A quick query about the old Scots word W H I R R I T? We know that a Hoolet is an owl but can anyone enlighten us to the nature of a whirrit or whirrick? An old gamekeeper in the Scottish Borders has been heard using the word recently but no-one seems to know what he was talking about. Thought I would ask some wise Listers. Best Wishes, Jane

Jane See http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uHLwJhsAezAC&pg=PA625&lpg=PA625&dq=whirrit&source=web&ots=O0_7mKQCFl&sig=nhq78WXhZDAI6L_O6X6xmQrp81Q&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result Maybe not so Scottish. I had a look in my volume of "The Concise Scots Dictionary" published in 1985 by the Aberdeen University Press. This is a distillation of two major works - The Scottish National Dictionary and The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue - which should be available in Reference Libraries. The word was not in my Concise volume but may be in one of the larger volumes. Rhoda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Kelly" <jane.kelly2@virgin.net> To: <sct-renfrew@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 10:43 AM Subject: [SCT-RENFREW] what's a whirrit? >A quick query about the old Scots word W H I R R I T? We know that a Hoolet >is an owl but can anyone enlighten us to the nature of a whirrit or >whirrick? An old gamekeeper in the Scottish Borders has been heard using >the word recently but no-one seems to know what he was talking about. >Thought I would ask some wise Listers. > > Best Wishes, > > Jane > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCT-RENFREW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Chambers Scots Dictionary spells it "Whirret" and desribes it simply as "a blow" Jim Halsey 2008/10/5 Jane Kelly jane.kelly2@virgin.net wrote > A quick query about the old Scots word W H I R R I T? We know that a Hoolet > is an owl but can anyone enlighten us to the nature of a whirrit or > whirrick? An old gamekeeper in the Scottish Borders has been heard using the > word recently but no-one seems to know what he was talking about. Thought I > would ask some wise Listers. > >

It's not in the Collin's Gem Scots dictionary. Sandy (Tasmania) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Kelly" <jane.kelly2@virgin.net> To: <sct-renfrew@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 05, 2008 8:43 PM Subject: [SCT-RENFREW] what's a whirrit? >A quick query about the old Scots word W H I R R I T? We know that a Hoolet >is an owl but can anyone enlighten us to the nature of a whirrit or >whirrick? An old gamekeeper in the Scottish Borders has been heard using >the word recently but no-one seems to know what he was talking about. >Thought I would ask some wise Listers. > > Best Wishes, > > Jane > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCT-RENFREW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >