laddie (rhymes with daddy):
A laddie is a boy or young man.
He had the reputation of being a 'cheekie laddie', and hence of little use to the
army.
lade:
A lade is a watercourse, especially ont that carries water to a mill.
The latter is often called a mill lade.
The old mill lade off the River Leithen powered five woollen mills and a
saw-mill.
lad o' pairts (pronounced lad-a-payrts):
A lad o' pairts is a youth, particularly one from a humble background, who is
considered talented or promising.
This country prides itself on giving the lad o' pairts opportunities for
advancement.
laich or laigh
(pronounced layCH):
lair:
1. A lair is the ground for a grave in a cemetery, especially an area set aside for an
individual or family.
2. Lair can also mean mud or a muddy or boggy place.
To lair is to sink in mud or in a bog.
The tractor had become laired in the mud.
laird:
A laird is a lord, especially the owner of a large estate.
a sixteenth-century laird's mansion
laldie or laldy
(pronounced lal-dee):
To gie it laldie means to do something vigorously.
Down one end of the room there was a gang of folkies giving it laldy, and good
foot-tapping music filled the bar.
Lallans (pronounced lal-lanz):
Lallans is a name for the variety of Scots spoken in the lowlands. It can also mean
a literary version of this used by some twentieth-century Scottish writers.
The word is a Scots version of Lowloands.
lament:
A lament is a slow traditional song or pipe tune composed in mourning for a death. It
often features in titles of pieces of music.
MacCrimmon's Lament
...Ossian's Lament
lammas (pronounced lam-us):
One of the Scottish quarter days, Lammas falls on the first of August.
Lanarkshire (pronounced lan-ark-sher
or lan-ark-shire):
Lanarkshire is a former county of South Scotland which occupied much of the area on
both sides of the River Clyde south and east of Glasgow. It is now administered by two
single-tier local councils: North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.
landward:
Landward means in, forming, or from the rural rather than urban parts of an area.
Edinburgh and the landward areas
lane:
A lane person or thing is lone or alone.
On one's lane means on one's own, unaccompanied, or unaided.
lang:
Lang means long.
Yon's a lang road.
...Lang may your lum reek.
lang-luggit (pronounced lang-lug-it):
A lang-luggit, literally long-eared, person is someone who is inclined to
eavesdrop.
Lang Toun:
The Lang Toun is a nickname for the town of Kirkcaldy.
laroch (pronounced lar-oCH):
A laroch is the ruins or remains of a small domestic building such as a cottage. The
word is originally from the Northeast, but is also used in literary Scots.
Only a few larochs show where the crofters' houses once stood.
It comes from the Gaelic làrach meaning a ruin.
lassie:
A lassie is a young girl.
She's a bonny wee lassie.
laverock (pronounced lav-er-ok or
lave-rok):
A laverock is a skylark (the bird).
law:
1. In some areas of Scotland, particularly the Lowlands, a law is a hill,
especially one which is rounded in shape.
Law often forms part of the name of a hill, such as Broad Law or Dundee
Law.
2. Law can also mean low, as in the Lawlands.
lazy bed:
A lazy bed was, in former times, a patch of land in which potatoes were cultivated
by laying them on the surface and covering them with manure or kelp and with soil from a
trench on either side of the bed. Traces of them may still be seen particularly in
now-unpopulated parts of the Highlands and Islands.
On the slope opposite the site of the township were hundreds of lazy bed
strips.
lea':
To lea' something or someone is to leave it or them.
leal (pronounced leel):
To be leal is to be loyal or faithful. The term is literary or old-fashioned as is
the use of the phrase the land o' the leal to mean heaven.
lea-rig:
Lea-rig is an old-fashioned term for a ridge of unploughed land.
lee:
To lee is to tell a lie or lies.
A lee is a lie.
leerie:
In the days when streetlamps were lit by gas rather than electricity, the man whose job it
was to go round town at nightfall lighting them was known as a leerie.
In East Central Scotland any lamp is sometimes referred to as a leerie.
leet:
A leet is a list of candidates for a job, award, contract, etc.
Sometimes an initial long leet of candidates is drawn up, and then whittled down to a
final short leet.
She was on the short leet of four applicants interviewed on May 21.
The origin of the word is unclear: it is either from the Anglo-French litte a
list, or from the same French source as elite.
left-footer (pronounced left-foot-er) or
left-fitter:
In informal usage, a left-footer is a Roman Catholic. For the origin of this phrase
see kick.
leid (rhymes with deed):
A leid is a cheifly literary word for a language.
The term is Old English in origin.
len or lend:
A len is a loan.
To take a len of someone is to impose upon their good nature or gullibility.
let dab:
lib:
To lib a farm animal is to castrate it.
libel:
In Scots Law a libel is the formal statement of a charge.
To libel is to make such a statement.
I must plead guilty as libelled.
licentiate:
A licentiate is a person holding a licence to preach, especially in the Presbyterian
Church.
licht (pronounced liCHt):
lift:
The lift is a literary name for the sky.
The word comes from the Old English lyft, and is related to the modern German
luft, which also means sky.
light:
The type of beer known as light is darker than heavy and less alcoholic. The nearest English equivalent is mild.
It's hard to find a place that sells a good pint of light these days.
Light Blues:
One of the nicknames of Rangers football team is the Light Blues. They are
probably so-called because their traditional shirts, while not particularly pale in colour, are
lighter than those of Dundee, who are nicknamed the Dark
Blues.
line:
The word line is used for any of various written notes or authorizations.
A sick line or doctor's line is a sick note.
A bookie's line is a betting slip.
To lift one's lines is to formally withdraw one's membership from a particular
Presbyterian church, especially when moving house.
links:
1. The word links means undulating sandy ground near a shore.
It can also mean a golf course on such land.
a teasing 9-hole links
...The restaurant serves the kind of substantial Scottish/French cuisine you might need after
a day on the links.
