A mattucashlass is a type of dagger worn concealed in the armpit and primarily used for close combat, part of traditional Scottish male Highland dress. [1] It is also referred to as an armpit dagger [1] or a sleeve dagger in English. In Scots, the alternative name skene-ochil or skene-occles can also be found. [2]
The term mattucashlass derives from Scottish Gaelic : biodag-achlais [3] (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [pit̪akˈaxl̪ˠɪʃ] , biodag meaning "dagger" and achlais "armpit") presumably via the dialectal by-form miodag, which is attested in Shaw's 1788 Galic and English Dictionary. [4]
It is also known in Gaelic as the sgian-achlais (sgian meaning "knife"), [5] from which the Scots term skene-ochil or skene-occles is derived.
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Little Cumbrae is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies south of Great Cumbrae, its larger neighbour. The underlying geology is igneous with limited outcrops of sedimentary rock. Little Cumbrae House is of 20th century construction, although the island has no permanent inhabitation at present, its population having peaked at 23 in the late 19th century. There is a lighthouse on the western coast.
Teuchter is a Lowland Scots word sometimes used to offensively describe a Scottish Highlander, in particular a Gaelic-speaking Teuchter. The term is also in use with more broader meanings attached, commonly applied to any Scot perceived to be from a rural area, and within Glasgow those who are from outwith the Greater Glasgow area. It is offensive, equivalent to other cultural epithets used by more powerful groups to describe people they have oppressed, but is often seen as amusing by the speaker. The term is contemptuous, essentially describing someone seen to be uncouth and rural.
The sgian-dubh – also anglicized as skene-dhu – is a small, single-edged knife worn as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress. It is now worn tucked into the top of the kilt hose with only the upper portion of the hilt visible. The sgian-dubh is normally worn on the same side as the dominant hand.
The Fál or Lia Fáil is a stone at the Inauguration Mound on the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the King of Tara and hence High King of Ireland. It is also known as the Stone of Destiny or Speaking Stone. According to legend, all of the kings of Ireland were crowned on the stone up to Muirchertach mac Ercae, c. 500 AD.
Dollar is a small town with a population of 2,800 people in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is 12 miles east of Stirling.
Hodden is a coarse, undyed cloth made of undyed wool, formerly much worn by the peasantry of Scotland from prehistory. Hodden, with wadmal, represent two similar cultural fabrics in Scottish history. Hodden is an early-modern period name for a primarily Gaelic fabric, earlier named lachdann in Gaelic, and even earlier lachtna in Old Irish; while wadmal was a Scandinavian fabric, in the now-Scottish islands and Highlands. Both are usually woven in 2/2 twill weave but are also known in plain or tabby weave. Both are a thick, coarse, fulled homespun cloth typically made of natural undyed wool of the vari-coloured Northern European short-tailed sheep breeds. The Scots preferred to breed strains of sheep in various areas to provide the local preferred colour of natural wool used for cloth to protect the poor and rural peasants from the elements.
Edward Dwelly (1864–1939) was an English lexicographer and genealogist. He created the authoritative dictionary of Scottish Gaelic, and his work has had an influence on Irish Gaelic lexicography. He also practised as a professional genealogist and published transcripts of many original documents relating to Somerset.
A bogle, boggle, or bogill is a Northumbrian, Cumbrian and Scots term for a ghost or folkloric being, used for a variety of related folkloric creatures including Shellycoats, Barghests, Brags, the Hedley Kow and even giants such as those associated with Cobb's Causeway. They are reputed to live for the simple purpose of perplexing mankind, rather than seriously harming or serving them.
Donnchadh is a masculine given name common to the Irish and Scottish Gaelic languages. It is composed of the elements donn, meaning "brown" or "dark" from Donn a Gaelic God; and chadh, meaning "chief" or "noble". The name is also written as Donnchad, Donncha, Donnacha, Donnchadha and Dúnchad. Modern versions include Donnacha, Donagh, Donough, Donogh and Duncan.
The Gallowglass were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland and Scotland between the mid 13th century and late 16th century. It originally applied to Scots, who shared a common background and language with the Irish, but as they were descendants of 10th-century Norse settlers who had intermarried with the local population in western Scotland, the Irish called them Gall Gaeil.
Beinn Dorain, is a mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands. It overlooks Bridge of Orchy in Argyll. It is a Munro with a height of 1,076 metres (3,530 ft). The mountain is the subject of Duncan Ban MacIntyre's best known Gaelic poem, Moladh Beinn Dòbhrainn ; MacIntyre had spent his youth and had worked as a gamekeeper in these parts.
Clan Skene is a Scottish clan.
Seumas is a masculine given name in Scottish Gaelic and Scots, equivalent to the English James. The vocative case of the Scottish Gaelic Seumas is Sheumais, which has given form to the Anglicised form of this name, Hamish. In Irish, Seumas is the older form of the modern Séamas. Another earlier form of Séamas is Séamus, which is partially Anglicised as Seamus.
The caoineag is a female spirit in Scottish folklore and a type of Highland banshee, her name meaning "weeper". She is normally invisible and foretells death in her clan by lamenting in the night at a waterfall, stream or Loch, or in a glen or on a mountainside. Unlike the related death portent known as the bean nighe, the caoineag cannot be approached, questioned, or made to grant wishes.
Alba gu bràth is a Scottish Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Scotland (Alba). Idiomatically it translates into English as 'Scotland forever'.
The history of Scottish Gaelic dictionaries goes back to the early 17th century. The high-point of Gaelic dictionary production was in the first half of the 19th century, as yet unrivalled even by modern developments in the late 20th and early 21st century. The majority of dictionaries published to date have been Gaelic to English dictionaries.
Laith is an Arabic given name, a Hebrew surname, and a Scottish given name or surname.
A rèiteach was a betrothal ceremony in the older Gaelic culture of the Scottish highlands. It is also attested in Gaelic-speaking Canada.