Scots Blog
The Scots language has a rich tradition, and abounds with marvellous words. This blog will regularly show a different Scots or Gaelic word with its English equivalent. I hope that you will enjoy them as much as I do!
Linda Gilmore Sutherland
BYKE 29/08/16
by Linda - 01:01 on 29 August 2016
BYKE = BEES', WASPS' OR ANTS' NEST
I first learned this word when I lived on a croft on Deeside in the context of a Bumbees' Byke - or a nest of bumble bees. It also figures in a well-know bothy ballad called the Muckin o Geordie's Byre (or The Cleansing Of George’s Cowshed - that doesn't sound right at all!), and used to puzzle me in the context of the song in which an escaped pig and the lad chasing it ran into a Bumbees' Byke. I of course pictured it as a bicycle...
If you would like to see the words of this splendid ballad, have a look at this site.
