TOD-TYKE. n. A fox-dog hybrid valued for its herding and hunting ability. Gallovidians would tie their dogs outside fox dens in hopes of getting tod-tyke pups. Trouble is, no such hybrid is possible in nature!
FAIRNSTORM n. rain caused by burning ferns or heath
FAIRNSEED n. Invisible seeds that make the eater invisible (ferns have no seeds)
FAIRNIETICKLES n. Freckles. Named for the sori, or sporebodies on the underside of fern fronds.
Historically, pigs were taboo across Scotland, especially for fisherfolk. If seen or spoken of, bad luck was avoided by shouting “CAULD AIRN!” (cold iron) and grabbing something iron.
“Cauld airn” is the equivalent of “touch/knock on wood”
Scotland’s nickname across medieval Europe (esp. in Spain) was “Piscinata Scotia” i.e. “fishy Scotland”. By 1498, this “old proverb” was a common metaphor for abundance and plenty.
Letter from Don Pedro de Ayala to Ferdinand and Isabela of Spain. 24th July 1498.
UNSPOKEN. adj. having healing powers because the object was collected and used in silence.
Unspoken water was collected under a bridge on a cemetery road and given to invalids to drink. In Kincardineshire, unspoken nettles were a cure-all.
Scots adjectives when you need to be more specific than “wooden/wooded”
“Get yer feet aff ma guid ezar coffee table!”
“The birken hedge keeking Tam chose tae hide in wis in fact holland, A decision he regretted fu sair.”
I got many of these from Amanda Thomson’s “A Scots Dictionary of Nature” which I highly recommend.
For folk in Caithness and Sutherland the largest beast in the ocean was the cirean-cròin, a leviathan sea dinosaur that could eat 7 killer whales at a go. An old Gàidhlig rhyme told of its relative size to other creatures:
Seachd sgadain sath bradain,
Seachd bradain sath roin,
Seachd roin sath mial-mor-mara,
Seachd mial sath Cirein-croinSeven herrings a salmon’s meal
Tradtional Gaelic rhyme
Seven salmon a seal’s meal,
Seven seals a whale’s meal,
Seven whales the meal of a Cirein-croin.
Fisherfolk across Old Weird Scotland thought every being on land had a “partner” found in the sea.
SEA-FUTRET – cuttlefish (“sea weasel/ferret”)
SEA-COCK – puffin
SEA-PYOT – oystercatcher (“sea-magpie”)
SEA-SOU – ballan wrasse
SEA-PHEASANT – turbot
SEA-GOOSEBERRY – jellyfish
from circa 1830.
“A peacock pykit a peck o paper oot o a paper poke. Pyke paper, peacock!”
“Ah snuff shop snuff. Dae ye snuff shop snuff?”
J. Riddell (1868) Aberdeen and Its Folk, from the 20th to 50th Year of the Present Century.