A Scots Dictionary Of Nature

Scotland is a nation of dramatic weather and breathtaking landscapes – of nature resplendent. And, over the centuries, the people who have lived, explored and thrived in this country have developed a rich language to describe their surroundings: a uniquely Scottish lexicon shaped by the very environment itself. A Scots Dictionary of Nature brings together – for the first time – the deeply expressive vocabulary customarily used to describe land, wood, weather, birds, water and walking in Scotland. Artist Amanda Thomson collates and celebrates these traditional Scots words, which reveal ways of seeing and being in the world that are in danger of disappearing forever. What emerges is a vivid evocation of the nature and people of Scotland, past and present; of lives lived between the mountains and the sky.

affront • baffies • capercailzie • dingie • elderitch first fit • glaikit • hogmanay • jalouse • laldie • mar numpty • onding • pawkie • scunner • thrapple wean • yeukie • and mony mony mair tae whet yer thrapple... What is your favourite Scots word? Have you heard of a stushie or a stairheid rammy? Do you know a numpty who talks a lot of mince? For over a decade, The Herald has published the Scottish Language Dictionaries' Scots Word of the Week. This wee book gathers 100 of our favourites, showing the breadth and diversity of the Scots language over time, ranging from lesser-known Older Scots to formal language to contemporary slang. Uncover the surprising origins of well-known words such as numpty and wean, discover unusual ones like onding and gowan, and savour evocative gems like Robert Burns' 'blethering, blustering, drunken blellum'.

First published in 1985, the new edition of the Concise Scots Dictionary has been revised throughout to reflect modern Scots usage, alongside extensive coverage of older Scots. Combining accessible style, clear layout and a durable hardback format, this is a user-friendly and robust dictionary that you can turn to for reference and enjoyment.

'Luminous' The Times 'Beautiful’ Caught by the River Bringing together contemporary Scottish writing on nature and landscape, this inspiring collection takes us from walking to wild swimming, from red deer to pigeons and wasps, from remote islands to back gardens, through prose, poetry and photography. Edited and introduced by Kathleen Jamie, and with contributions from Amy Liptrot, Jim Crumley, Chitra Ramaswamy, Malachy Tallack, Amanda Thomson and many more, Antlers of Water urges us to renegotiate our relationship with the more-than-human world, in writing which is by turns celebratory, radical and political.

The Pocket Scots Dictionary, based on the Concise Scots Dictionary, provides information on Scots language for the general public and for schools in a compact and user-friendly form.* Scots words old and new, general and local* Clear, simple definitions* Pronunciation guide for difficult words* Literary uses as in Burns and Scott* Brief history of Scots

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE From the bestselling author of UNDERLAND, THE OLD WAYS and THE LOST WORDS 'Few books give such a sense of enchantment; it is a book to give to many, and to return to repeatedly' Independent 'Enormously pleasurable, deeply moving. A bid to save our rich hoard of landscape language, and a blow struck for the power of a deep creative relationship to place' Financial Times 'A book that ought to be read by policymakers, educators, armchair environmentalists and active conservationists the world over' Guardian 'Gorgeous, thoughtful and lyrical' Independent on Sunday 'Feels as if [it] somehow grew out of the land itself. A delight' Sunday Times Discover Robert Macfarlane's joyous meditation on words, landscape and the relationship between the two. Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes are grained into our words. Landmarks is about the power of language to shape our sense of place. It is a field guide to the literature of nature, and a glossary containing thousands of remarkable words used in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to describe land, nature and weather. Travelling from Cumbria to the Cairngorms, and exploring the landscapes of Roger Deakin, J. A. Baker, Nan Shepherd and others, Robert Macfarlane shows that language, well used, is a keen way of knowing landscape, and a vital means of coming to love it.

Provides a broad coverage of sociolinguistics, including macro- and micro-sociolinguistics and a range of approaches within variationist, interactional, critical and applied traditions. In explaining sociolinguistic terminology, the dictionary is able to map out the traditions and approaches that comprise sociolinguistics and will thus help readers find their way around this fascinating but complex subject.

In a small Scottish village the Reverends housekeeper is rumoured to be involved with witchcraft. As strange and terrifying events unfold, the villagers' darkest fears come to life. Stevenson's masterful use of the Scots dialect and atmospheric setting enhances the eerie and unsettling mood of this gothic narrative. »Thrawn Janet« is a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally published in 1881. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON [1850–1894] was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. He is among the 30 most translated authors of all time and has been praised by Marcel Proust, Jorge Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Ernest Hemingway, and Bertolt Brecht. Treasure Island is his most famous work, along with the gothic sci-fi novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.

Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends. In anecdotes that are by turns funny, sad, moving, and tragic, she recalls them all, the crofters and their laird, the boatmen and tradesmen, young lovers and forbidding churchmen. Against the old-fashioned island culture and the grandeur of mountain and sea unfold indelible stories: a young woman carried through snow for airlift to the hospital; a rescue by boat; the marriage of a gentle giant and the island beauty; a ghostly encounter; the shocking discovery of a woman in chains; the flames of a heather fire at night; an unexploded bomb from World War II; and the joyful, tipsy celebration of a ceilidh. Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…An enchanting book. “ —The Washington Post A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express—until now. Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.