cogged, (in horse’s shoes) have wedges fixed
coldrife, chilly
cole, haycock
corp, corpse
cotter, cottager renting small plot; married worker whose cottage is part of his contract
coulter, blade in front of a ploughshare
coup, overturn
couthy, comfortable, sociable, friendly
cowering, terrifying
crack, crazy
cravat, muffler
creash, fat, fat person
crush, ‘set’ of people
cry, call, shout
cuddy, donkey; sometimes horse
cushat-doves, ring doves
dander, stroll, temper
darg, work
dawtie, darling, pet
deave, deafen, bore
dickey, false shirt front
dight, wipe
dirl, rattle
ding, strike, (of rain) pelt
disjasked, dejected, dilapidated
Dite, fam. form of George
Dod, fam. form of George
doiter, totter
doitered, witless, confused
dole, state pay to unemployed
dool, grief, pain
douce, quiet, gentle, respectablely
dour, severe and humourless
dove’s flitting,? an adaptation of dove’s sitting, properly a family of only two
dowp, posterior
dreich, dry, dreamy, prolix
drooked, drenched
drouthy, thirsty
eident, busy, conscientious
eidently, carefully
eirde, iron age dwelling
engraffed, engrafted
fair (adv.), very, really
fairely (ferlie), strange sight, marvel
fairly (adv.), marvellously, wonderfully
fash, hurry, make an effort
fast-snecked, tightly-fastened
feare, ‘price of grain for the year used to determine ministers’ stipends up to early 20th century’ csd
fecht, (past, faught), fight
fee, an engagement as a servant
fee’d, hired
fegs, (interj.) indeed, sure
feint the!, devil the
fell, great, very
fettle, lige, vigour
feuching, ill-smelling
feuch!, ugh!
fey, visionary, other-worldly
fleer, ‘to scoff, to flare’ lgg; to ogle
fleers, temper-fits
flick (n.), trace
flite/flyte, scold, joke
forbye, besides
f(r)ere, companion, comrade
fusionless, pithless, feeble
futret, weasel, stoat
gait, way, road extent
galluses, trouser braces, suspenders (us)
gang, go
gant, yawn
gape, the extent to which the mouth can be opened
gawk, awkward, clumsy person (often a teenager)
gawpus, ‘clumsy, stupid lout’ csd
get (Sc. ‘giet’), child, brat
gey, strong, terrible; disreput¬ able, wild ‘(sardonically) rather, very’ LGG
gey man, great expert (ironic)
gird, scold
girn, scold, ‘whine hardily’ LGG
glaur, ‘black, viscid mud’ LGG
glaured, muddied
gleg, horse-fly
gleg-vexed, plagued by horse-flies
gley, squint
glint, peep, glance shyly
glower, scowl
glunch, ‘to mutter half-threateningly, half-fear fully’ lgg
goloch, earwig, nincompoop
goodfather/son,-in-law
gowk, stare foolishly; a fool
gowked, stupefied
graip, iron-pronged fork used in farming or gardening
greet, (past, grat), weep
greeve, (of weatherr) with enough rain to satisfy farmers, ‘good’ lgg
greip, open cowshed drain
growk, grumble, look suspiciously
gryphon, griffin, mythical beast, half-eagle half-lion
guff, bad smell
gurring, snarling
gype, stupid lout
gypedest, stupidest
gyte, mad
habber, stammer, gabble
haimes, ‘the two curved pieces of wood or metal forming or covering the collar of a draught horse’ csd
hackstock, butcher’s or wood-cutter’s block
half-tirred, half stripped
handless, clumsy, incompetent
hantle, a great deal (or many), very
hantled, finished, crafted
hap, wrap, enfold, cover
hashed, tired out, ‘dead beat’
hasps, fastenings
haugh, river meadowland
haver, talk nonsense
havers!, nonsense!
