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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TRAVEL, v., n. Also †travell, traevel (Sh. 1926 Shetland Times (4 Dec.)), -ill, traivel (Sc. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods 84, Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo 102, Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 53), traivle (Sh. 1918 T. Manson Peat Comm. 29), trevel (Lnk. 1951 G. Rae Howe o' Braefoot 10), trevle; †travail; and reduced form tra'el, by confusion with Trail, v., 2.

I. v. 1. = Eng. ‡travail, to toil, labour, weary. Arch. Ppl.adj. travailed, wearied, exhausted.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality iv.:
He wad hae like to hae ridden by, but his horse was ower sair travailed.Sc. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar xxv.:
Gif the meenisters uprightly travelled to punish vice.

2. As in Eng., to journey, move from place to place. Sc. form of Eng. travel. Also ppl.adj. traivellin. Sc. derivs.: (1) travelled, ppl.adj., of soil, stones, etc.: deposited at some distance from its original site, carried to some new position by natural forces or human interference. Now adopted in geological terminology in Eng.; (2) traveller, (i) a kind of child's top (see quot.); (ii) a lobster on which small molluscs have not settled (see quot.); (iii) jocularly, a head-louse (Ork., ne.Sc., Dmf. 1973). See Jerusalem, 3.; (iv) a metal ring or sleeve sliding on a bar on the shaft of a cart, to which the back-chain is hooked (Arg., Ayr. 1937). Cf. Eng. traveller, of a somewhat sim. fitting on a ship's spar; (v) Sc. form of Eng. traveller.wm.Sc. 1994 Duncan and Linda Williamson in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 128:
So he traivellt on an he traivellt on, here and there an he's getting wee bits o jobs here and wee bits o jobs there, but this wis always botherin his mind. m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven A Play About St Ninian 5:
Mither: A dare say ye will, ye've ayeweys been strang-willed, daein it yer ain wey.
Faither: Ninian, never heid yer Mither, dae as ye want, ye've been plannin tae trevel fir many a year an we wish ye weel. m.Sc. 1998 Ian Cameron The Jimmy Shand Story 113:
Auchtermuchty is central tae many areas o Scotland; and that's handy for a traivellin musician. Dundee 2000 Ellie McDonald Pathfinder 10:
An whit div I cairry as I traivel?
Aa that's sair tae bear
gaithert in a clout.
Seeven times seeven year an mair
traivellin, traivellin.(1) Sc. 1802 Session Papers, Ritchie v. Bank of Scotland (3 April 1806) Proof 12:
After going through a considerable depth of travelled earth, they came to a bed of clay.Edb. 1825 R. Chambers Traditions I. 36:
After the workmen had dug several feet, in search of a proper foundation for the piers, and still found nothing but travelled earth.Sc. 1833 C. Lyell Elem. Geol. (1874) 146:
The multitude of ‘travelled' blocks and striated rocks.Kcb. 1911 Crockett Rose of the Wilderness xxiii.:
Sittin' on a travelled stane in your sark, wi' your feet a' scarted wi' comin' across the Clints. (2) (i) Sc. 1951 Sunday Post (1 July):
There are all kinds of tops. . . . There is the “dotter,” which jumps around all over the place, the “traveller” which usually moves in a big circle, and the “grave-digger.”(ii) n.Sc. 1891 Trans. Highl. Soc. III. 90:
Lobsters whose exoskeletons are free from those shells are called “travellers” by some fishermen, from an idea that they are migrating from deeper water.(v)Abd. 1991 George Bruce in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 23:
free stinks, free quarters, ludgins
shared by a' creepin things - winos, wide-boys,
crack addicts, chancers wha didna tak their chance,
traivellers wha's traivellin's ended, a deein man
wi a dog, a lassie wi a bairnie at her breistw.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 50:
Some traivellers, wha's cairrage sud syne turn richt,
Turned left, - an got stuck in the snaw.

