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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

WINDLESTRAE, n., adj. Also windel-, win(n)le-, winnel-, wun(n)le-, wunnel-, whinil-; wingle-; -streh, -stra(w); reduced form winstrae after Wind, n.1

I. n. 1. A tall, thin, withered stalk of grass (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 210, winglestreh; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson, wunnelstrae; Rxb. 1915 Jedburgh Gazette (17 Sept.) 3, wunnlestrae; Ags. 1926, wingle-, win(d)lestrae; Uls. 1953 Traynor, windle-, winnel-, wunnel-straw; n.Sc., em.Sc. (a), wm., sm., s.Sc. 1974). Also attrib. Also in Eng. dial. Combs. windlestrae-legged, having very thin legs, -looking, thin, weak- or puny-looking.Sc. 1710 Fountainhall Decisions II. 568:
To restrict him to the fifth part of the rent was to send him to lift the rest of his stipend from windlestraws and sandy laverocks.
Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 134:
He that's redd for windle straws, should not pish in Lays.
Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 60:
Bit an' bit the sickness wears awa', But she's as dweble as a windle-stra'.
Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 44:
Winnlestraes excel the grov'ling fog.
Ayr. 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Ayr. 291:
If you show him the stem of any of the grasses, he calls it a windle-straw.
Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality vii.:
I had rather that the rigs of Tillietudlem bare naething but wmdlestraes and sandy lavrocks than that they were ploughed by rebels to the king.
Sc. 1825 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 13:
Puir wee bit hunched-backed, windlestrae-legged, gleg-eed, creature.
Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Trad. 102:
A vast number of little women in green-gowns collecting wingle-straes.
Fif. 1862 St Andrews Gaz. (8 Aug.):
Thae windle-strae lookin' brats.
Lnk. 1866 D. Wingate Annie Weir 63:
Nae mortal wi' Archie can fettle bee-skeps, And wide is the fame o' his windlestrae caps.
e.Lth. 1908 J. Lumsden Th' Loudons 104:
A wilderness o' weeds an' winnelstraes.
Sc. 1926 H. M'Diarmid Drunk Man 54:
And a' the life o' Earth to be Can never lift frae underneath The shank o' which oor destiny's pairt As heich's to stand forenenst the trunk Stupendous as a windlestrae!
Dundee 2000 Ellie McDonald Pathfinder 11:
My heid doun, my words
blawn like windlestrae ahent me.

2. Specif. of various kinds of natural grass with long thin stalks (n., em.Sc.(a), wm., sm., s.Sc. 1974): the crested dogstail grass, Cynosurus cristatus (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis; Lnk. 1831 W. Patrick Plants 83; Abd. 1930); the meadow soft-grass, Holcus lanatus (Cai. 1974, winstrae); the tufted hair-grass, Aira caespitosa (Bwk. 1853 G. Johnston Botany E. Borders 211; Ayr. 1886 B. & H., winnel-straw); ¶the rye-grass, Lolium perenne. Comb. windlestrae grass.Abd. 1777 J. Anderson Essays II. 261:
Nearly the same thing may be said of the crested dogs-tail-grass, Cynosurus crystatus, commonly known in Scotland by the name of Windlestraw-grass.
Rxb. 180 J. Leyden Remains (1819) 30:
The windlestrae [footnote: Ryegrass], so limber and gray.
m.Lth. 1829 Trans. Highl. Soc. I. 292:
What he terms Winle-straes, and which appear to be the Holcus lanatus of botanists.
Sc. 1840 W. MacGillivray Brit. Birds III. 729:
The nest . . . was built in a tuft of windle-straw grass, Aira caespitosa, of the preceding year's growth.

3. Transf.: (1) in gen. (i) of anything light, trifling or of no account (Sc. 1808 Jam.); an atom, a mere fragment.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 144:
A set o' men, Wha, if they get their private pouches lin'd, Gie na a winnelstrae for a' mankind.
Rnf. 1876 D. Gilmour Paisley Weavers 56:
Splitting theological windlestraes.
Sc. 1896 Stevenson W. of Hermiston viii.:
The world and the folks in't are nae mair than clouds to the puir lassie, and heaven nae mair than windle-straes.
Slg. 1901 R. Buchanan Poems 146:
Had the animal stopped a quarter o' a second it would hae been smashed into whinilstraes.

(ii) a contemptuous name for a weapon, a dagger, or the like.Slk. 1824 Hogg Justified Sinner (1874) 521:
What div ye ca' this bit windlestrae [a dagger] that's appearing here?
Sc. 1831 Scott C. R. Paris xi.:
Not one has the courage to throw his windlestraw while he perceives that of another pointed against himself.
Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags xl.:
He grippit me with one hand and drew his windlestrae of a sword wi' the other.

(2) of persons: one who is thin or lanky, weak in health or character, or of little strength or importance (ne.Sc., Ags., wm.Sc. 1974).Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage xxxiv.:
A wheen puir feckless windlestraes — ye maun awa to Ingland for yere healths.
Sc. 1821 Jacobite Relics (Hogg) I. 65:
Till brave Dalyell came forth himsel, Then saints turn'd windlestraws, man.
Abd. 1863 G. MacDonald D. Elginbrod x.:
Mr Sutherland's no feckless winlestrae o' a creater.
Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 42:
No' for an auld doited winnlestrae like thee.
Kcb. 1895 Crockett Bog-Myrtle 21:
You, Alexander Kippen, puir windlestrae, the Lord shall thresh ye like ill-grown corn.
Arg. 1912 N. Munro Ayrshire Idylls (1935) 302:
This windlestrae of a man with the cliff of skull and the raptured voice.

II. adj., from n. used attrib.: easily blown about, hence feeble, weak, thin, delicate.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 202:
A bit waff winlestrae thing o' a gauger.
Sc. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 117:
Your wee bit sma, thin, peepin, chirpin, wunnel-strae bit o' a vicey.
Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce II. xiii.:
Your windlestrae mallifuff madams that cannot stir from their arm-chair till they are drammed up with their green-tea.
Edb. 1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 191:
In a crap o' strong men they're the windle-strae reeds.

[O.Sc. wyndilstray, = 1., 1513, O.E. windelstrēaw, id., with substitution of Strae for Straw.]

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"Windlestrae n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/windlestrae>

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