Tassie
September 27th 2025
The term tassie is a diminutive form of tass and is defined in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) as, “a cup, bowl, goblet, [or] drinking vessel, especially for spirits”. It can also be used for “a winner’s cup [or] a trophy”.
DSL’s earliest citation in this form comes from Robert Burns’s The Silver Tassie (1788): “Go, fetch to me a pint o’ wine, And fill it in a silver tassie”.
Moving from wine to spirits, Sir Walter Scott’s Redgauntlet (1824) included the following call to: “Gie Steenie a tass of brandy down stairs”.
For an example where the tassie’s contents aren’t alcoholic, we can turn to James Bridie’s Anatomist (1932): “I’ll hae a tassie o’ tae ready for ye in a jiffy”.
The term is still used for both drinking vessels and trophies. In August 1995, the Galloway News reported that, “The draw for the Junior Tassie [would] be played at Kirkcudbright Golf Club on Saturday”.
You can still compete for the Craw’s Nest Tassie at Carnoustie Golf Links or, if amateur dramatics are more your speed, the Scottish Community Drama Association awards the Wheatley Tassie to the first place winners in its Scottish Final.
In February 2023, the Stirling Observer adapted Burns’s famous line whilst urging readers to revisit his poetry: “To large extent the haggis and the whisky (while excellent) rob Burns of his power and challenge. So pick him up again, fetch yourself a pint o’wine and bring it a silver tassie and lose yourself in our greatest poet, you won’t regret it”.
Dictionaries of the Scots Language would like to thank Bob Dewar for illustrating our Scots Word of the Week feature.