3. (1) intr. To go about on foot, to walk, make a journey on foot (Sc. 1881 A. Mackie Scotticisms 52; Wgt. 1905 E.D.D.; Per., Fif., Lth. Ayr. 1915–23 Wilson; Uls. 1953 Traynor; I., n.Sc., em.Sc.(a), Lnk., sm.Sc. 1973), to hike. Hence traveller, a walker, pedestrian (Uls. 1953 Traynor).Per. 1727 J. Hunter Diocese Dunkeld (1918) II. 399:
He used to visit the sick when he was able to travail.Abd. 1752 Session Papers, Forbes v. Grant (1 June) 5:
He used to travel in the Room and Trance with nothing on him but his Shirt.Uls. 1879 W. G. Lyttle Readings by Robin 48:
When he begins to trevil he'll mebbe fa' intil the well an' be drooned.Edb. 1886 R. F. Hardy Within a Mile ii.:
A light knapsack on his back, and his shoes carried swinging over one shoulder, betokened that he was, in Scottish phrase, “travelling” i.e., on a walking tour.Ayr. 1896 D. Mackie Village Sk. 73:
‘Grannie, are ye no wearit daunerin' oot and daunerin' in? ' ‘O no, I wis aye a gran' traveller a' my days.'Mry. 1898 J. Slater Seaside Idylls 6:
He had “a shochlin' wye o' trav'lin.”Per. 1903 H. Dryerre Blairgowrie 121:
Harry was emphatic that he would “rather get oot an' travel!”Fif. 1912 D. Rorie Mining Folk 392:
All the couples went “traivlin' linkit” (walking arm in arm).Ags. 1924 M. Angus Tinker's Road 47:
Do you mind traivellin', traivellin' Ower and ower the braes?Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains & Hilly 7:
The aul' wives traivellin' barfit tull they were nearhan' the Kirk.Per.⁴ 1960:
Are you traivlin, or have ye got your bike?

(2) tr. To walk across and across, to pace up and down (ne.Sc. 1973); to journey frequently over (a road), to do (a journey) on foot. Now rare or obs. in Eng.Bnff. 1832 J. F. S. Gordon Chrons. Keith (1880) 321:
I've been travelling the fleer the hale nicht wi' the teethache.Lnk. 1890 H. Muir Reminisc. 82:
Tho' oor officials still trevel the marches.Sc. 1903 Speaker (19 Dec.) 293:
Laird, I just travel't it.Sc. 1938 St. Andrews Cit. (6 Aug.) 314:
For 26 years he had travelled the Coast road.Abd. 1964 Press & Journal (14 Nov.):
They've traivelt hichts an' howes that you an' me'll never sicht.

4. To go about on foot begging or hawking small wares (Gall. 1905 E.D.D.; ne.Sc., Ags., Fif., Lnk. 1973), freq. tr. in phrs. to travel the countra, — the roads, etc., id. Hence traveller, traiveller, a hawker, tinker, gipsy (see 1971 quot.) (Sc. 1825 Jam.), also attrib.; travelling, ppl.adj., hawking, vagrant.Abd. 1699 A. Watt Hist. Kintore (1865) 31:
The traveling people calls it the muir of Kinellar.Per. 1701 A. W. C. Hallen Muthill Baptisms (1887) 18:
John Bannerman lawful son to John Bannerman and Agnes Smeeton travelers.Ayr. 1808 J. Lamb Ann. Ayr. Par. (1896) 213:
Pied [paid] a poor trevlin woman.Lnk. 1844 J. Lemon St Mungo 88:
I'm nae beggar, though travelling the kintry.Kcd. 1890 J. Kerr Reminiscences 15:
Turnbull's lodgin'-house for gangril trampin' travellers.Sc. a.1910 D. R. Kyd Rev. T. Hardy 240:
There travelin' bodies creepit in At nicht, an' sleepit soun'.s.Sc. 1926 H. McDiarmid Penny Wheep 59:
Gin it's Him or a trev'lin man.Abd. 1950:
He travelt the roads monie a lang year wi a boxie.Sc. 1971 Scotland's Travelling People (H.M.S.O.) 7:
The term ‘traveller' has been adopted by the majority of the community themselves as a general term which avoids many of the derogatory connotations of ‘tinker,' ‘tink' or ‘gypsy'.Per. 1979 Betsy Whyte The Yellow on the Broom 44:
Edna couldn't acquire the traveller woman's knack of carrying their babies on their backs or on their arms, ...

