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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DIRL, v.¹, n.¹ Also dir(r)le; dirrel (Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 88); †dyrll.

I. v.

1. tr.

(1) To pierce, to cause to tingle with emotion or pain (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 244; Fif.¹⁰, Rxb.⁵ 1940); to sting. Ppl.adj. dirling.Sc. 1740 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 462:
The dirling frost is grown sae bauld, The air sae snell, and drift sae cauld.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 16:
His hert was gowpin' in his moo For a' the joy that dirl'd him thro'.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
I dirled my elbick on da door jamb.Edb. 1887 P. Gardiner in Mod. Sc. Poets (ed. Edwards) X. 32:
She calls her mate wi' waefu' skirls, That dirl a' my breast.Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 67:
Your hame-wrocht lilts an' lyric chimes Aye dirl my bluid.

(2) To cause to vibrate, to shake (Bnff.², Abd.⁹, Fif.¹⁰ 1940); to throw, propel violently or with a clatter; also of sound.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
He dirled da book in da corner. Willie dirled me doon da stair.m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 6:
Happen, my freen, we'll meet agin
Tongues tethered fast
At soun' o' Cheviot's waters
Dirlin the haill sang at the last!Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle xix.:
The knock was obvious; it dirled the very roof of the house.

2. intr.

(1) Implying sound, motion or both: to vibrate, shake, rattle, reverberate; to emit a ringing sound when struck; “to move with the wind” (Borders 1825 Jam.²); to whirl or birl (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Gen.Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1821 Scott Kenilworth xxxv.:
Her moans do sae dirl through my head, that I would rather keep watch on a snowdrift, in the wastes of Catlowdie.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
Da wind dirled i da lum. Watch da light dirlin on a warm summer day.ne.Sc. 1929 M. W. Simpson Day's End 14:
An' the heich, black wa's o' Midnicht dirl Wi' the wail o' the waukrife win'!Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 17:
He wis as fu o music, Francie,.... Ae scrape o a fiddle an the craitur's hale body ettled tae dirl like a clarsach. Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 101:
Let the fu notes dirl
and the lang tune wivven
oot o aefauld soonds
intil ae wappin greement
peal. m.Sc. 1986 Colin Mackay The Song of the Forest 122:
They jumped and skirled and screeched with joy, they made the very branches of the forest dirl and ding with their clamour. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 3:
He would wake sweating in the night from a dream of himself crushed into a coffin, unable to move, while some demonic servitor, having transported him thus like a living dead man, chapped nine dirling blows at the gates of Hell.Lnl. 1881 H. Shanks Musings 353:
I mind as 'twere yestreen — When you did at my window dirl, And speirt for bonnie Jean.Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick x.:
It was a waly hammer he swung, an' my certy, whan he brocht it doun, he gart the stiddy dirl an' the sparks flee.w.Sc. 1948 A. M. Kay in Scots Mag. (June) 215:
When he strutted in, with “The Glendaruel Highlanders” dirling to the rafters.Lnk. 1904 I. F. Darling Songs 50:
Eerie glints the amber licht, Hail is dirlin', rain clouds shoorin'.Ayr. 1791 Burns Tam o' Shanter (Cent. ed.) ll. 123–4:
He screw'd the pipes and gart them skirl, Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.

(2) To thrill, quiver, tingle with emotion, pain or cold. Gen.Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial. Vbl.n. dirling, a smarting pain (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 173).Sc. 1716 Ramsay Chr. Kirk ii. vii. in Poems (1721):
Meg Wallet wi' her pinky Een, Gart Lawrie's Heart-strings dirle.Sc. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 206:
The bees are at wark . . . sook, sookin out the hinnydew, till their verra doups dirl wi' delight.Ork.² 1948:
To dirl wi' madrem.Abd.¹ 1929:
Ma fingers dirle terrible efter bein sae chilled.Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 48:
Cauld gnawed throw her worsit mochles an Jack Frost nippit her wee creashie taes till they dirled.em.Sc. 1926 H. Hendry Poems 102:
Faith but my heels keep dirling sair To dance. Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin x.:
But hoo to get the shangies aff my wrists was the next question. . . . He . . . yokit to them wi' a hammer, an' yarkit till my arms were dirlin' up to the very shoother-blades.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xxv.:
Man of my heart! but he put dirling in the thickest head in Albyn!Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 67:
Mess John's twa lugs right sair dirl'd.Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales I. 132:
Ye gar a' my heart dirle to hear ye.

(3) To act, move or work quickly or energetically, often with preps. at, (up)on; to bounce about.Sc. 1826 Blackwood's Mag. (Oct.) 584:
He shakes and dirls sae wonderfully too, that ye wad think his fiddle's no a thing o' timber and catgut at a'.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
She geengs dirlin an wirkin aboot da ferm. To dirl at dancing, at a spinning wheel, on a piano, upon da fiddle.

