[Ads-l] James Hogg's "brankie," n.

[Jonathan Lighter]

At least two actual Scots seem to share my reading.

Unbeknownst to me, Gordon Menzies and Robin Watson (the Scottish folk duo
Gaberlunzie) clearly sang/sing "bankie" on their 2009 album "The Shire of
Kinross."

<goog_1997365343>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xMlSfN894U

JL

On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 7:50 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> HI, Robin,
>
> Am glad you don't find my theory preposterous.  It seemed so obvious that
> I couldn't believe no one had advanced it before.
>
> Best,
>
> Jon
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 1:51 AM, Robin Hamilton <
> robin.hamilton3 at virginmedia.com> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Robin Hamilton <robin.hamilton3 at VIRGINMEDIA.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: James Hogg's "brankie," n.
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> As far as I can make out, this situation remains the case in the latest
>> edition of Hogg's _Jacobite Relics of Scotland_, edited by Murray Pittock
>> for the Sterling Edition of Hogg's Works in 2003, which ought to
>> incorporate
>> the latest research on the text.
>>
>> There's a gloss to (presumably) the first occurrence of 'brankie', as
>> 'showy' (Vol. 1, p. 517) but, as far as I can make out via google
>> Snippets,
>> no relevant note to the text for this conundrum (Vol.1, Text p. 33, Notes
>> p.
>> 437), so unless there are textual notes in volume 2, which isn't viewable
>> even in snippet form in google books, the situation remains as Jon
>> describes
>> it.
>>
>> Professor Pittock was possibly unaware of Jon's participation in a
>> discussion of the issue on the mudcat forum some time ago.
>>
>>         http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=28904
>>
>> Go figure ...
>>
>> Robin
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Murray Pittock
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Jonathan Lighter
>> Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 1:04 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: James Hogg's "brankie," n. sho
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail
>> header -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      James Hogg's "brankie," n.
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> The discussion of "making sillar" reminds me of this textual point which
>> seems to be worth mentioning.
>>
>> James Hogg's additional verses to Burns's "Killiecrankie" includes this
>> stanza:
>>
>> O fie, Mackay, what gart ye lie I' the bush ayont the brankie, O?
>> ("Dammit,
>> Mackay, what made you hide in the bush beyond the brankie O?")
>>
>> Burns's stz. 1 prominently includes the adj. "brankie," meaning 'gaudy,
>> finely dressed.'  Obviously not the sense here.
>>
>> I find no dictionary or glossorial explanation for "brankie," n.  OED
>> includes "brank" as a "dial." syn. of "buckwheat," but no Scots dictionary
>> mentions this.  Editors seem to ignore this "brankie."
>>
>> SND includes only the sense 'a utensil for turning griddle cakes.' with
>> 20th C. exx. only.
>>
>> My SWAG is that Hogg's "brankie," n., is a petrified a first-ed. error for
>> "bankie" ('a low bank'), poss. coined by Hogg - perfectly regularly and
>> intelligibly - to rhyme with "Killiecrankie."
>>
>>
>> JL
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
>> truth."
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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