Whether you pronounce the first syllable as ‘cap’ or ‘cape’ is up to you, but don’t pronounce that ‘z’. It represents the letter ‘yogh’

pronounced like the first sound in ‘yes’, but usually silent in capercailzie, as the spellings in these quotations suggest. Not only does the capercailzie have an interesting spelling, it also has an interesting derivation from the Gaelic capull coille meaning ‘horse of the wood' in reference to its considerable size. The male bird measures 33 inches. James Dalrymple, in his translation of Leslie’s Historie of Scotland (1596) writes "A certane foul and verie rare called the capercalze to name with the vulgar peple, the horse of the forrest".

In 1746, T. Oliphant’s The Jacobite Lairds of Gask claims, "Caperkellies are frequently sold in mercat" but, by 1760, Robert Popcocke in Tours in Scotland notes: "In the Mountain towards Fort Augustus they have found the Caper Keily (Cock of the Wood). They are now very rare. I saw the skin of one stuffed, they are about the size of a Turkey, the head like a Grouse or Moor Fowl, entirely black, except that the Belly is spotted with White, and it is white under the Wings." The 1795 Statistical Account laments: "The caper coille, or wild turkey, was seen in Glenmoriston, and in the neighbouring district of Strathglass, about 40 years ago, and it is not known that this bird has appeared since, or that it now exists in Britain".

It was reintroduced from Sweden in the late 1830s and once more "The capercailzie up the glen Was churkin' loodly to his hen" (A. Rea, The Divot Dyke,1898). This quotation does not do justice to the call which starts as a rattle and then sounds disconcertingly like the popping of a cork and pouring of liquid, ending with a harsh grinding noise.

Scots Word of the Week is written by Chris Robinson of Scottish Language Dictionaries.

This week's Word is spoken by Dr Dauvit Horsbroch.