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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.

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).Ib. 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.