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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HIELANDMAN, n. Also hielanman; heelintman (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); heighlandman. A native of the Highlands of Scotland, a Highlander. Now adopted in Eng. in form highlandman.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 383:
You found it where the Highland Man found the Tongs. A Highland Man being challenged for stealing a pair of Tongs, said he found them; and being ask'd where? He said, Hard by the Fire side.Ayr. 1786 Burns To W. Simpson xviii.:
While Highlandmen hate tolls an' taxes.Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel v.:
Ex nihilo nihil fit — It's ill taking the breeks aff a wild Highlandman — they that come to me for siller, should tell me how to come by it.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped ix.:
Yon wild Hielandman is a danger to the ship.Abd. 1903 W. Watson Auld Lang Syne 71:
I didna hear fa gaed hame wi' ye. Wis't the Hielanman or the vricht?wm.Sc. 1904 H. Foulis Erchie xx.:
The thing's as braid as it's wide, as the Hielan'man said.Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song 286:
The Highlandman McIvor tuned up his pipes.

Hence (1) Hielanman's burial, “a funeral which lasts more than a day” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 263); (2) Highlandman's garters, ribbon grass, Phalaris arundinacea picta (Sh., Abd. 1957). Cf. gairdener's gartens s.v. Gairdener; (3) hielandman's heid, the seed-head of the rib-grass, Plantago lanceolata (Rnf. a.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) H. 38), from its somewhat hirsute appearance; †(4) Hielanman's honey, the sugary deposit from the bottom of syrup casks (Abd.²⁹ 1955); (5) Hielandman's ling, “the act of walking quickly with a jerk” (Fif. 1825 Jam.). See Ling; (6) Highlandman's loan, a euphemism for a theft (Kcb. 1957). Cf. the proverb in 1721 quot. above; (7) hielandman's nuts, the broad-leaved plantain, Plantago major; (8) Heilan(d)man's Umbrella, Hielandman's Umbarella, Hielantman's Umbrella, Hielenman's Umbrella, the bridge carrying the Central Railway Station over Argyle Street in Glasgow, under which the local Highlanders were supposed to congregate on wet evenings, so-called from c.1907; †(9) hielandman's year, the year of the 1745 rebellion; (10) to be about a Highlandman's business, to be idle, from the notion that Highlanders are lazy.(2) Rnf. 1904 M. Blair Paisley Shawl 57:
And then the dusty millers, Highlandman's garters, bachelor's buttons, daisies.(6) Kcb. 1897 Crockett Lochinvar xlix.:
Even that might be a Highlandman's loan — taken without the asking.(7) Rnf. 1930 A. M. Stewart Stickleback Club 132:
We have also heard it called “Heighlandman's Nuts,” due to the thickened portion of the older roots being quite edible which, when cleaned, resembles a nut.(8) Gsw. 1931 N. Munro Brave Days 208:
To spend any leisure hours he had at what was called the Highlandman's Umbrella.Sc. 1953 Bulletin (25 May) 5:
But where is the permanent meeting-place of the people of Scotland? Why, the only possible contender is the “Hielan'man's umbrella” in Glasgow. And that has one supreme drawback. It's far too wee.Gsw. 1964 George Friel The Boy who Wanted Peace (1985) 125:
... Percy got on her bus about ten o'clock at the Hielenman's Umbrella ... Gsw. 1987 Peter Mason C'mon Geeze Yer Patter! 40:
Ah'll git ye in ablow the Hielandman's Umbarella later on. I'll meet you later under the big Central Station railway bridge in Argyle Street. m.Sc. 1988 Archie Cameron Bare Feet, Tackety Boots (1997) 157:
This happened on one of my regular Saturday night visits to Glasgow, where, in the tradition of all those who had come from the Highlands and Islands, I spent a good deal of time under the 'Heilanman's Umbrella'. Gsw. 1991 Margaret Sinclair Windae Hingin' and Busker Singin' 25:
The heilandman's umbrella, my they were the days,
Big broad highlanders, hardly makin' oot whit they say. Lnk. 1997 Duncan Glen Seventeen Poems 14:
through the gloomy tiled tunnel o Central Station
to Argyle Street
and the Hielantman's Umbrella Sc. 2000 Herald 5 Sep 19:
In this column we tackle big issues of the day such as: what is the Italian for Hielanman's Umbrella. Franco D'Apice, a caterer of this parish, has an Italian eating house at the corner of Argyle Street and Hope Street.(9) Lnk. 1885 S. Wright Blantyre 138:
The old folk in Blantyre still speak of the Rebellion in 1745 as being “the Hielandman's year,” for it would seem that “Bonnie Prince Charlie” marched part of his army through the parish.(10) Sc. 1836 J. Baillie Witchcraft i. iv .:
He's about a Highlandman's business, just doing naething at a'.