Scots nature word of the week
These are drawn from Amanda Thomson’s book A Scots Dictionary of Nature (2018, Saraband: Glasgow). Most of the words are still in current use since they are included in the Essential Scots-English Dictionary Online. Sometimes, however, I have identified words which appear no longer to be in current use but deserve to be revived because they are so evocative, poetic or amusing. Some words are specific to one or more of the different dialects of Scots while others are General Scots words. I have included an indication of usual pronunciation when this is necessary. The most recent word of the week is shown first.
Monday 10 August 2026: tammie norie or norie (Shetland Scots) or tammie cheekie (North East Scots) - the puffin. With their distinctive orange beaks, puffin are much loved summer visitors to Scotland. They leave Scotland about this time of year after the breeding season. Common in the north east and Shetland, puffins are also found elsewhere, for example the Isle of May and the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth
Monday 3 August 2026: cleg – horsefly or gadfly (General Scots). By all accounts, this blood feeding insect has been particularly active in many parts of Scotland during this long hot summer. The word cleg derives from Norse. Gled is also used in Border Scots
Monday 27 July 2026: airt – the direction of the wind and also a point of the compass (General Scots). The expression a’ the airts means from all directions, as in the song by Robert Burns Of a’ the Airts the Wind Can Blaw. Airt derives from the Gaelic word àird, another reminder of Scotland’s rich linguistic history
Monday 20 July 2026: bonxie – a great skua (Orkney and Shetland Scots). This large seabird is a pirate, taking fish from other birds, and is also notorious for divebombing anybody who gets too close to its nest. The name bonxie derives from Norn, a Norse language which was spoken in Orkney and Shetland where the bird is common
Monday 13 July 2026: puddock – a frog or sometimes toad (General Scots). From this, we get puddock-stool – also puddock-stuil or puddock steel (North East Scots) – a toadstool or mushroom. Puddock can also mean an ugly person, perhaps in an echo of the fairy tale of the princess and the frog
Monday 6 July 2026: drouth (drooth) or drucht - a drought or period of drought (General Scots), an appropriate word in this long hot summer. Drouth can also be used to describe good weather for drying washing - Monday was traditional washing day in Scotland - and to mean a thirst when applied to people
Monday 29 June 2026: birk – the birch tree (General Scots but also used in northern England). Birch trees, with their beautiful, papery bark, are common throughout much of Scotland. From birk we get birks – a birch wood and siller birk – the silver birch tree. The best known use of birk is probably Robert Burns’ love poem The Birks of Aberfeldy