heired, inherited
heritor, landed proprietor
heired, inherited
heuch, deep glen
hiddle, hiddling, huddle, cluster
hippen, baby’s diaper
hirple, limp
hoast, cough
Hogmanay, New Year’s Eve
hotter, simmer
howe, vale, wide plain bounded by hills
howk, dig, hooded crow
hubbley-jock (or bubbly-turkey),
hurl, drive, trundle
idleceit, idleness
ill-fashionce, bad manners, vulgar behaviour
ill-getted, misbegotten, mischievous
jagger, ‘jigger’, upset, ruin
jing-bang, the entire lot, group
jake up, raise, lift
jobe, prickle
jook, dodge in and out
jookery-paekery, trickery, underhand scheming
joskin, male farm worker, bumpkin
keek, glance, look
keelie, tough, male slum-dweller
kepp, guard, restrain
kirn, churn
kist, chest
kittle, excite, stimulate; (n.) excitement
kittle up, start up, excite
knacker, one who buys and slaughters useless horses
kye, cows, cattle
lair, bog down, stick fast, soil
lave, the rest of them
lead, carry harvested grain in from the field
leather, flail, wallop
leet, list of selected candidates for a post
leman, courtesan, concubine
let gang, allowed to go
ley, ‘fallow land’ lgg, second year or older pasture following hay
ley-park, meadow field
lib, castrate
lick, speed
lift, sky
limmer, hussy, jade, ‘sharp-tongued woman’ lgg
lipped, leapt
lippen, trust
lithe, shadow, protection
loaning, grassy track, or ground near a farmhouse
longer, languor, boredom
loon, (farmer’s) boy, fellow
loosening-time, end of the working day
Losh!, Lord! (mild oath)
loup, jump, leap
lour, menacing blackness (of clouds)
lowe, glow
lug, ear
lum, chimney
lum hat, top hat
malagrouse, dishevel, damage
marled, mottled, streaked
meck, halfpenny
meikle, big, much
messages, errands, shopping
mind, remember
mirk, darkness
moil, toil
moonlight flit, removal of household goods at night to avoid paying debts
mouser, moustache
mow, signal with mouth and lips
muck, clean out dung
mucker, bugger lgg
muffler, scarf for the throat
mutch, close-fitting linen cap once worn generally by married women
neb, beak, nose
neep, turnip
neist, next
neuk, nook, corner-seat
nicker, whinny
nickum, mischievous boy
nout, ox, blockhead
orra, odd, disorderly, spare
orra man, lad, odd-job man
outbye, out in the fields, out of doors
oxter, (to) embrace; armpit, forearm
paich, gasp, pant
park, field
peek, ‘tiny bead or point of light, little tongue of flame’ csd
peek and preen, dress in finery (with aid of needle and pins)
peely-wally, anaemically pale
peesie, lapwing, peewit
petronella, Scottish country dance
pickle, few
piece, sandwich, snack
pig-ree, pigsty
pleiter (n.), mess; (vb.) dabble aimlessly
pock, sack
pow, head
press, large cupboard
prig, urge
pringling, prickling, tingling
purviews, grounds
push, gang, rabble
quean, girl
queered, puzzled
raddled, fuddled, stupefied
rangy, ‘lanky’ lgg
rash, disease of pigs
rax, stretch
redd up, epitomise, tidy, clear (throat)
ree, perch, pen, midden, pigsty
reek, smoke, mist
reischle, rustle, noisy group
reischles of, ‘oodles’, abundance of
rickle, loose, ramshackle pile
rig, furrow, dress
rip, handful of stalks of unthreshed grain, unbound sheaf
rive, break, tear
roaded up, put on the road to, off on a journey
rouped, (of possessions), sold up
rousting, blustery
row, roll
runkled, wrinkled
salts, a purgative
sappy, plump, fleshy
scart (n.), puny, shrunken
scaur, ‘sheer rock, precipice; a steep, eroded hill’ csd
scavenger, street cleaner
schlimped, stunted
schlorich, ‘a wet, disgusting mess’ csd
scone (vb.), beat
scraich, screech
scrimp (n.), thin slip
screw, sage, salary
scrunch, pig’s food
scuddle, do dirty work
scunner, disgust; loathsome person
set (t), serviced (d); encounter, match, act of sex
shargar, youngest of a brood or litter, weakling
sharn, ‘dung in a semi-liquid state’ lgg
shows, stalks and leaves of potatoes or turnips
shelvin, part of the sides of a farm cart
shoggle, sway unsteadily
sholtie, pony, young horse
shoo, send away, usher in (from word used in driving animals)
shoom, hum, buzz
shover, chauffeur
showd, swing to and fro
skate, contemptible idiot
skeeter (n.), diarrhoea; (vb.) slither awkwardly
skellop, long strip
skelp, slap, strike, beat
skeuch (n.), squint; off-course
skilly-like, competent, practical
skirl, scream, shriek
skite, mad, ‘daft, used flippantly’ lgg
skitter, ‘slither in a jerky, awkward way’ csd
slammock, hectic bout
sleek, move furtively, slink
sleeked, sly and cunning
slider, ice-cream wafer
slock, slake
slocken up, quench thirst
slummock, ‘a lumpish slattern’ lgg
smeddum, energy, ‘guts’
smiddy, smithy
smit, infect
smore, smother
sneck, door-latch
snell, biting, bitter
snib, fasten
snicker, snigger
snifter, snivel
sock, point of a ploughshare
sodden, boiled
sonsy, (of woman) buxom (of kirk) roomy, substantial
soom, swim, skim
soss, (n.) a dirty, wet mess (vb.) to foul, dirty, mess about with (sexually)
