Blog Tour ~ Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers by Robin A. Crawford ☼

☼ Delighted to host today's stop on this blog tour ☼

Elliot and Thompson
20 August 2020

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book

The evocative vocabulary, wit and wisdom of the Scots language – from Robert Burns to Twitter.

Scottish writer and bookseller, Robin Crawford, has gathered 1,000 Scots words – old and new, classical and colloquial, rural and urban – in a joyful celebration of their continuing usage. His amusing, erudite definitions put each of these words in context, revealing their evocative origins and essential character. Delightful line drawings by Scottish printmaker Liz Myhill contribute to this treasury of linguistic gems for language lovers everywhere.

The Scots language is intricately bound up in the nation’s history, identity, land and culture. It is also a living and vital vernacular, used daily. With references to Robert Burns mingling with contemporary examples from Billy Connolly and even Monty Python, Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers revels in the richness of one of our oldest languages, and acts as a precious reminder of words that are also beginning to fade away, their meaning and value disappearing.

Clishmaclaver: the passing on of idle gossip, sometimes in a book.

Inkie-pinkie: weak beer.

Sodie-heid: literally, ‘head full of soda bubbles’, airhead.

Smowt: youngster, technically a young trout or salmon but also affectionately applied to a child.

Simmer dim: Shetland term for long summer evenings where due to the northern latitude it never really gets dark.

Dreich: grey, miserable, tedious; usually applied to weather but indicative of the Scots temperament, hence it being voted Scotland’s favourite word in a recent poll (or perhaps indicative of the temperaments of Scots who feel the need to participate in online polls): ‘It’s gey dreich the day'

Ailsa Cock = Puffin

What did I think about it..

Long before relying on spell check on a computer I can remember having school lessons dedicated to how to use a dictionary. Looking up words, and their meanings, was taken very seriously, and I think this useful skill definitley fostered my love of words and their usage. 

This treasury of 1,000 Scottish words has been a real delight to read, easy to peruse whether looking up a specific word, and believe me there are some amazing words I'd never seen before, or, starting at the very beginning with a',aa,or aw which means all, to yowe trummale which means unseasonably cold weather in early summer, something I'm used in the north of England! Incidentally, there's nothing in the treasury beginning with the letter z!

I really did begin at the beginning though and throughout the treasury I discovered words which made me smile, words that I use everyday and words that I had, quite simply, never seen before and which I would hope one day to be able to sneak into conversation - words like breenge which means to plunge and rush, or ficherie which means fiddly, fussy or finicky, and stooshie which is a to-do or commotion.

The rich vernacular that we associate with this lyrical language is fully explored and the author has been very thorough in his research and includes, alongside words and their meaning, some interesting contextual snippets of information about their origin and usage of specific words in literature, rhymes and drama.There's also a bit of a help with some pronunciation which has been especially useful to this Sassenach with how to actually say a specific word - for example, ceud-mille-failte becomes instantly pronounceable as ki-ool-a-meel-a-fell-cha and Slainte/slainte mhath - a term so often used in my favourite Outlander novels, becomes much easier as slange /slan-ja-vah.

Cauldblasts and Clishmaclavers is a fascinating journey through the romantic lyricism of the Scottish vernacular. Intricately exploring its richly evolving history in an easy to use treasury which both educates and entertains in equal measure.

Kellas Cat
A black variant of the Scottish Wildcat associated with witches and ill-luck

About the Author

Born in Glasgow, writer and Scottish bookseller Robin A. Crawford has a particular interest in the culture and natural heritage of his native land. He is the critically acclaimed author of Into The Peatlands: A Journey Through the Moorland Year, longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2019. He lives in Fife, Scotland, with his wife.

Website

Twitter @RobinACrawford2 #Cauldblasts

@eandtbooks

Blog Tour ~ The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosties by Paul Anthony Jones

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be part of the blog tour for The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosties

Who knows where each day will lead you?

Open The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities on any day of the year: you might leap back in time, learn about linguistic trivia, follow a curious thread or wonder at the web of connections brought to you by popular language blogger Paul Anthony Jones.

Within its pages you will discover a treasure trove of language, with etymological quirks and connections for every day of the year.

Here's the fascinating entry for today 20th October..

limitrophe (n.) a borderland, a neighbouring country 

On 20 October 1818, Great Britain and the United States signed a treaty that established the 49th parallel – the line of latitude lying 49° north of the equator – as the permanent land border between the United States and British North America (now Canada). According to the treaty, it was agreed that the border should follow ‘a line drawn from the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods’ in Ontario, and travel due west along the 49th parallel ‘until the said line shall intersect . . the Stony Mountains’, as the Rocky Mountains were known at the time. 

