Seems like expressions of old bear out the idea of a muckle being either a lot or a little. A cauld needs the ceuk sae muckle the doctor. I need it like a hole in the head.

I have only heard/seen it used to mean big. The same people that use "muckle" for large use will sometimes use "peddie" or peedie" for small. The later I think (dangerous habit) may be particular to rural Caithness. Is it used in Orkney..or some variant? R -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of stephen davie Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 1:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? Seems like expressions of old bear out the idea of a muckle being either a lot or a little. A cauld needs the ceuk sae muckle the doctor. I need it like a hole in the head. _______________________________________ Orcadia Group Photo Album http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Peedie in Orkney, peerie in Shetland -- Kind regards Mike Clouston Royce Perry wrote: > I have only heard/seen it used to mean big. The same people that use > "muckle" for large use will sometimes use "peddie" or peedie" for small. The > later I think (dangerous habit) may be particular to rural Caithness. Is it > used in Orkney..or some variant? > R > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of stephen davie > Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 1:34 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ORCADIA] a muckle confusing? > > Seems like expressions of old bear out the idea of a muckle being > either a lot or a little. > > A cauld needs the ceuk sae muckle the doctor. > I need it like a hole in the head. > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

stephen davie wrote: > Seems like expressions of old bear out the idea of a muckle being > either a lot or a little. > I don't think so. Muckle used as an adjective means big or used as a noun means a lot. In Scots, there is also the word mickle, meaning a small amount, hence the saying, "Many a mickle makes a muckle": many small things can make a big one. Just to confuse things further, Burns often uses "meikle" to mean the same as "muckle". I don't think the word "mickle" is used in Orkney, though. Norman Tulloch

In his books "At Scotland's Edge" and "Scotland's Edge Revisited" Keith Allardyce states that Muckle Flugga, when translated from the Norse name, means 'Big Bird Island'. These books give a history, along with some beautiful photography, of many of the lighthouses around the Scottish coast. There are no manned lighthouses anywhere in the UK now. A way of life gone forever. My father and grandfather both served on the Northern LIghthouse Ship 'Pole Star'. Had I not joined the Royal Navy the 'Pole Star' might have been my destiny too. Incidentally, while Muckle Flugga is the most northerly *lighthouse* in the UK, Out Stack is the most northerly land, as this map will show http://tinyurl.com/2rucup -- Kind regards Mike Clouston