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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DRIDDLE, v., n. Also dridle, drittle, drit(e)l, dreedle, -tle, draidle, †-il, †drut(t)le, druitle, †-dle, druttil, drodle.

I. v.

1. (1) To walk slowly or uncertainly, to toddle, to dawdle, to saunter (Sc. 1808 Jam., druttle; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), drit(e)l; Sh.¹¹ 1949; Abd.³ 1917, drodle; Ayr. 1923 Wilson Dial. Burns 161; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 185; Tyr. 1930 (per Uls.³), draidle). Also intensive reduplicative form driddle-draddle (Kcb.⁶ 1916). Ppl.adj. dridlin, slow, toddling. Also in Nhb. and Cum. dial.Sc. 1943 W. Soutar Seeds in the Wind 48:
Driddlin to the mill-hole: Quaick! Quaick! Quaick!Ork. 1929 Marw.:
Look at him coman driddlan ahint.ne.Sc. 1991 Alexander Hutchison in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 101:
Nae lowpin jauds, bit driddlan
slaw - wi skeel an skilp agley.
Mochie, moosy, mizzelt for nowt
fan aa the jaw gings by.Arg.¹ 1929:
Dae ye ken what that lassie caaed her uncle? She caaed him a dridlin doo.Ayr. 1786 Burns To Major Logan iii.:
Until you on a cummock driddle, A grey-hair'd carl.

Hence driddle-bea-hin, one who lingers behind (Uls. 1931 North. Whig (11 Dec.) 13).

(2) To work in a slow, dilatory way, to potter, to trifle, to idle away, waste one's time (Sc. 1808 Jam., druttle; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Mry.¹ 1916, draidle; Abd. 1921 W. Walker W.-L., drittle; Abd.¹⁵ 1950; Per. 1900 E.D.D., druitle; Upp. Lnk. 1825 Jam.², druidle; Ayr.⁹ 1949; Border 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., obsol.). Ppl.adj. dreetlin'.Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶:
Gipsies and tinkers are said “to driddle about to get work, and to driddle at it when they do get it;” and of lazy loafers it is said, “they winna work, they'll only driddle.”Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 41:
He'll niver get's wark deen, gehn he keep that dreetlin' bodie for man.Edb. 1917 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's x. 44:
But onybody, wha driddles in the hairst-time, 'll shame his ain folk by-ord'nar.w.Sc. 1917 “H. Foulis” Jimmy Swan 287:
We just kind o' driddle on frae yin year's end to the ither.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 63:
You may be sure he didna driddle owre his wark.s.Sc. 1835–40 J. M. Wilson (ed.) Tales of the Borders V. 85:
Juist say the word at aince, an' let's be dune wi't. Nae use for driddlin owre't.

Hence driddler, an idler, a trifler, loafer.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie's Wallet 223:
Ilk bellows-mendin' tinkler driddler; Ilk haltin', hirplin', blindit fiddler.

2. (1) tr. and intr. To spill, dribble, trickle, drop in small quantities (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 41, dreetle); to slither, to let fall through carelessness (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Abd.² 1940; Lth. 1808 Jam., drid(d)le; Lnk.¹¹ 1940, dreedle). Also in Cum. dial. Ppl.adj. draidilt, bespattered (Per., Fif. 1825 Jam.²). Also fig.Bnff. 1933 M. Symon Deveron Days 15:
Nae murlacks dreetlin' fae his pooch or owre his grauvit noo.Per. 1900 E.D.D.:
He let the ball driddle through his fingers. The milk kept driddlin' at this hole i' the pitcher a' the way.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 118:
As they were pykin' thus and piddlin', And wine-dubs round and round were driddlin'.Slg. 1901 R. Buchanan Poems, Songs, etc. 142:
It's no sae lang sin it dreedled oot o' existence.

Hence pl. driddlins, “meal formed into knots by water, the knotted meal left after baking” (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags.¹⁷ 1940). Also used fig. = “bits and pieces.”Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' the Ling 69:
By glintin roon' an' takin stock O' a' oor literary brock — Oor modern drama, maistly driddlins.

(2) To urinate in small quantities (Ags.² 1940; Fif. 1825 Jam.²; Fif.¹³ 1940). Also used of animals: to stop frequently and eject a small quantity of dung (Fif. 1825 Jam.², drutle).

3. To play the fiddle, to strum (Ayr. 1923 Wilson Dial. Burns 161). This meaning has prob. arisen from a current but erroneous reading of Burns's Jolly Beggars (?1786) Recit. v. l.2: “Wha us'd to trystes an' fairs to driddle,” at being substituted for the first to and driddle thus losing its real meaning as in section 1. (1) above.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 264:
Struck up “the merry lads o' Ayr” As fast as he could driddle.Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 34:
Syne in the barn he driddled wi' his wallet by his side And Jock and Jenny danced like folk on air.

II. n.

1. (1) A person who walks slowly (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)); (2) an idler, a trifler (Ib.); (3) an awkward, helpless person (Ib.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 187, druttle).(3) Mearns³ 1916:
Sic a dreetle o' a man.

2. (1) A small quantity of anything (Abd.⁹ 1940; Ags. 1950). Dim. dreetlick(ie) (Gregor).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 41:
That siller jist comes in in dreetles till him, an' he'll niver ken the gueede o't.

(2) Anything done by small quantities at a time (Sc. 1888 C. Mackay Dict. Lowl. Sc.).

(3) Something ejected in small quantities, e.g. a squirt of tobacco juice (Sh.¹⁰ 1950).Sh. 1931 Shet. Times (14 March) 7:
Hit's juist a skaar o' druttil frae dis black plug it A'm showing apon.