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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PUFF, v., n. Also puf, puft (Abd. 1777 R. Forbes Ulysses 19). Dim. puffie (Abd. 1920 G. P. Dunbar Peat Reek 40).

I. v. 1. As in Eng. Freq. form puffle, to keep puffing or blowing; to puff out, distend (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.). Comb. puff-the-win', a bellows.Rnf. 1876 J. Nicholson Kilwuddie 91:
Haud yer tongue, auld puff-the-win' . . . E'en a bach'lor's bellowses should learn to be content.

Deriv. puffer, n., a small steam-boat used to carry cargoes of all kinds around the west coasts and islands of Scotland (see quots.) (wm.Sc. 1967). Also attrib.Sc. 1901 Scotsman (19 Dec.):
One of the crew of the puffer had fallen overboard.wm.Sc. 1906 H. Foulis Vital Spark (1931) 131:
Thirty years ago, before the steam puffer came in to sweep the sailing smack from all the seas that lie between Bowling and Stornoway.wm.Sc. 1957 Manchester Guardian (6 Sept.):
The puffers, so called because the early models had no condenser and chuffed like railway engines, were originally built for the canals and most of them are still 66 ft. long, the size of a lock on the Forth-Clyde. They are blunt-bowed steamers of about a hundred tons, with a high wheelhouse and funnel aft, and a foremast which supports a derrick with a huge coal-bucket.Bte. 1962 Stat. Acc.³ 418:
Small steam-lighters, known all over the Firth of Clyde as “puffers” or “coal-boats”, which carry about 110 tons and move bulky cargoes from Glasgow or Troon to Bute or Cumbrae or from Troon or Ayr to Arran . . . Their origin and development were naturally called forth by the difficulties of road communication among the many islands and the sea-lochs.Sc. 2000 Herald (24 May) 3:
It seemed to have steamed off over the horizon of history, leaving in its wake only memories.
But the puffer, formerly the workhorse of Scotland's West Coast shipping trade and fictionalised in the Para Handy novels, is to be elevated to new levels in Scottish folklore. Sc. 2002 Sunday Herald (11 Aug) 4:
Queen of the party was the Spartan, the last operating puffer to be built in Scotland and 60 years young this year. The Scottish Maritime Museum, where she is berthed, laid on a festival of puffer- related activities during the day, culminating in a dinner held in her honour, when she was toasted with ale especially brewed for the occasion by Forth Brewery of Alloa. Sc. 2002 Sunday Herald (11 Aug) 4:
[Tommy Kearins] played the young ship's lad Dougie in the 1953 Ealing comedy classic The Maggie, a picaresque film of puffer exploits which is almost as thrilling to a true enthusiast as stepping aboard the real thing. Sc. 2003 Evening Times (10 May) 3:
[John Grieve], who died earlier this year aged 78, shot to fame as hapless engineer Dan MacPhail in the classic 60s and 70s comedy series about the adventures of the crew of a creaking west coast puffer.

2. To boast, brag (Bnff., Abd., Kcb. 1967). Cf. Blaw, v.¹, II. 1.Edb. 1811 H. MacNeill Bygane Times 21:
Puffing o' wealth, and friends high mettled.Abd. 1903 E.D.D.:
He was gleg in puffin.

II. n. As in Eng. Deriv. puffy, puffing, in comb. puffy-dunter, the porpoise, Phocaena phocaena, from its quick breathing in surfacing (Bwk. 1921 T.S.D.C.; ne.Sc. 1966), also in short form puffie (Fif. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 260; Abd., Ags., Fif. 1967). See also Dunter.Abd. 1891 R. Kirk N. Sea Shore iii.:
The “sough” of the porpoise's breathing intimated the proximity of the “puffy-dunter,” as the fishermen call him.Fif. 1935 Rintoul & Baxter Fauna of Forth 42:
The Porpoise . . . it is well known to fishermen along the coast, who call them “Puffies” on account of the noise they make when coming to the surface.