As part of the deal, both countries agreed to share control of Oregon County (a disputed territory in the Pacific Northwest), with both ceding territory to the other elsewhere: the US handed the northernmost stretches of Missouri Territory, which it had claimed as part of the Louisiana Purchase, to Britain, while in return Britain ceded the southernmost stretches of one its major Canadian territories, Prince Rupert’s Land. The changes marked both countries’ last major territorial losses in North America. 

A borderland, or a neighbouring country on the opposite side of a border, can be known as a limitrophe, a word first used in English in the mid sixteenth century. Although adopted from French (wherein it was once an adjective describing anywhere located on or near a boundary or frontier), limitrophe was originally a Latin word referring to a borderland region set aside for the training and support of troops. In that sense, it combines the Latin word for a boundary line, limitem, with a suffix derived from a Greek word, trophe, meaning ‘nourishment’.

About the Author

PAUL ANTHONY JONES is something of a linguistic phenomenon. He runs @HaggardHawks Twitter feed, blog and YouTube channel, revealing daily word facts to 39,000 engaged followers. His books include Word Drops (2015) and The Accidental Dictionary (2016). His etymological contributions appear regularly, from the Guardian to the Telegraph, Buzzfeed to Huffington Post and BBC Radio 4.

Follow on the Blog Tour on Twitter @HaggardHawkes #ForgottenWords @eandtbooks

My thoughts about the book

Elliot & Thompson
October 2017

If you have a fascination for words, and most readers seem to like individual words almost as much as they like lists of words, then The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities will appeal, not only to your sense of fascination, but will also appeal to your sense of order and which ever way you choose to read the book, there will always be something which intrigues, educates and amuses.

There's something about words which soothes my soul and to have chance to take a look at words which have fallen out of common use and yet, when seen, still make the utmost sense, I am reminded of those people who have gone before and of the rich contribution they have made to our vocabulary.

Of course like any sensible person who likes books with daily musings in, I turned, at first, to those notable dates in my life and those of my family and found some hidden little gems. 

Amongst the strange and forgotten words there are some real beauties to be discovered. Some made me smile, others made me nod my head in sage agreement, whilst others made me realise just how beautiful is our language.

Amongst my favourites are:

17 April : Pisgah - which is a view or glimpse of something which is unobtainable or unreachable. Rather like my dream to be a extra on the set of Outlander 😔

19 May : Spousebreach - which means adultery. I mean, could that be any more apt?

31 May : Tell-clock - something or someone who marks or tells the time; an idler. I think we have all known people like that !

And my very favourite from my grandmother's birthday , 4 December : Premonstrance : which means a portent or omen.

My feeling is, that if words float your boat as much as they float mine,  then I will premonstrate that this book will work just as well for you as it did for me.

Huge thanks to Alison at Elliot & Thompson for her kind invitation to be part of this blog tour and also for my review copy of The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities.

~***~

Review ~ Word Drops by Paul Anthony Jones

...A sprinkling of linguistic curiosities....

Elliot & Thompson
April 2015

I've long been fascinated by the power of words and can remember as a child, in primary school, being completely comfortable in English lessons when we were encouraged to do dictionary practice. Looking up the meaning of words is a still something I do on a regular basis, either by using a well thumbed Oxford English Dictionary, the quick reference facility on my Kindle or by browsing the cornucopia of online dictionary facilities.

So, to be asked to review a book, made up entirely of one thousand linguistic and etymological snippets that form one long interconnected chain, was a complete joy.

Word Drops is a language book which completely fascinates and as one word drops into another, a picture emerges, not just of the colourful and quirky use of language, but also of the unique power of words as they have evolved over time.

'Did you know that the bowl made by cupping your hands together is called a gowpen?

And speaking of bowls, the earliest known reference to bowling in English dates from 1555, when bowling alleys were banned by an Act of Parliament.

And that ties in nicely with the fact that the English called Germans "Alleymen" during the First World War....'

I absolutely loved this book. It's one of those hidden gems which sits quite comfortably on a book shelf until you need a little nugget of knowledge, and then once you dip into it you will be immediately be enthralled, not just by the goodies on offer, but also the way in which the book is presented. And as each fascinating fact drops into another one, very soon, the diversity and richness of language starts to enthral and really, I promise you, once started, you won't be able to stop to reading.

It would be a really special gift for someone, who, like me , loves the beauty of language, or for anyone who simply wants to know more about words which have long been abandoned.

And just to finish , I'll leave you with this snippet...picked at random from the book ...

The word happy in English is used three times more often in English than sad....

Have a happy day.

About the author

Paul Anthony Jones is best known as a language blogger, He is the author of several books on trivia and languages including The British Isles: A Trivia Gazetteer, Haggard Hawks & Paltry Poltroons and its sequel, Jedburgh Justice & Kentish Fire, He contributes regularly to the Huffington Post and Metal Floss as well as writing the Haggard Hawks Blog.

My thanks to Alison Menzies at Elliot & Thompson for my review copy of this book.

~***~