Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
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.

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.