Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1723-1728, 1823-1934
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‡DRUMLE, Drummle, Drum(m)el, v., n. Also †drumble.
1. v.
(1) Of water: to make muddy, to disturb, to trouble (Rxb.5 1940). Often used fig. = to blur, confuse. Ppl.adj. drumbled.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems II. 252:
Sic Fate to souple Rogues impart, That drumble the Common-weal.Abd. 1723 W. Meston Poet. Wks. (1802) 13:
Tho' drumbled water's best to fish in.Abd. 1873 P. Buchan Inglismill 44:
For length o' road he caredna half a bodle, The breadth o't sairly fash'd his drummel'd nodle.Bwk. 1823 A. Hewit Poems 126:
Wan out whan they the pool had drummelt, Hale scart at last.Lnk. 1827 J. Watt Poems 58:
The whisky had your senses drumelt, Or i' the hole ye wadna tumelt.Lnk. 1832 W. Motherwell Poems 185:
Little weet they o' the cause that drumles sae my ee.Kcb. 1897 T. Murray Frae the Heather 43:
Tho' the spates the burnies drummel, Yont the mist is comin' cheer.
(2) With up: to mix together, e.g. of hen's food (Kcb. 1950).
2. n.
(1) Mud, etc. raised when water is disturbed.Slk. 1823 Blackwood's Mag. (Feb.) 177:
Braw profits there! A wheen fine skins, a' daubit wi' drumble and ha' clay. They will gar somebody's pouches jingle!Slk. a.1835 Hogg Poems (1865) 290:
The water gaed in With drumble and mudwart impure.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B. s.v. sant:
The ramper-eel made a drummle an' santit.
(2) A commotion, confusion.Ags. 1898 A. H. Rea Divot Dyke 95:
But soon up the long furrows That run past the Murroes It stranded, and caused quite a drumble.
(3) A confused jumble.Mearns 1934 “L. G. Gibbon” Grey Granite III. 171:
He minded the rolling drummle of names of those hill-hidden touns through the parks of which he'd searched out the flints.
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"Drumle v., n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/drumle>
