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.
Quotation dates: 1791-1832, 1899-1998
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CRUMMOCK, CRUMMACK, Crom(m)ack, n.2 Also cromac. A stick with a crooked head (Ags.17, Lnk.11 1941), a shepherd's crook (Abd.2, Fif.13 1941; Arg.1 1929, crommack). Also used attrib. [′krʌmək, ′krɔm-]Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Sc. Proverbs 2:
Early crook the tree that gude crummock wad be.Sc. a.1900 Bannocks o' Barley Meal in R. Ford Vagab. Songs, etc. (1904) 143:
But Donald cam' doon wi' his claymore and crummack.Sc. 1942 in Scotsman (5 Aug.):
The tall crooked stick which the King carries . . . is a Scottish crummock.Sc. 1991 Scotsman 2 Nov 2:
As they head for the auction ring, the fleeces are frantically brushed upwards with a cromac so that the beasts appear to be twice their natural size.Ags. 1816 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1826) 20:
Upon a crummock staff she leant her, Fast John came leeshin' up ahint her.Arg. 1998 Angus Martin The Song of the Quern 56:
Twa brithers on a Mey moor
an no a leevin sowl near
cuttin peats withoot a care
layin yerds o bink bare.
They stapped fir tea an crack, an wan
scrieved a not wi a bleckened han
an pushed it deep as he could sen
it through the moss on a cromack's en.Ayr. 1791 Burns Tam o' Shanter (Cent. ed.) ll. 161–162:
Wither'd beldams auld and droll, . . . Louping an flinging on a crummock.Ayr. 1933 Kilmarnock Standard (17 June):
The collie . . . would sniff at the "cromack," — a stout ash stick — as if he was capable of taking it in his paws and presenting it to his master.