The word comes from the Old English hlincas, the plural of hlinc
a ridge.
2. Sausages in a string are also known as links.
linn:
A linn is a waterfall or the pool at the foot of one.
A ravine or precipice may also be called a linn.
The term comes from a combination of two words, the Gaelic linne a pool and the
Old English hlynn a torrent.
lintie (rhymes with minty):
Lion Rampant:
The Lion Rampant is a national emblem of Scotland, consisting of a red lion
standing on its hind legs.
A yellow flag with this design on it is also referred to as a Lion Rampant.
lippen:
To lippen is to trust or depend on.
Ye maunna lippen til him.
loan or loaning:
A loan was originally a lane or path, especially one leading to a meadow, or a place
of uncultivated ground where cows were milked.
The word is now most often found in the names of streets or places, such as Grange Loan,
Dobbie's Loan and Hoods Loaning.
loch (pronounced loCH):
A loch is a lake, as in Loch Lomond or Loch Tay.
A long narrow bay or arm of the sea may also be called a loch or sea loch, as in
Loch Linnhe or Loch Fyne.
The word was originally Gaelic.
lochan (pronounced loCH-an):
A lochan is a small lake.
The opposite bank of this elongated lochan is inaccessible to anglers.
The word comes from loch plus the Gaelic diminutive ending -an.
lockfast (pronounced lock-fast):
When something, such as a premises, a door, or cupboard, is lockfast it is closed and
secured by a lock. In Scots Law breaking into and stealing from a lockfast place is
regarded as more serious than stealing from an unlocked place.
The housebreakers forced the lockfast cabinets and made off with five guns.
Long Island:
The Long Island is a name used for the Outer Hebrides, or sometimes for Lewis and
Harris only.
long lie:
A long lie is an occasion of staying in bed later than usual in the morning.
You look forward to a long lie on a Sunday.
loof:
Another way of spelling luif.
loon or loun:
In Northeast Scotland, a loon is a boy or lad.
He was a local loon, born and bred in Aberdeen.
Lord Advocate:
The Lord Advocate is the cheif law officer of the Crown in Scotland. He acts as
public prosecutor and is in charge of the administration of criminal justice.
The trial ended when the charge was dropped by the Lord Advocate.
Lord Justice-General:
The Lord Justice-General is the most senior criminal judge.
Lord Lyon or Lord Lyon King of
Arms:
The Lord Lyon is the official who supervises the Scottish system of heraldry. It is
illegal to use a coat of arms which has not been approved by him.
Lord President:
The Lord President (of the Court of Session) is the most senior civil judge.
Nowadays the same person holds this office and that of Lord
Justice-General.
Lord Provost:
Lord Provost is a title given to the provost of
each of the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee.
Lorne sausage:
In the Glasgow area Lorne sausage is a name for sliced sausage meat.
loss:
To loss something is to lose it.
There's nae need tae loss the heid.
Lothian (pronounced loathe-ee-an):
Lothian is a former local government Region that occupied most of the area along the
southern side of the Firth of Forth. It is now administered by four single-tier local councils:
West Lothian, Midlothian, East Lothian, and the City of Edinburgh.
Lothians (pronounced loathe-ee-anz):
The Lothians is a collective name for the former counties of East Lothian, West
Lothian, and Midlothian, which lie on the south bank of the Firth of Forth.
the weather forecast for Edinburgh and the Lothians
loup or lowp (pronounced
lowp):
To loup is to leap or jump.
If you wait long enough, you might see a salmon louping.
A loup is a leap or jump. See also loup the dyke at dyke.
loupin or lowpin (pronounced
lowp-in):
1. In the Glasgow area loupin means throbbing or extremely sore.
2. Loupin can also mean full of or infested by.
The pub was loupin wi football supporters.
lowe (rhymes with how):
A lowe is a flame or warm glow, such as that from a fire.
To lowe is to burn strongly but steadily.
There was aye a fire lowing in the grate.
the word is ultimately from the Old Norse logi a flame.
Lowland:
Lowland is used to refer to the Lowlands or to the dialects spoken there.
There was an influx of Highlanders to Lowland towns in the late eighteenth century
...Despite years of living abroad she has not lost her lowland accent.
A Lowland whisky is one distilled in the Lowlands.
Lowlands:
The word Lowlands is generally used to refer to any part of Scotland south or east of
the Highlands.
Sometimes, however, particularly in geographical contexts, it is used more specifically to refer
to the low generally flat region of central Scotland, around the Forth and Clyde valleys,
separating the Southern Uplands from the Highlands.
lowse :
(When an adjective, rhymes with mouse)
When something is lowse it is loose.
(When a verb, rhymes with cows)
To lowse something is to loose or release it.
To lowse can also mean to finish work.
They lowse at five o'clock.
Lowsin time is the time at which work or school finishes.
I'll get ya at the gate at lowsin time.
low wines:
In whisky making, low wines is the name used for the weakly alcoholic product of the
first distillation which is distilled a further time.
lucky bag:
A lucky bag is a sealed paper bag containing an unknown selection of sweets and cheap
toys sold to children by confectioners.
lug:
luif (pronounced liff) or liff:
The luif is an old-fashioned name for the palm of the hand.
He grabbed the tiller with his horny luif.
lum:
A lum is a chimney.
Run next door and tell them their lum's on fire!
The traditional saying lang may your lum reek (literally, long may your chimney smoke) is
a way of wishing someone long life and prosperity.
lumber:
In the Glasgow area a lumber is a person one meets at a dance or party and with whom
one establishes an amorous or sexual relationship.
You'll have no chance of getting a lumbar if you go dressed like that.
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