Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
TOMAN, n. Also tomhan. A little hill, a mound of earth, a hillock, freq. one formed by the moraine of a glacier in the upper reaches of a Highland glen, in folk-lore associated with a dwelling-place of the fairies. [′tomən]Sc. 1811 Mrs A. Grant Superstitions I. 282:
The secret dwellers of these tomhans, or fairy hillocks.Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 86:
Singing a song to the Queen of the Fairies among the tomans of her ancient woods.Sc. 1854 H. Miller Schools vi.:
A beautiful tomhan, that, waving with birch from base to summit, rose regular as a pyramid from the bottom of the valley.Sc. 1868 D. Gorrie Orkneys 170:
The goblin and fairy legends, once common among the peasantry in the south of Scotland, were connected with those huge boulders and gravel-knolls or tomans.