sotter, ‘to bubble stagnantly’ lgg
sough, sigh
sourock, sorrel, ‘a little sour plant’ lgg; a perverse, surly person
sow, large oblong stack of straw of hay
sowans, sour pudding of oat-meal and water
spank, move briskly
speak (n.), rumour, talk, piece of idle gossip
spirit, spurt, flutter
spleiter, ‘a wettish mess’ lgg
spunk, match, spark; ‘essence, courage, grit; a lucifer match’ lgg
spurtle, ‘a stick for stirring porridge’ lgg
squatter, scatter, flutter
st(r) amash, uproar, ‘blind fury’ lgg
stammy-gaster (vb.), flabbergast, (n.) disagreeable surprise
stationy, (railway) station-master
steek, stitch, sharp pain
steer, commotion
stirk, bullock, heifer
stite, nonsense
stiter, stagger
store the kiln (or kin), last out, keep going
stock, person, ‘guy’
stook, shock of cut sheaves set up to dry in a field
stot (n.), bullock, (vb.) bounce, rebound
stound, feel painful
stour, dust
strainer, ‘the main upright of a wire fence’ lgg
stravaigings, wanderings
sumph, idiot
supped, eaten
sutor, cobbler, (vb.) cobble
swack, nimble, brisk
sweir, lazy, idle
sweirty, sloth, slack period for tradesman
swey, ‘movable iron bar over a fire, on which pots, kettles etc. can be hung’ csd
swither, (of a pig’s head) move uncertainly
swop, (of a pen) swing, move quickly
syne, then, next, ago
tacketty, hob-nailed
ta’en, taken
taik, walk, stroll
tanner, sixpence
tattie, potato
tee-tee, teetotal
they, (a) those
thole, endure
thrapple, throat
thrawn, obstinate
thummikins, thumbscrew, in which one or both thumbs were compressed tice, entice, coax, wheedle tink, tinker, ‘contemptuous term for a person, specif, a foul-mouthed, vituperative, quarrelsome, vulgar person’ csd
tint, lost
tirr, tear off (skin), strip
tocher, inheritance
toff, upper-class, often fashionably dressed person
Tooje, a local pet (girl’s) name
Tooje, a local pet (girl’s) name
toom, empty
toun, farm-settlement, town
trauchle (n.), careless, incompetent person; mess; long, tiring trudge
trauchled, burdened, harassed
trig, tidy, neat
twine, twist, meander
tyne, lose
uncalsayed, unhewn, undressed (of stones)
ulster, long, loose overcoat
unchancy, ill-omened, dangerous
unco, strange, outlandish, enormous
uncouthy, unfriendly
unsweir, hectically busy
vallay, valet
vest, undershirt
wame, stomach
wastry, gross extravagance
wean, child
well-happed, well-fleshed
well-kenspeckled, easily recognisable, ‘trim’ lgg
wheeber, whistle
wheen, a few
wheest, hush
wice, sensible
wight, blame
wish (onomat.), move quickly with horses and plough
wynd, narrow, side street
wyte (vb.), know, (n.) fault
&nbs
p; yammer, whine, clamour
yavil, ‘land in harvest the previous year’ lgg
yestreen, yesterday
yherne, eager
yowl, howl, yell
About the Author
A SCOTS QUAIR
James Leslie Mitchell, ‘Lewis Grassic Gibbon’ (1901- 35), was born and brought up in the rich farming land of Scotland’s North East coast. After a brief and unsuccessful journalistic career, he joined the Royal Army Service Corps in 1919, serving in Persia, India and Egypt. Thereafter he spent a further six years as a clerk in the RAF. He married Rebecca Middleton in 1925 and became a full-time writer in 1929. The young couple settled in Welwyn Garden City where they lived until the writer’s death in 1935.
Mitchell published a number of short stories and articles and his first book, Hanno, or the Future of Exploration, appeared in 1928. Seven novels followed under his own name. Stained Radiance (1930); The Thirteenth Disciple (1931); Three Go Back (1932); Image and Superscription (1933); The Lost Trumpet (1932); Spartacus (1933); and Gay Hunter (1934). In the same year Mitchell collaborated with Hugh MacDiarmid to make Scottish Scene, which contained three of Mitchell’s best short stories, later collected in A Scots Hairst (1969).
He adopted his mother’s name for his finest work, the trilogy A Scots Quair, which comprised Sunset Song, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite, written between 1932 and 1934. Dogged by ill health at the end, Mitchell died of a perforated ulcer at the age of only thirty- four. An unfinished novel, The Speak of Mearns, was published in 1982.
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 1995
by Canongate Books Ltd,
14 High St, Edinburgh, EH1 1TE
This digital edition first published in 2009
by Canongate Books Ltd
Copyright © Lewis Grassic Gibbon, 1932, 1933 and 1934
Introduction and notes copyright © Tom Crawford, 1988, 1989, 1990
The moral right of the author has been asserted
The publishers gratefully acknowledge general subsidy from the Scottish Arts Council towards the Canongate Classics series
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available on
request from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 84767 446 3
www.meetatthegate.com
Lewis Grassic Gibbon, A Scots Quair
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