A hundred key Caithness/Kaitness words
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The listed Caithness words, phrases, and grammatical features can be enlarged, printed, and
placed in windows or other locations round the school. Learners can work in threes to find and
record as many as possible.
Learners can use the online Dictionary of the Scots Language http://www.dsl.ac.uk/ or the
following vocabulary sheets to find definitions. (Words generally need to be heard or said at least
seven times before they will enter the learners’ vocabulary.)
Verbs (action words) in Caithness Scots
antle
birl
box
clype
cown
dicht
gant
hirple
nyirl
pech
peep
rive
scon
skirl
skook
slock
sneeter
swick
teem
teet
twite
Verbs (action words) in English
to harp on, to nag
to whirl, revolve
(of an animal) to butt with the head
to scratch
to cry, weep
to wipe quickly
to stutter
to hobble
to complain in a whining voice
to pant
to cry, weep
to pull roughly, or tear
to flatten
to scream or screech
to sneak with head and shoulders down
to put out, extinguish a flame
to snigger
to cheat or swindle
to pour
to peep
to whittle (of wood)
Prepositions in Caithness Scots
abeen
ablow
ben
fornent
Prepositions in English
above
below
through (to the other room)
situated in front of (eg. She’s fornent the
hoose, look!)
to (e.g. Bring your order up til ae counter,
please)
til
Adjectives (describing words) in
Caithness Scots
drookid
foosum
Goodmarakless
nippid
peedie
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Adjectives (describing words) in English
(of a person) soaked
filthy
in-law, e.g. Good-mither or good-brither etc.
of a person, gormless or careless
of clothing, on the tight/small side
little, small
swack
sweer
trig
lithe
loath to do something
neat, trim
Nouns (naming words) in Caithness Scots
aikle
ailiss
airt
aumrie
bere
besom
bink
birss
bisom
blackjock
blin-drift
blockie
bool
boorach
bowg
by-name
chantie po
clapshot
drocht
dordie-lochran
flech
gaapus
gandy-goes
gluff
gowk
gowpen
grice
grushen
gushel
gutters
goe, geo
Nouns (naming words) in English
a molar tooth
fierce fire
direction (especially of the wind)
cupboard
the old variety of barley (pronounced bare)
sweeping brush
bench, work-top
hackles, as in get your birss up
unpleasant woman
blackbird
snow so heavy & powdery you can’t see
a young cod
a big stone
shambles
stomach
nickname
chamber pot
mix of cooked tatties an neeps
good drying wind
lizard (this word has gone out of use)
flea
loud-mouthed person
nonsense, mischief
a sudden fright
fool, idiot
two hands cupped (a measurement)
piglet
fringe (of hair)
a messy person, especially with liquid
mud
steep, narrow inlet of the sea, e.g. Whaligoe,
Papigoe, Staxigoe. Pronounced with a ‘hard’
G, as in goose.
flagstone partition between animals’ stalls
Older, original pronunciation of Caithness
dung, turd
churn (also a verb, to churn)
chest, box
rascal
turnip
a snake, an adder
loose sheep’s wool
underarm
field
the edible crab/brown crab (a loan-word from
Gaelic)
hallan
Kaitness
keich
kirn
kist
moniment
neep
nether
oo
oxter
park
partan
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peepag
pirn
purr
quoy
raivel
rillins
roup
scarf
scorrie-scoot
scroo
sharn
shither
shochad
simmon
skibbie-lickie
skifter
skint
sneck
soorag
sprowg
wurshid
whistle made of grass or corn stalk
reel (of thread)
thorn
a heifer
muddle
in ragged strips
farm sale
cormorant
gull droppings
stack of hay or straw
cows’ dung
folk, the people of an area
lapwing
rope made of hay or straw
tag
a light covering of snow
a wee drop of liquid
latch
sorrel
sparrow
wool, yarn
Adverbs in Caithness Scots
heels-abeen
Adverbs in English
head-over-heels
Exclamations
Toch-toch!
a call to cattle
to come
Some features of Caithness grammar/speech
The definite article ‘the’ in Caithness Scots is ‘ae’. For example: Ae Scrabster Harbour’s busy
ae day.
Negative forms of verbs are created by adding ‘na’ at end – ‘canna’, ‘mustna’ etc.
Caithness Scots uses older, short vowel sounds in words like ‘hoose’, ‘moose’ and ‘ku’ (like
Norwegian) instead of ‘house’, ‘mouse’ and ‘cow’ (like English).
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