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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.

CRAMASIE, Cramasye, Cramosie, Crammosie, Crammasy, Crammasie, Crimsie, adj., n. Poet. or arch. [′krɑmə′zi:, ′krɑmɔ′zi:]

1. adj. Crimson; also “applied to any dark colour of this tinge, which was ingrained” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²). Fif.¹⁰ (1940) says: “used rarely by old folks forty years ago.”Sc.(E) 1879 P. H. Waddell Isaiah 8:
Tho' yer fauts be like scarlet-bluid . . . aye, tho' they war cramosie-red, like woo they'se be wushen white.Sc. 1987 T. S. Law in Joy Hendry Chapman 50-1 146:
...Up, haillsome hert! Syne gar yer ribband flatter the rucher wi the morn growne crammasie, ... Abd. 1930 The Mullart in Abd. Univ. Review (Nov.) 26:
He sees the sun a' crammasy Rise up throwe mists o' meal.Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 49:
Inby the kirk, twis as cauld's a crypt. A crammosie carpet ran frae yett tae altar, like a bluid-red bandage, richt up the steps tae the meenister's reest itsel, like a craw's nest.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 51:
As fou's a puggie maist o the week,
that snochert whiles he could barelies speak
but sat, heid doon a' haverin
aye tae himsel, mumpin, slaverin,
reid i the neb, cramasie i the cheek. Ags. 1993 Mary McIntosh in Joy Hendry Chapman 74-5 112:
Thar wis a spladge o orange i the sky aa shotten through wi a crammasie glowe, an he shiddered as the nicht creepit roon him. m.Sc. 1993 Donald Farquhar in A. L. Kennedy and Hamish Whyte New Writing Scotland 11: The Ghost of Liberace 27:
Thair taes in saun like blawin seed thair heids cramasie, ay. wm.Sc. 1987 Anna Blair Scottish Tales (1990) 9:
There were the gold studs he had brought her from London and a fine silver-link bracelet he had found in York, a string of excellent matching Spey pearls sold from a laird's home in Grantown and a ruby ring that she wore with her best cramasie velvet gown. Ayr. 1824 A. Crawford Tales of my Grandmother 207:
Thy jetty spots an' crimsie shell [of a ladybird].

2. n. Crimson cloth.Sc. a.1724 in Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1733) 187:
We were a comely sight to see; My love was cled in black velvet, And I my sell in cramasie.Sc. 1925 Hugh MacDiarmid The Complete Poems of Hugh MacDiarmid 1920-1976 Vol. 1 (1978) 17:
Mars is braw in cramasie
Venus in a green silk goun. Sc.(E) 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 17:
An', in a tantrum, sweelin' roon' 'er A flinrikin goon o' cramasie.Abd. 1987 Donald Gordon The Low Road Hame 40:
Aside the thorn, in cramasie,
The splendour o the Judas tree. m.Sc. 1960s Iain Crichton Smith Selected Poems 1955-1980 (1981) 115:
Illusion after illusion dies.
After the gay green, the blackness.
Snatches
'and I mysel in crammasie.'
Rainbows
out of the darkness. wm.Sc. 1987 Anna Blair Scottish Tales (1990) 176:
Robert had also in his satchel several samples, lately sailed in from France, of rich silks that glowed in jewel greens and cramasies and gold, and he knew that they would delight the royal eyes and bring great credit on his taste.Slk. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 215:
Why walks young Mary Scott so late, In veil and cloak of cramasye?