Abduction of a Highland Rose: Historical Scottish Romance Novel

by Fiona Faris

  Glossary

  A

  a’ – all

  ain – own

  alarum – a call to arms; an alarm

  ane/s – one/s

  awl – a pointed tool for marking surfaces or piercing small holes

  ay – always

  B

  Ben – within

  Betide – happen to (someone)

  Biggin – building

  Birl/ed – spin/spun

  Blellum – a lazy talkative person

  Bolt-hole – a place where a person can escape and hide

  Bonnet – rural, petty landowners

  Bothy – a mountain refuge; a small hut or cottage

  Brae – brow of a hill

  Braies – trouser

  Braw – fine; pleasant

  Breeks – breeches

  Bricht – bright

  Brose – a kind of porridge

  Burn – fresh water; brook; stream

  Butt – a mound on or in front of which a target is set up for archery

  C

  Cannie – careful

  Carle – a man of the common people

  Caparison – covering for a horse

  Ceilidh – a social event

  Charpie – lint

  Chib – knife; weapon

  Chiel – a young man; boy

  Claes – clothes

  Clamjamfry – rubble; mob

  Clarty – dirty; muddy

  Cleuch – a steep valley or ravine

  Clout – cloth; rag

  Cogie – a wooden vessel, made of starves and girdled with metal bands, used in milking cows

  Corbies – ravens

  Cordon sanitaire – a guarded line preventing anyone from leaving an area

  Corrie – a circular hollow in the side of a hill or mountain

  Cowp – to tip something over; fall over

  Crabbit – ill-tempered; grumpy

  Crayer – small trading vessel

  Creel – wicker basket (for carrying fish)

  Çucre candi – crystallized sugar; candy

  D

  Dainties – delicacies; luxuries

  Demijohn – a bulbous narrow-necked bottle

  Dine – dinner

  Dinna – do not

  Dottle – a small person

  Dulse – red algae

  Dwam – daydream; reverie

  E

  Ell – a measure of length

  Empaneled – enlisted

  F

  Fa’/en – fall/en

  Feart – afraid; fear

  Fell/s – hill/s

  Feys – fairies

  Fie – exclamation to express disgust or outrage

  Fletcher – a person who makes and sells arrows

  Frae – from

  Free lance – mercenary; hired soldier

  Forby – in addition; besides

  Fou – full

  G

  Garderobe – wardrobe

  Get – offspring

  Gibbet – hanging gallows

  Gin – if

  Gip – a cut made in the belly of a fish

  Girned – complained peevishly

  Glit – slimy matter

  Gorse – a spiny yellow-flowered European shrub

  Grandsire – grandfather

  Guddle – fished with the hands by groping

  Guidwife – goodwife

  Gyte – mad; deranged

  H

  Haar – a thick, wet fog

  Hogshead/firkin – cask

  Houghmagandie – fornication

  I

  Ilka – every; two or more

  Ingleneuk (inglenook) – a space on either side of a large fireplace

  J

  Jesu – variant of ‘Jesus’

  Jig time – extremely quickly; in a short time

  K

  Ken – know

  Kye – cattle

  Kirtle – body garment; coat or tunic reaching below the knees

  Kist – trunk; box; chest

  Kistful – an amount that fills a kist

  Knarr – merchant ship

  Knowe – a small hill; a knoll

  L

  Lang – long

  Latrine – toilet

  Lave – one among many

  Leal – loyal and honest

  Ling – a heath plant

  Louns – boys; youth

  Louped – leaped

  Lowp – loo mask (half mask) often used for masquerades

  M

  Mámag – mother

  Marled – marbled

  Maun – might

  Mauna – must not

  Mawkin – an untidy woman; a simpleton

  Micht – might

  Moiled – moved around; worked hard

  Muckle – much; great

  Murrain – a plague, epidemic or crop blight

  N

  Neebor – neighbor

  Neuk – nook (a right-angled corner)

  Nocht – naught; nothing;

  O

  Och – oh

  Ocht – anything

  Oot – out

  Ower – over

  P

  Palliasse – a straw mattress

  Parritch – porridge

  Passel – a large number or group

  Pend – an arched or vaulted roof or canopy; the vaulted ground floor of a tower or fortified building; a covered passage or entry;

  Phial – vial

  Physic – medicinal drugs

  Pikemen – soldiers armed with pikes

  Pique-un-niched – a place where family/friends eat a meal together in a pastoral setting

  Popinjay – a strutting supercilious person

  Postilion – one who rides as a guide on the near horse of the leading horse/s drawing a carriage

  Potboys – boys employed as waiters

  Preudomme – noble, valiant man; (by extension) hero (of a story)

  Provocateur – a person who provokes trouble

  Q

  Quaich – two-handled drinking cup

  Quine – a girl; lass

  R

  Ratter – one (like a dog or other animal) that catches or kills rats

  Reiver – plunderer; pirate

  Retainer – paid servant

  Ribbands – ribbons

  Roup’t – sell (something) by auction

  S

  Sair – sore

  Scimitar – a short sword with a curved blade that broadens towards the point

  Seanair – grandfather

  Shieling – hut; shelter

  Sic – such

  Siller – silver

  Skeerie – a reef; a rocky island

  Slake trough – a blacksmith’s water tank

  Smeddum – spirited vigor; spunk

  Smiddy – variant of smithy (blacksmith)

  Smirr – drizzly rain

  Sough – moan; whistle; rush (sound)

  Spaewife – a female fortune-teller

  Sprett – a coarse reedy rush that grows on marshy ground

  Stouk (stook) – a number of sheaves of grain placed together in an upright position to dry

  Stour – Dust forming a cloud or deposited in a mass

  Stravaiging – wander about aimlessly

  Syne – ago

  T

  Targe – shield

  Telt – told

  Thae – those

  Thirl – pierce; perorate

  Thocht/ie – thought/ful

  Thon – that; yon

  Thrawn – stubborn

  Trews – trousers

  Tup – ram (sexual reference)

  U

  Unfankle – to disentangle; unravel

  Usige beatha – whiskey

  V

  Vassals – a holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance

  Vennels – a passageway between the gables of two buildings

  W

  Wat – to be sure; indeed; most
certainly

  Water boatmen – aquatic insect

  Wha – who

  Wheen – few; some

  Whit – what

  Wi’ – with

  Wimple – a cloth headdress

  Winna – will not

  Wheesht – hush!; a call for silence

  Whiles – sometimes

  Wynd – a narrow lane between houses

  Y

  Yoal – clinker-built craft used primarily for rowing.