GLOSSARY
OF SCOTTISH TERMS AND WORDS
Although some visitors to the site may be of Scottish extraction, I am assuming that in some cases, their distance from the land of their forebears has meant that their ability to understand the language has been diluted by the miles and the years! So here are just a few of the terms and words used on the site and in the area.
bear or bier
a form of barley
bide
to stay
bidie-in
live in lover
brae
hill or slope
bothy
see chaumer (below)
breeks
trousers
but and ben
the characteristic two-roomed Aberdeenshire cottage, the but is the kitchen, the ben a parlour or best room
chaumer
was a room traditionally near the stables which was provided for single male farm servants who were given their meals in the farm kitchen. A bed was provided and a chest (kist) held all their possessions. The room also contained a fireplace. The term chaumer was generally in use in the Aberdeenshire area, but more commonly known elsewhere as a 'bothy'. Before the advent of radio and television, people had to make their own entertainment. Bothy songs and ballads, accompanied on accordian or fiddle, covered a wide range of topics and provide an interesting and tuneful insight into the social history of the period
James
Keith recalled that in 1953 "the scarcity of domestic help has made the
strain on the farmers' wives almost intolerable and many are no longer willing
to board the workers" This, combined with the attractive wages
being offered in industry, resulted in the departure of many single men from
farming.
corbie
a rook or raven
cottar
a paid labourer,
usually a subtenant, who had a cottage, but
little or no land and was often dependent on casual work for survival
after the agricultural revolution. The word came to mean a married
farm worker living in a cottage tied to his employment.
cou
a cow
croft
a smallholding in the highlands and islands. The croft was once common in the Lowlands, occupied by tradesmen, or small tenants hoping to get a first step on the ladder of tenant farming.
crowdie
a soft spreadible cheese
fan and fit
when and what, still used considerably in the north-east. In fact used by my mother all her life, even after over 70 years south of the border.
fitiver
whatever
fou
how, why
gweed
good
harl
a rough cast
lum
chimney
mains
the chief or home farm
mealie puddings
white puddings (not unlike the English black pudding, but without the blood)!
midden
dunghill, rubbish heap, mess
quaitch
drinking cup
quine
young girl
reek
smoke from a chimney (there is a farm on the Breda estate with the name of Reekie, which begs the question 'did their chimneys need cleaning)?
skirlie
a dish made of oatmeal and onions used to stuff a chicken. Eaten in place of meat when times were hard
stovies
a traditional dish made of onions, potatoes and dripping, sometimes with the addition of meat.
sway
the metal arm on a swing situated on the side of a fireplace to hold cooking vessels
vratch
wretch