Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1771-1860, 1936
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CURLIEWURLIE, CURLY-WURLIE, n.
1. An elaborately carved ornamentation in stone.Sc. a.1772 W. Wilkie in J. G. Lockhart Life of Scott (1837) V. ii.:
I thought the beauty of architecture had consisted in curly-wurlies, but now I find it consists in symmetry and proportion.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xix.:
Ah! it's a brave kirk — nane o' yere whigmaleeries and curliewurlies and open-steek hems about it — a' solid, weel-jointed mason-wark.
2. = Curly-murly, q.v.Sc. 1936 A. Fleming Christina Strang v.:
Lilias produced a bag of sweets — the sugared caraway seeds or "curly-wurlies."
3. A trill or run in vocal music, coloratura singing. Ags. 1860 A. Whamond James Tacket 63:
They introduce their new fangled curly wurlies, more for the purpose of showing the dexterous use they can make of their own vocal organs.
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"Curliewurlie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/curliewurlie>
