In this, and other similar articles, the visitor is introduced to a number of words in Scots related to the concept of death and funerary customs. A brief explanation is given in the equivalent English together with audio files allowing the visitor to hear the pronunciation.

GRAFF, GRAFT or GRAVE

Whether you say graff, graft or grave varies according to dialect in Scots. Graff is associated with Shetland and North East Scotland, while graft is associated with East Central and Southern Scots. In Scots the form grave may also be used as a verb meaning to bury or inter.

KIRKYAIRD

The equivalent to the English churchyard.

LAIR

Lair is known in English too but in English burial plot is more common. Lair is related to the words lig and lie and means place of rest.

SKAILIN

The Scots word skail is from an old Germanic word and translates in English as ‘disperse, scatter or spill.” It is used in a number of ways related to these concepts, including the idea that people skail from a meeting. So in Scots the end of any meeting or event, including a church ceremony or service, is known as the skailin.

YIRD (noun)

This is the Scots equivalent to English ‘earth’ meaning both the soil or the planet. It is closely related to the words erd and ya(i)rd.

YIRD (verb)

In English we say ‘bury’ and in Scots ‘burry’, but we can say ‘yird’ in Scots too for the act of burial.

YIRDIT (adjective)

In Scots we can say either ‘burried’ or ‘yirdit’ to describe this act.