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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HECKLEBIRNIE, n. Also heckie-.

1. A euphemism for Hell (Abd. 1825 Jam., heckle-, Lth. Ib., heckie-; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Bnff., Abd. 1956), gen. used imprecatively. Also in Nhb. dial.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
I dinna care though ye were at Heckiebirnie, or, as far as Heckiebirnie; Loth. The only account given of this place is, that it is three miles beyond Hell.Bnff. 1849 R. Sim Legends Strathisla 35:
The surmises and suspicions regarding the agency employed in the removal of the stones [of a new kirk] . . . rested on the guidman of Hecklebirnie, the only dissatisfied parishioner. . . . The common adage, “Gae to Hecklebirnie” . . . would imply anything but a place of rest . . . if we may judge from the speedy migration of the stones intended for the Kirk.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxxv.:
I wad see them a' at heckle-birnie afore I wad fornyaw mysel' at that rate.Sc. 1868 J. Grant White Cockade iii.:
For a' we see, we may be running out of the latitude of Hell, into that of Hecklebirnie — a place that is hotter still!Abd. 1882 W. Forsyth Sel. from Writings 25:
We'll sen' ye [devil] hame to Heckle-birnie, Whuslin' o' yer' riestit thiume.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B. 167:
An indefinitely or infinitely remote place: “Gang ti Heckle-birnie — three miles ferrer ben than hell!”Sc. a.1940 Songs of the N.-E. (Keith) 53:
Ay, things that in their sizzon nearly gart ye loss your rizzon Ha'e slippit doon the road to Hecklebirnie.

2. A children's game (see quot.) and cf. heckle-pin s.v. Heckle, n.¹, v.¹, III. 4).Abd. 1825 Jam.:
A play among children, in which thirty or forty, in two rows, joining opposite hands, strike smartly, with their hands thus joined, on the head or shoulders of their companion as he runs the gauntlet through them. This is called “passing through the mires [i.e. meers, Muirs] of Hecklebirnie.”