Scottish Name for 'Quilt'

by Linda Seiberling
(Cameron, NC USA)

Question

Is there a Scottish word for 'quilt' or 'quilter'?

Reply

Okay. You had me stumped for a bit there! (big smile!)

So I asked my Brother, Mark, the linguist! He is also the the family genealogist (along with my father). My maiden name is 'Wasson'. They have traced our ancestry back to Scotland, in the areas of Riccarton to Strathaven, primarily in Avondale Parish. We believe some of our ancestors are buried in the churchyard shown above.

My brother offered the following information...

Well there's Scottish Gaelic and there is also Scots.

Scots is more Germanic, related to English and spoken mostly in the Lowlands. Scottish Gaelic is older in Scotland and more closely associated with the Highlands.

Scots

doun dun
n. Down, the soft under-plumage of birds. Fine dust or chaff of oats, meal, etc.
dim. dounie A feather quilt.

twilt
n. A quilt, a quilted bed covering.
v. To quilt.

Scottish Gaelic

Quilt

cuibhrig (masculine form)
cuibhrig-throm (feminine form)

I couldn't find 'quilting' or 'quilter' for either language, but I suspect those words are probably more recent - folks sewed quilts but probably didn't think of themselves as quitlers, whereas with Modern English we '-er' and '=ing' just about anything we do now.

I hope that helps a little bit.

Readers, if you have more to add, please do using the 'Click here to post comments' link below. Thank!

Piecefully,

Julie Baird
Editor