Diddle
July 12th 2025
The Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) tell us that to diddle is, “to sing in a rather low-pitched key without words, generally as an accompaniment to dancing”.
In Willy Waly, and Other Poems (1873) James Ogg wrote: “Although I canna join the choir, I’ll hooch [shout] an’ diddle”.
Another kind of diddling is noted by Charles Murray in his Sough o’ War (1917): “A mither’s diddlin till her bairn can bring The sleep that flees fae fussle, trumpe or string”. A mother’s soothing voice is preferrable to any musical instrument!
Later in the twentieth century, Betsy Whyte commented on the conviviality of Traveller life in Red Rowans and Wild Honey (1990): “We would have our friends and relations there with their musical instruments, their diddling, canterach and singing”.
In March 2002, the Press and Journal reported on a local competition: “Mr Easton ended up winning the Scots verse, bothy ballads and diddling sections, while nine-year-old Natalie Chalmers of Fraserburgh became the first winner of the junior verse and singing competitions”.
One might think that, with instant access to music now the norm, diddling competitions could be a thing of the past. Luckily not. The following report from the Dundee Courier in November 2022 covers what is reputed to be the UK’s longest running mountain film festival: “It kicks off on Thursday with former Lochaber Mountain Rescue guide, Royal Marine and rock climber Mick Tighe presenting a selection of archival films from his Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection, accompanied by live music and ‘diddling’ from Steven Gellatly and Denis Shepherd”.
Dictionaries of the Scots Language would like to thank Bob Dewar for illustrating our Scots Word of the Week feature.
