acolyte - novice druid in training

Am Monadh Ruadh - the original Scots Gaelic name for the Cairngorm mountains, which translates to English as “the red hills”

anneal - heat and then allow forged material to slowly cool to remove internal stresses and strengthen it

apoplexy, apoplectic - medieval terms for “stroke” and “suffering from a stroke”

arse - British slang for “ass”

aye - yes

bairn - child

baggie – Scottish slang for “big-bellied”

banger – Scottish slang for “penis”

barmy – British slang for “crazy”

bastart - bastard

battlements - protective areas on castle outer walls that have regularly-spaced openings used to return fire

bausy – Scottish slang for something large, fat and coarse

baws - balls, testicles

beastly - British slang for something horrible or arduous

Beinn Nibheis – old Scots Gaelic for Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Scotland

besom – Scottish slang for a promiscuous woman

besotted - British slang for strongly infatuated

bhean – Scots gaelic for “wife”

black affronted – very embarrassed, extremely humiliated

blaeberry - European fruit that resembles the American blueberry

bleeding - British obscenity, roughly equivalent to “damned” but much more offensive in the UK

blethering – Scottish slang for talking a lot without making much sense

bloke - British slang for a male

blethering - chatting

bleezin’ -drunk

blind - cover device

blood kin - genetic relatives

bloody - British obscenity, see bleeding

boabie – Scottish slang for “penis”

boak, boaking - Scottish slang for vomit, vomiting

bone-conjurer – a druid who uses the bones of the dead to communicate with their spirits

boon - gift or favor

boyo - British slang for a boy or man

Bràithrean an fhithich - Brethren of the raven

braw - Scottish slang for “outstanding”

brieve - a writ

brilliant - British slang for excellent or marvelous

broch – an ancient round hollow-walled structure found only in Scotland

buckler - shield

bugger - British slang for a contemptible person

caber tosser – an athlete in a traditional Scottish field event who throws a large wooden pole called a caber

cac - Scots gaelic for “shit”

caibeal - Scots Gaelic for “chapel”

cairn - a pile or stack of stones

Caledonia - ancient Scotland

cannae - can't

caraidean - Scots Gaelic for “friends”

centuria – (plural centuriae) a Roman legion detachment of eighty men

chap - British slang for a male

cheeky - British slang for slightly disrespectful

cherie - French for feminine version of “my dear”

Chieftain - the head of a specific Pritani tribe

chuffie – Scottish slang for fat-faced, portly

chundering - British slang for throwing up

clachan - Scottish word for small hamlet or village

clodhoppers - British slang for work boots

clout - strike

cocked up - British slang for something done very badly

coddle - pamper

codswallop - British slang for “nonsense”

comely - attractive

conclave - druid ruling body

conclavist - member of the druid ruling body

confinement (relating to pregnancy) – childbirth

cosh - British slang for “hit”

couldnae - couldn't

cow - derogatory term for woman

croft - small rented farm

crofter - a person who farms a croft

cross - British slang for “angry”

cudgel - wooden club

daft - crazy; Scottish slang for “unstable”

death oan a prin stick – “death on a prin stick”; Scottish slang for someone who looks deathly sick

demi - French term for a half-size bottle of champagne; holds 375 ml

dinnae - don’t

disincarnate - commit suicide

doesnae - doesn’t

dru-wid - Proto Celtic word; an early form of “druid”

eagalsloc - synonym for “oubliette”; coined from Scots Gaelic for “fear” and “pit”; an inescapable hole or cell where prisoners are left to die

eala - Scots Gaelic for “swan”

ducat - a gold European trade coin

ell - ancient unit of length measurement, equal to approximately 18 inches

epicure - a person who takes particular interest and/or pleasure in gourmet dining and drinking

fack - fuck

facking - fucking

famhair - Scots Gaelic for giant (plural, famhairean)

fathom - understand

feart - Scottish or Irish for afraid

Finfolk – Scottish mythological equivalent of mermen and mermaids

firesteel - a piece of metal used with flint to create sparks

for fire-making

flat – apartment

fortlet - a little fort

fortnight - British slang for a two-week period of time

Francia - France

Francian - French

funeral pyre – the pile of wood on which a corpse is burned

Gaul - ancient region that included France, Belgium, southern Netherlands, southwestern Germany, and northern Italy

