Word of the week

• Haggis n a traditional boil-in-the-bag meal
• Yoke n the wooden collar fitted to the neck of oxen; v to put a yoke on a draught animal.
• Parritch n porridge
• Uphalyday, n. The Feast of the Epiphany on 6th January, marking the end of the Christmas holiday

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Haggis n a traditional boil-in-the-bag meal

“Haggis n a traditional boil-in-the-bag meal”

26th January 2009

Haggis

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Haggis is defined in the Scottish National Dictionary as 'A dish consisting of the pluck or heart, lungs and liver of a sheep minced and mixed with suet, oatmeal, onion and seasoning and boiled in a sheep's maw or stomach'. A more mouth-watering description comes from Dougal Graham's Collected Writings (1779): 'A piping het haggies, made of the creish of the black boul horn'd Ewe, boil'd in the meikle bag, mixt with bear meal, onions, spice and mint'. According to a dictionary informant from Kirkcudbright (1956) 'There was also a white or sweet haggis, of suet, oatmeal, currants, etc., cooked and sliced when cold and hard'. Fergusson, Burns 'elder brother in the Muse', seems to have favoured the more familiar variety, 'a haggis fat, Weel tottl'd in a seything pat, Wi' spice and ingans weel ca'd thro', the kind made famous around the world through the celebrated Address to the Haggis by Burns himself.
James Kelly's Collection of Proverbs (1721) declares 'A Man may love a Haggish that wo'd not have the Bag bladed in his Teeth' which means that a man may say or do something that he would not like to have cast up to him again later. It seems odd that visible dental evidence of having consumed our national dish should be perceived as shameful, but the word haggis itself is used as a term of disparagement when applied to a person. A haggis sale was the second day's auction at a large sheep sale when the stock might be expected to be of inferior or mixed quality. On the other hand, one usage in the Scottish National Dictionary deserves wider currency. When you are looking for that tasteful expletive, you will find one in The Disruption by William Cross (1846): 'Principles! haggis bags!' exclaimed the lady'.

This article was written by Chris Robinson of Scots Language Dictionaries. www.scotsdictionaries.org.uk


This week's word is spoken by Gordon, a retired accountant from Aberdeenshire.