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.
In Moray, bridges would be washed away so often, folk used stilts as a reliable way to cross rivers. On Sundays in Kirkmichael parish in 1807, almost 600 people “stilted” the Avon to get to church. Even after good bridges were built, many “wad raither stilt”.
Hall, J. (1807) Travels in Scotland, by an Unusual Route. Vol. 2. J. Johnson, London. 622 pp.
In 1842, an Act of Parliament banned all women from working underground. Mary Bennet of Lochgelly (1821-1912) was one of the last surviving pit women in Scotland. Starting aged 12, she hauled iron ore hutches up and down a 30m pit all day for basically £10.
Dundee Evening Telegraph. Tuesday 10th December 1912. pg. 3
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.
From 1573 to 1712, celebrating Christmas was either illegal or illicit in Scotland. Many businesses didn’t close on 25th Dec until 1958 when it became a public holiday.
In 1650, Bessie Sands of Limekilns was tried for “superstitious absenting from work on Yule”
Between 1573-1712 the Church of Scotland made it illicit by an act at the General Assembly. Between 1640-1661 and 1690-1712, the ban was made a legal one by the Scottish Parliament.
Barclay, Jean (2018) The Kirk that Stole Christmas. Dunfermline Historical Society. https://dunfermlinehistsoc.org.uk/the-kirk-that-stole-christmas/
In 1810, children in the Scottish Borders played “an old game” called “The Outs and the Ins”. Played without a bat, players ran between dools (bases). It may have been an older variant of rounders and baseball.
The first printed rules for rounders was in 1828
Cromek, R.H. (1810) Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway song: with historical and traditional notices relative to the manners and customs of the peasantry. T. Bensley, London. pp. 252-254
Christian Maclagan (1811-1901) was Scotland’s, and the UK’s 1st female archaeologist. A broch she discovered was lost for 140 years as she couldn’t join the Society of Antiquities of Scotland. It wasn’t until 1901 that Women were admitted to the society, the year she died.
Christian was the first to use stratigraphic field methods for excavation and the importance of sketching every layer of the dig. Augustus Pitt Rivers is generally given the credit, even though Maclagan published 5 years before him.
She also pioneered methods for recording and preserving stone carvings. This one is hers of a Roman stone found near Cumbernauld. She wanted it for a museum but the local laird said no. It lay on a dairy floor for months and was probably lost.
She railed against the sexism she faced from Scottish archaeologists writing: “[because I am] a woman, and therefore unworthy of being a member of any Antiquarian Society”. She sent all her work to London rather than Edinburgh because of it.
You can learn more about Maclagan from TrowelBlazers and from Stirling’s Lost Broch the team who are trying to preserve her legacy and rediscover the “broch sexism lost”.
For much of the 18th century, teething in babies was a major source of mortality.
In the 1730s, ~10% of all deaths (not just babies) was attributed to teething.
Doctors advised “deeply lancing” gums to prevent inflammation.
Data from Edinburgh, 1739.
The place with the longest name in Scotland rendered as one word was likely Drimtaidhvrickhillichattan on Mull.
Until the early 19th century, every August for 1 week, it held the largest fair in the West Highlands.
From Gaelic “Druim Taigh Mhic ‘ille Chatain” meaning ‘ridge of the house of the son of Gille Chatain’.
The Canmore site has more information on the fair and some aerial photos of the ruins.