Germania - Germany

girthie – Scottish slang for fat or heavy

goosed - Scottish slang for “smashed”

gormless - British slang for someone with an acute lack of common sense

gowk – Scottish slang for “simpleton”

granary - a storehouse for threshed grain

greyling - species of freshwater fish in the salmon family

hasnae - hasn’t

hauchan – Scottish slang for a lump of mucus one coughs up

Hispania - Roman name for the Iberian peninsula (modern day Portugal and Spain)

hobble – to tie or strap to keep something from straying; usually a horse

hoor - Scottish slang for whore

huddy – stupid

incarnation - one of the many lifetimes of a druid

isnae - isn’t

jobby - Scottish slang for “shit”

joint salve – topical rub for sore or stiff joints

jolly good - British slang for “excellent”

keeker - black eye

ken - know

kip - British slang for “nap”

knackered - British slang for exhausted

lad - boy

laird - lord

land of the white bear - the Arctic

larder - pantry

lardy cake – a rich dessert cake or bread made with lard, spices, currants or raisins

lass - girl

league - distance measure of approximately three miles

leannan - Scots Gaelic for “beloved”

lochan - a small lakelot - British slang for a group, usually made up of people

lorry - UK slang for truck

ma belle - French for “my beauty” or “my beautiful one”

maidenhood – virginity

magic folk - druids

make a hash of it - British slang, to do something badly

mandrel - a shaped cylinder around which forged metal can be shaped

manky - British slang for “disgusting”

mate (nickname) - British slang for “friend”

máthair – Scots Gaelic for “mother”

mayhap - maybe

mettle - a person’s ability to cope with difficulties

mind-move - telekinesis

minging - stinky

mojo - American slang for “magic”

mòran taing - Scots Gaelic for “many thanks”

morion - a brown or black variety of quartz

mustnae - must not

naught - nothing

night rail – a loose robe worn as a nightgown

no’ - not

nod off - British slang for going to sleep

NOSAS - North of Scotland Archaeology Society

nutjob - American slang for a crazy or foolish person

nutter - British slang for a mentally-disturbed person

on about - British slang for “talking about”

on the mooch - Scottish slang for spying on someone á la a Peeping Tom

oubliette - a dungeon with an opening only at the top

ovate - Celtic priest or natural philosopher

pike - pole

plonker - British slang for “idiot”

podgy – chubby

portcullis - a strong, heavy gating used to block doorways in a castle

prattling - to talk for a long time on inconsequential matters

Pritani - Britons (one of the people of southern Britain before or during Roman times)

quim - medieval slang for the female genitals

ramparts - a defensive wall of a castle that has a walkway

reeks like an alky’s carpet - very smelly

revenant - a person revived from death, a zombie

ruddy - a British intensifier and euphemism for bloody

scarper - British slang for “run away”

schiltron - a medieval battle formation used to form a living barrier or wall of troops

scullery - a small back room off the kitchen where the dishes or laundry are washed

scunner - Scottish slang for an object or person that causes dislike and/or nausea

sett – the burrow that a badger digs

shag - British slang for sexual intercourse

shambles - British slang for an extensive or serious mess

shambolic - British slang for “chaotic”

sheshey – Scots Gaelic for “husband”

shite - British slang for “shit”

shouldnae - shouldn't

side ladders - the slatted upper sides on the back of a medieval cart or wagon

skelf – Scottish slang for wood-splinter thin

skellum – Scottish slang for rogue or scoundrel

skelp - Scottish slang for slap, hit or beat

slee - sly, cunning

slouster - Scottish slang for kissing in a slobbery way

Sluath – mythic air-riding demonic immortals who steal the souls of vulnerable or dying mortals

snaiking – Scottish slang for “sneaking”

sod (verb) - British slang for “screw”

sod all - British slang for “nothing”

solar - rooms in a medieval castle that served as the family's private living and sleeping quarters

solicitor - British term for lawyer

soul-sharing – druid term for empathy

speak-seer - a druid who can communicate with the dead and channel their voices

spew - vomit

splitting maul - a type of hammer-ax combination tool

spredith - Scottish slang for cattle or livestock

staunch weed - yarrow

stone (weight) - British weight measurement equal to 14 lbs.

stone lifter – someone who dead-lifts heavy ancient stones kept in various places in Scotland

swaddled – tightly-wrapped in linen to prevent movement, used on infants

tanist – the rank name for a Scottish laird’s second in command

Tha mi a ‘gealltainn - Scots Gaelic for “I promise”

’tis - it is

’tisnt - it isn’t

tor - large, freestanding rock outcrop

tree-knower - the Skaraven nickname for the druids of their time

thick with - closely involved, relating to “thick as thieves”

transom - a weight-bearing support crossbar

trencher - wooden platter for food

trews - trousers

tuyere - a pipe through which air is blown into a furnace

’twas - it was

’twere - it was

’twill - it will

’twould - it would

uisge beatha - old Scots Gaelic for “whiskey”

unbodying – removing a famhair’s spirit from his physical form

undercroft - a room in a lower level of a castle used for storage

vole - small rodent related to the mouse

wallapers – Scottish slang for “idiots”

wancheery - Scottish slang for “miserable”

wanker - British slang for a useless person

wasnae - wasn’t

watchlight - a term for a grease-soaked rush stalk, used as a candle in medieval times

wazzock - British slang for “idiot”

wee - small

wench - girl or young woman

whidder – Scottish slang for forcing someone to do something

willnae - will not

wouldnae - would not

Yank - UK slang for “American”

your head’s mince – Scottish slang for “you’re deeply confused”