Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1795, 1893-1922
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GALTI, GOLTI, n. Also gulti(e), goltie, †ga(u)lt, gott. For vocalised forms, see Gaut. [′gɑlt(i), ′gɔlt(i), ′golti, ′gʊlti]
1. A pig, esp. a castrated boar (Rxb. 1825 Jam., galt; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., galti, 1914 Angus Gl., gulti, 1932 J. M. E. Saxby Trad. Lore 196, gultie), "used only of young pigs and gelded older [male] pigs" (Ork. 1929 Marw., golt(ie); Ork.1 1943, galt; Ork.5 (golt), Cai. 1953), "now comm[on] only as a nickname (occas. tabu-name, sea-term) or a pet-name for a pig, fatted pig" (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), galti, golt(i); Sh. 1953).Cai. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 VII. 525:
Teind geese, meat swine, and mill gault.Ork. 1893 Saga-Bk. Viking Club II. 41:
We've twa gude gaults into the stye And many a gude ane rinning thereby.Ork. 1922 J. Firth Reminisc. 157:
Twa grey golts lying in a stye, The mair they get the mair they cry. (A pair of millstones.)
2. Used also in Sh. and Ork. in place-names for a rocky point or skerry (Jak. and Marw.). Hence applied to any rock or stone on land of a rounded bulky shape.Ork. c.1912 J. Omond Orkney 80 Years Ago 21:
When ploughing began, they [horses] were as wild as hares, and as my informant said, "fled around like birds, and many a big golt of a stane flang the man and ploo aboot."
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"Galti n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/galti>
