold, 1981)
McIntosh, Alastair, Soil and Soul (Aurum, 2001)
Marr, Andrew, The Battle for Scotland (Penguin, 2013)
Wightman, Andy, Who Owns Scotland? (Canongate, 1996) and The Poor Had No Lawyers (Birlinn, 2013)
ONLINE RESOURCES
Dictionair o the Scots Leid: http://www.dsl.ac.uk
Historical Thesaurus of Scots: http://scotsthesaurus.org
The Online Scots Dictionary: http://www.scots-online.org/​dictionary/​index.asp
ScotlandsPeople: http://www.scotslandspeople.gov.uk
Scots Language Centre: http://www.scotslanguage.com
Scots Leid Associe: http://www.lallans.co.uk
Scots Radio: http://www.scotsradio.com
Appendix I
Receipts, or Recipes, from The Fascaray Compendium
Broth
INGREDIENTS
One nieve of barley
One nieve of split peas
One nieve of lentils
Four leeks or onions
Butter or lard
Two nieves of chopped carrots
One and a half nieves of neeps
Three pints of mutton or chicken stock
Nieve of parsley if available
METHOD
Soak barley, peas and lentils overnight. Boil for an hour in salted water then drain. Fry leeks or onions in butter or lard until soft. Add remaining vegetables. Fry for five minutes then add stock. Bring to boil then add drained barley, peas and lentils. Simmer for half an hour, add more stock as needed, then serve with parsley. Keeps for a week if kept outside in the cold in a skillet weighted with bricks to keep out rats, mice, pine martens, etc.