Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1737, 1827-1828
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†GLUNIMIE, n. Also glun(e)amie, glunimae, glunyie-man.
1. A Lowland name for a Highlander; “a rough unpolished boorish-looking man; a term generally applied to a Highlander” (Bnff. 1825 Jam., glunyie-man).Abd. 1737 W. Meston Poet. Wks. (1802) 97:
Some Glunimies met at a fair, As deft and tight as ever wore A durk, a targe, and a claymore.Sc. 1827 Scott Two Drovers i.:
Not a Glunamie of them all cocked his bonnet more briskly, or gartered his tartan hose under knee over a pair of more promising spiogs (legs), than did Robin Oig M'Combich.Sc. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth iii.:
He is but half a Highlander neither, and wants a thought of the dour spirit of a Glune-amie.
2. “A fondling name to a cow” (Mearns 1825 Jam., glunimie, -mae).
[The first syllable is fairly certainly Gael. glun, knee: cf. gluntow in Buke of the Howlat (S.T.S.) l. 796, gluntoch in Dunbar Flyting (S.T.S.) l. 99, as a contemptuous term of address to a Highlander, = Gael. glun dubh, black (i.e. hairy) knee. The whole may represent Gael. gluineanach, gartered, a lad with the garters.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Glunimie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/glunimie>