5. tr. (1) To lead about, drive (cattle, etc.) from place to place, along a road (Sc. 1905 E.D.D.; ne.Sc., Lth., Dmf. 1973).Abd. 1873 J. Ogg Willie Waly 147:
I'll traivel yer stallions or notice yer kye.Bnff. 1956 Banffshire Jnl. (21 Aug.):
He traivellt kye usually fae the Mart sales tae the ferms.ne.Sc. 1987 Christine Marion Fraser King's Acre 131:
He was a familiar figure in the north-east landscape and for twenty of his forty years had 'travelled the staig'. Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 32:
Charlie traivelt a staig.
They rampag't up the closs in cloods o styoo.

(2) in phr. to travel the herrin, to accompany the herring-fishing fleet from one station to another (Bwk. 1973).Bwk. 1906 D. McIver Eyemouth 222:
The girls engaged ahead for the various seasons. It is necessary, therefore, that they should “travel the herrin',” i.e., follow the fishing fleet.

II. n. †1. = Eng. travail, labour, toil. trouble, exertion. Cf. I. 1.Lnk. 1711 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 118:
They shall lykways be suficiently gratified for their pains and travell therein.

2. Sc. form of Eng. travel. As in Eng., journeying. Sc. comb.: ¶travel-sweltry, hot with travelling.Fif. 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair 43:
Along Fife's western roads, behold, how hie The travel-sweltry crowds to Anster Loan.Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 26:
Hae ye seen yon words o mine
on yer traivels?
I gied them aa awa,
an ilk ain sae dear.
They maun be ettlan
tae be hame nou,
my puir wee hurtit bairnies.
Wad ye ken them whan they spak?

3. Specif.: a walk, a journey on foot (I., n. Sc., Ags. 1973). Phr. to take (one's) travel, to take to one's feet, start walking.Sc. 1724 P. Walker Life of Peden 61:
Out of her great Desire to have her Child Baptised before he came off, she took Travail too soon.Sc. 1756 M. Calderwood Journey (M.C.) 221:
We came out and walked. . . . However, I did not grudge my travell.Lth. 1856 M. Oliphant Lilliesleaf xlix.:
I rose up from my seat, and took my travel about the room.Mry. 1865 J. Horne Poems 35:
Ye shower on them Death's heavy hail, Which hains them many a weary tra'el.Abd. 1882 Justiciary Reports (1887) 76:
About twenty minutes' travel from that place.Gall. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags iii.:
“Puir beast,” she said, “ye have had sore travel.”Bwk. 1897 R. M. Calder Poems 233:
We dread the lang travel owre hill an' owre muir.Sh. 1919 T. Manson Peat Comm. 167:
He's a braw bit o traevil ta da kirk.Mry. 1965 Northern Scot (8 May) 5:
There's lang traivels in the wark o' the postie.ne.Sc. 1992 Press and Journal 4 Jul 2:
At the height of the day the sun was too hot for such work, so I set to in the "forenicht". ... You know, it is a terrible shame that we allow words such as "evening" to supplant the guid Scots' "forenicht". To "convoy" somebody is so much couthier than to "accompany". I still go for a "traivel" rather than a walk. ne.Sc. 1996 W. Gordon McPherson in Sandy Stronach New Wirds: An Anthology of Winning Poems and Stories from the Doric Writing Competitions of 1994 and 1995 59:
Well, they gid oot for a traivel in the wid ae fine hairst nicht, an they waar jokin an lauchin thegidder.