Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
Parliamo Scots?
- Ships and the Sea
The coastline of mainland Scotland is 6,200 miles long and you are never more than 50 miles from the sea.
- "Cleek anchor" - small anchor.
- "Clink" - is both the noun and the verb for a shipbuilding rivet.
- "Coble" - a small, flat-bottomed rowing boat which was used for salmon fishing.
- "Cowdle" - to rock gently on the waves.
- "Cran" - a barrel of fresh, uncleaned herring. It is now fixed at 37.5 gallons. Herring landings and prices are calculated by the cran.
- "Creel" - a fish trap or lobster pot.
- "Dog afore his maister" - literally the dog before his master, this is used to describe the swell on the sea which often occurs before a storm.
- "Dub" - variously used to describe a sea pool or, on land, a puddle. It is sometimes used to jokingly refer to the ocean.
- "Efterin" - port side.
- "Faran" or "forin" - starboard side.
- "Firth" - a river estuary or wide inlet of sea. There are many firths around Scotland and is linked to the Norwegian word "fiord"
- "God's-send" - originally a wreck or profitable flotsam the word has entered mainstream English language as any piece of luck.
- "Goshens" - a good catch of fish.
- "Guddle" - catching fish by hand by groping under stones from the banks of a stream. Also known as "tickling for trout".
- "Gutter" - a woman employed to gut fish after they have been landed.
- "Jaup" - a choppy sea or surf.
- "Jock Scott" - an artificial fly named after its creator.
- "Klondyker" - a relatively recent word to describe the factory ships (often from Eastern Europe) which buy fish from the fishing boats and process them onboard.
- "Lammas stream" - a high tide which arises around Lammas (August 1st).
- "Leaky tide" - an oddity in the upper reaches of the Firth of Forth where the tide seems to lose water temporarily before full tide and to gain it before low tide.
- "Lodesman" - a guide or pilot.
- "Lum" - the funnel of a steamship.
- "Puffer" - a small steam boat which was used to carry all sorts of cargo around the west coast of Scotland and to the Hebrides. Often called a "Clyde Puffer" as many of them were based on that river.
- "Rummlin kirn" - a deep chasm on the shore where the tide creates a rumbling noise.
- "Scaff" - a light boat or skiff.
- "Scow" - a flat bottomed boat such as a lighter or a barge.
- "Shore porter" - in Aberdeen, a docker who was a member of the incorporated society of porters. The "Society of Shore Porters" no longer operates at the harbour but is now a nation-wide furniture removal firm, based in the Granite City.
- "Slock" - a deep inlet which is often only seen at low tide.
- "Snigger" - catching salmon illegally by dragging weighted hooks along a river bed.
- "Starn stuil" - the seat at the stern of the boat used by the steersman.
- "Tarry breeks" - nickname for a sailor. "Tarry fingered" on the other hand is someone who has a tendency to steal things.
- "Wherry" - a sailing barge with one sail.
- "Wrack and waith" - flotsam and jetsam.
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?