Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1789-1828, 1883-1928, 2000
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TUMMOCK, n., v. Also tumick, tomack, tammock. Dim. tumickin (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 232).
I. n. A small mound or hillock, a tuft or tussock of grass, a mole-hill (sm.Sc. a.1813 A. Murray Hist. Eur. Langs (1823) I. 101; Ayr. 1825 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 232; Dmf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 157; Uls. 1953 Traynor; Wgt. 1973).Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 25:
Upo' a turf-dyke, straught, they take their stan', Or round a tammock wheel.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. ix.:
A “rouch curr tyke”, seated in a comfortable manner on some foggy tomack.Ayr. 1828 D. Wood Poems 48:
She'll eat the grass about the midden Or grassy tammock.Wgt. 1883 D. McWhirter Ploughboy's Musings 64:
Sae hameward hied the tammocks owre.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 225:
The Moat in Gallawa's a muckle conical tummock, maistly wi a flat tap.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 8:
Nae time, enoo, to sairch for nests, Or on a tummock tak' their rests.Gsw. 2000 Donny O'Rourke in Alec Finlay Atoms of Delight 129:
A proper tummock, you can scarcely see at all
The bump in a bog, a marshy mound, a knubby knoll.
II. v. To build up to a high point without stability (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 232, tumick).
[Gael. tom, a bush, thicket, knoll, + Sc. dim. ending -Ock. See also Tam, n.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Tummock n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tummock>
