Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers A Treasury of 1,000 Scottish Words

A celebration of the irreplaceable magic of language. Here is the evocative vocabulary, wit and wisdom of the Scots language – in 1,000 gems.

A celebration of the irreplaceable magic of language, and the wit and wisdom of 1,000 Scottish words. The Scots language is an ancient and lyrical tongue, inherently linked to the country's history and identity, its land and culture. In Cauld Blasts and Clishmaclavers, Robin Crawford has gathered 1,000 words from his native land - old and new, classical and colloquial, rural and urban - in a joyful and witty celebration of their continuing usage and unique character. 

Blast: 1. violent wind 2. blow on a trumpet 3. vanity, blowing one’s own trumpet. Notoriously all three in the polemic ‘The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women’ published by John Knox in 1558, but more tenderly by Burns in ‘Oh wert thou in the cauld blast’

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

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

Bam (bampot): a fool or someone who behaves in a foolish manner, liable to inconvenience others by their actions, e.g. the guy who got on the Glasgow-Edinburgh Express train the other day and pulled the emergency brake cord when it didn’t stop at his station, forced open the doors then wandered off down the track bringing the whole of rush-hour commuter train travel in Central Scotland to a halt.

Born in Glasgow, 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 trained as a sculptor and has been a bookseller for twenty-five years. He lives in Fife, Scotland, with his wife.