3. tr. and intr. Followed by advs.: (1) aff, (a) to recite, sing, play continuously, to reel off; (b) of an alarm clock: to go off with a whirring noise (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰ 1940); (2) by, of time: to pass swiftly; (3) on, to go on forcibly or with speed; (4) ower = (1) (a); (5) to, to shut with a bang (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰ 1940); (6) up, (a) to strike up a song, tune (esp. on the bagpipes), to play vigorously (Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1940); (b) to upset backwards, push over.(1) (a) Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
He could dirl aff poetry for oors on end.Ayr. 1787 Burns Amang the Trees (Cent. ed.) i.:
'twas Pibroch, Sang, Strathspeys and Reels — She dirl'd them aff fu' clearly, O.(b) Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 17:
Like some fowks ahin the alarum-clock dirls aff.(2) Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
Da week'll shün dirl by.(3) Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
We'll jüst hae ta dirl on til somebody comes ta help wis.(4) Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
He began ta dirl ower a sang.(5) Bnff. 1920 E. S. Rae in Bnffsh. Jnl. (14 Dec.):
The byre door's dirrl't tee ahin the kye.(6) (a) Sc. a.1790 Bonnie Breist-knots in R. Ford Vagab. Songs, etc. (1901) II. 177:
The piper lad stood on his shanks, And dirled up “The Breist-knots.”Bnff. 1907 J. Ogilvie in Bnffsh. Jnl (1 Jan.) 3:
While hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels Were dirled up at Pannannich.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xl.:
Samie sat i' the tither en' to . . . mak' mair room for the dancers, an' dirl't up the pipes.(b) Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
Why did du dirl up dy peerie bridder?

II. n.

1. A blow or knock which causes the person or thing struck to dirl; a shock, jar, jolt, clatter. Gen.Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xvii.:
It's just like the noop of my elbow, it whiles gets a bit dirl on a corner.Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 18:
An elbuck dirl will lang play thirl.Sh. 1930 T. P. Ollason in Sh. Almanac 196:
Doon wi' dee dis moment! . . . or feth doo's come doon wi' a dirl.Edb. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 23:
. . . in a whirl The straik cam on them wi' a dirl!Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller viii.:
The door gets a dirl, an' flees back to the wa'.wm.Sc. 1835–37 Laird of Logan II. 246:
You've gotten a dirl ower the fingers frae the beef-eater.

2. The pain occasioned by such a blow; a tingling sensation; a thrill (Sh.¹⁰ 1949; Bnff.², Abd.⁹, Fif.¹⁰, Kcb.¹ 1940; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems, Gl.:
Dirle, a smarting Pain quickly over.Sc. 1827 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 327:
Were I to leeve ten thousan' years . . . I sud never get the better o' the dear delightfu' dirl o' a fricht.Abd. 1909 C. Murray Hamewith 47:
The bairns can barely bide the dirl O' feet gane dozin.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters 294:
The fiercest joy of his life was the dirl that went up his arm.

3. A tremulous or vibratory motion, gen. accompanied by a sharp noise, a clatter or rattle (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Sh.¹⁰ 1949; Cai.⁷, Bnff.², Abd.², Fif.¹⁰ 1940); a rippling (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); specifically: the sound produced by bagpipes, a trill.Sh. 1926–28 J.G. in Shetland Times:
Sorro thing I herd bit da sam auld dirl.Rs. 1936 C. Macdonald Echoes of Glen xxvii.:
You can fairly get the dirls into that one.Abd. 1853 W. Cadenhead Flights 236:
I heard the dyrll of the car.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 18:
Bit fyles yer birss begins to rise
An rummlins fae yer thrapple birl
Wi fearsome gurr an feerious dirl
Like thunner rivin simmer skies.Ags. 1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister iv.:
Put your ear to the ground, Mr Dishart, and you'll hear the dirl o' their feet.Border 1825 Jam.²:
A dirl on the water, the motion caused by a slight wind.Kcb. 1896 S. R. Crockett Grey Man i.:
It fell with a ringing dirl of iron upon the stones of the pavement.Rxb. a.1860 J. Younger Autobiog. (1881) 326:
These . . . neighbours of ours, who dust and din us with the dirl of their equipages.

4. A gust (of wind) (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Sh.¹⁰ 1949; Bnff.² 1940).Abd. 1912–19 Rymour Club Misc. II. 179:
If it had come a dirl o' win', it wad hae blawn her awa.

5. A hurry, bustle, fig. a short space of time; a rattling pace; an energetic movement, a “go” at something.Sh. 1901 T. P. Ollason Mareel 82:
I winna firget dat sam' vaige in a dirl.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
A dirl on a fiddle, at a sewing machine, etc.Abd. 1932 J.W. in Abd. Press and Jnl. (13 April):
Wattie dreev an at sic a feerious dirl, he tint . . . some eerans an' orra trock he hid i' the cairt.Abd. 1949 Buchan Observer (29 Nov.):
A game of cards, a dirl on the melodeon.

Phr.: wi' a dirl an' a fling, with great haste and eagerness, used ironically.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
“I saw dee comin wi a dirl an a fling” implies that I knew you would not come.

III. Used adv. with verbs of motion come, fall, play, etc. = with a clatter, crash (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰ 1940).Sc. 1887 R. L. Stevenson Thrawn Janet 142:
They could hear her teeth play dirl thegether in her chafts.Sh.¹⁰ 1949:
It cam dirl against my face. Da lum can fell dirl i da yard.Edb. 1900 E. H. Strain Elmslie's Drag-Net 28:
His head played dirl against the chairback.Lnk. 1882 J. Carmichael Poems 37:
Dear Jamie, whan your lines I read, My heart and brain played dirl.Ayr. 1785 Burns Death and Dr Hornbook (Cent. ed.) xvi.:
It [dart] played dirl on the bane.