Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GLUMSH, GLUMCH, v., n., adj. Also glumpsh (Ags.); glums (Sh.). [glʌm(p)ʃ]

I. v. To be or look sulky, surly; to grumble, whine (Cld. 1880 Jam.; Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 Wilson; Ayr.⁴ 1928; Bnff., Abd., Ags., Slg., Fif. 1954); to pout, to appear as if about to cry (Fif. 1825 Jam.). Also in w.Yks. dial. Ppl.adj. glumsit, surly, sulky (Sh. 1954).Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 45:
An' whan her marriage-day does come, Ye maun na gang to glumch an' gloom.Per. 1871 Per. Constitutional (18 Sept.):
He had thick glumshin like lips.Lnl. 1890 A. M. Bisset Spring Blossoms 70:
Though Fortune glumsh wi' soor grimace.m.Sc. 1924 “O. Douglas” Pink Sugar xix.:
D'ye think the Lord likes folk to gang roond wi' soor faces glumchin' at their fellow-craters?Bnff. 1934 J. M. Caie Kindly North 26:
I winna glumsh an' greet aboot it noo.Ags. 1947 J. B. Salmond Toby Jug ix.:
I wud hae been better pleased if he'd been dooms angry wi me; but he juist glumpshed.

II. n. A sulky, sullen or surly mood (Cld. 1880 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 245), also occas. in pl.; a surly look (‡Per. 1954); a wry or doleful face, a pout.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxii.:
As he had mair siller in his kist locker, I got my twa half croons withoot a glumsh.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 66:
He wiz in a glumch a' day aboot it.Fif. 1875 A Burgess Book of Nettercaps 59:
He screwed roond his mouth, and began to be cheery, And gied a bit glumsh that his big tae was sair.Per. 1878 R. Ford Hame-spun Lays 74:
[I] growl'd at a' roun' like a tyke; In the glumshes I sippit my coffee.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends xix.:
The puir bodies . . . hae to bear mony a glumsh.Per. 1904 R. Ford Hum. Sc. Stories (Series 2) 97:
Johnnie himsel, whase only defence in the matter is . . . a glumsh.em.Sc. 1988 James Robertson Chapman 52 72:
Weill, they wis still staunin there, the twa o them, an sic a glumsh on their grunzies, an the auld saw cam intil their heids ...

III. adj. Sulky, sour-looking (Ayr.⁴ 1928; Abd., Ags. 1954); melancholy (Gregor). Also derivs. glumshie, -y, id. (Bnff., Cld. 1880 Jam.; Per. 1954); boorish (Fif., Bwk. 1950), glumshous, sulky (Per., Wgt. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.), glumshach, id. (Abd. 1954). Also adv.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 66:
Ye needna be sae glumch aboot it. A cudna dee better.Abd.¹⁵ 1928:
She's some glumshy to be ca'd bonnie.Ags. 1928 Scots Mag. (July) 273:
She . . . glowered at him sae glumsh that e'en the wickit fiery een o' him fell.wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 115:
The old man may have been glumshie and cantankerous but his word was his word and he agreed to the marriage.