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 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BRUCKLES, n.pl.

1. The prickly headed carex (Carex stellulata); also called brochars and stars (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 17). Occas. used in sing.ne.Sc. 1874 W. Gregor Echo of Olden Time 16:
From others of them were suspended . . . a bunch of stars or bruckles to redd the tobacco pipes.†Abd. 1898 E.D.D.:
The dwellers in the parish of Strichen used to be nicknamed “bruckle-strippers.”

2. Bent grass, Juncus squarrosus.Abd. 1841–1854 The Phytologist (ed. G. Luxford) III. 979:
In . . . Aberdeen, where it abounds on the moors, it is called Bruckles by the country people, which . . . is most expressive of the wire-like hardness and rigidity of the species.