Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1722, 1894-1932, 1995
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TORTIE, n. Also torty-; ¶tottie. Sc. forms of Eng. tortoise. Hence tortieshell, tortyshell, -shall, of a tortoiseshell colour. Gen.Sc.Ork. 1722 in H. Marwick Merchant Lairds (1936) I. 101:
A drume and two drume sticks, ane box with ane [toy] tortie and a man felling a ox, a fine watch and a key.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 7:
The he tortyshall kitlin'.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 54:
He hiz fower legs, a lang tail, an' a tottie-shell skin.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 19:
I min' ae nicht, fin straikin ye,
Yer coat o yalla tortyshell
Ceest on the air a balmy smell,
Its sweet reek yoamt aa ower me.
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"Tortie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tortie>
