Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1733-1776, 1844-1889
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THUMMLE, n.1 Also thummel, -il, thumle; †thumble; thim(m)le, thimmil. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. thimble. See I, letter, 2. Hence thummlefu, thimmlefu, a thimbleful (Sc. 1831–4 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 232, IV. 171; Gen.Sc.). [θʌml, θɪml]
1. As in Eng. Sc. combs., phrs. and derivs.: (1) pea-an-thummils, the trick of thimble-rigging, from the props used in the game; (2) thummle-dockit, having a backside like a thimble, applied to a fidgetty child rocking restlessly to and fro on his seat like an upended thimble (Fif. 1957). See Dock, n.1, 1.; (3) thummle ha', a jocular name for a tailor's workshop; (4) thummle man, a thimble-rigger, a sharper; (5) thumbler, id.; (6) wha's got the thimble, the game of hunt-the-thimble, in which a thimble is passed from hand to hand among a company seated around one player who has to guess at any given moment where it is (Per., Ayr. 1972).(1) Ags. 1887 A. Willock Rosetty Ends 154:
The three-card trick, or prick-the-garter, or the pea-an'-thummils.(3) Ags. 1776 C. Keith Farmer's Ha' 7:
He . . . bids them gang to Thimble-ha', Wi' needle speed.(4) Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 36:
Thumble-men, garten-men, try an' behave ye.(5) Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie ii.:
Thimblers, and tumblers, and tinklers.(6) Sc. 1889 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 304:
Passing a button round the company, from hand to hand, in the manner of the Scottish game of“Who's got the thimble?”
2. In pl. A name applied to various plants: (1) the foxglove, Digitalis purpurea (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ags., Bwk. 1972), also in Eng. dial.; (2) the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia (n.Sc. 1825 Jam., s.v. Witch-bells); (3) the corn bluebottle, Centaurea cyanus (Edb. 1886 B. and H. 468; Abd. c.1930); (4) raspberries (Mry., Abd. 1966).e.Lth. 1885 S. Mucklebackit Rhymes 255:
Foxgloves, bluebells, thimmels, an' spinks.
3. As in Eng. applied to various mechanical devices: (1) a metal eye round which a rope-end is spliced; (2) an iron ring or collar fitting round a heart-joint in the pumping apparatus of a mine (Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 67).(1) Gsw. 1733 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1909) 401:
Hooks and thumbles for the cross well.
4. The willow-warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus (Fif. 1972). Cf. Thoum, I. 1. Dims.
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"Thummle n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/thummle_n1>
