Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1824, 1880-1897, 1983
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BRUMSTANE, BRUNSTANE, BRUNTSTEEN', n. Sc. forms of Eng. brimstone. Known to Abd.22 Arg.1 1936. Also attrib. [′brʌm-, ′brʌn- Sc., but Ork. + ′brʌnt-. For phonetics of second element see Stane.]Sc. 1983 John McDonald in Joy Hendry Chapman 37 44:
Let the glaikit follow
thir gainterin gowks,
bokin frae brunstane
bealin wi douts.Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 70:
O! Vellyan, gin ever I get thee, th'u's boil i' bruntsteen'!Ags. 1897 P. Whytock in A. Reid Bards of Angus and the Mearns 497:
An' e'en a brunstane smell I thocht His majesty had wi' him brocht.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 204:
The fear o' the de'il, An' his brumstane pit, Sets mony ane trampin' The heaven-ward gaet.
Hence brumstany, adj.Rxb. 1824 The Fearfu' Hinderend in Rymour Club Misc. (1912–1919) II. 46:
He kenned he wad lunt like a brumstany match, And lang the red pit had been gaping.
Comb.: brunstane can(n)les, brumstane —, “matches made of paper and brimstone, to suffocate bees” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 97; Kcb.9 1936).Gall. 1824 J. MacTaggart Gall. Encycl. 94:
Amaist, like Bonar, he a skep Cou'd paise [weigh] and sleely han'le; The smooking them ne'er made him weep, Wi' lowing brumstane can'le.
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"Brumstane n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 8 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/brumstane>
