Hi All 👋 and welcome to December’s project: Things in Scots. This month I am collaborating with my wife, Susan (? follow this link to see and hear her post), and we’ll be posting mostly daily — Things in Scots (great title eh?).

Breeks (fork of a tree) is today’s Things in Scots. Also known as a glack, cloff and bouchtie.

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.

As we do these posts, we’re learning as well; so we apologise in advance for any mistakes?

If any of you out there have a burning desire to know the Scots word for anything, please let us know!

Hae a guid day