Reid Rab — Animals in Scots #18

Hi all 😁 This totie wee reid Rab (robin) is today’s Animals in Scots.

Another name for the robin is “mason’s ghost”; I had to do some digging into this one! The following is an exerpt from the dictionary of the Scots Language: The Mason’s Ghost: I have heard this ominous name applied in Jedburgh to the harmless Robin-redbreast, with allusion, I believe, to the fact that during frosty or snowy weather, when masons are unable to work and therefore stay more at home, the emboldened bird, unable to get its natural food (i.e., worms, &c.), may be said to “haunt” dwellings, frequently also entering them, in search of sustenance.

All the Scots words for these posts are taken from The Concise English-Scots Dictionary, by the Scottish National Dictionary Association. The words chosen will be the generally accepted term, but as in all languages there are regional variations, as well as sub-species variations. For example, an owl is generally known as a hoolet in Scots, but an ool in Shetland & the NE. A barn owl is a white hoolet & a long eared owl, a hornnie hoolet.

Hae a guid day 😁