Scots word of the week

THE DAFT DAYS

IT may seem that we have just lived through some daft days but in Scotland the Daft Days were what the 12 days of Christmas were known as and they are about to come upon us.

They are first mentioned in the Dictionary of the Scots Language (https://dsl.ac.uk) as the title to Robert Fergusson’s 1772 poem. The poem paints a glowing picture of a merry Edinburgh with such lines as: “Auld Reikie! Thou’rt the canty hole”.

The Scottish story-telling tradition is attested in Scott’s 1818 novel Rob Roy: “Fu o ventursome deeds and escapes, sic as folk tell ower at a winter-ingle in the daft days”. These Daft Days must be deeply held within the Scottish psyche because even in very recent times they are still referred to as this from the Border Telegraph of November 2019 explains: “Well, head on up to Peebles for a wander down memory lane to discover how The Daft Days leading up to Christmas were celebrated. The Daft Days was the medieval Scottish name for the 12 days of Christmas.”

The Edinburgh Evening News of December 2018 gives us a little more historical information: “With the old feast of Christmas generally discouraged by the Kirk following the

Reformation, special focus was placed on New Year with the period running up to Hogmanay, and its aftermath, always celebrated as a holiday period in Scotland. This period was known in Scotland as the daft days – a time given over to celebration, merriment and excess, with licence given for enjoyment during the often bleak midwinter”.

So when the Daft Days are upon us it seems that merriment is obligitory.

Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel, of Scottish Language Dictionaries, 9 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7AL.