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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

RUNKLE, v., n. Also runckle, runkel(l) (m.Sc. 1961 T. T. Kilbucho Shepherd's Year 37), runkill (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis), runcle; ronkle.

I. v. 1. To wrinkle, lit. and fig.(Sc. 1808 Jam.). Ppl.adj. runkled, runkelt, wrinkled. Gen.Sc., also in Uls. and n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1724 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1876) I. 24:
Thy runkled cheeks and lyart hair.s.Sc. c.1750 D. Herd Songs (1776) I. 48:
The bansters are lyart, runkled, and gray.Ayr. 1786 Burns Holy Fair v.:
Gin ye'll go there, yon runk'ld pair, We will get famous laughin' At them this day.Ags. 1820 A. Balfour Contemplation 269:
An' muckle mair he had nae wyte of, The runkled carlin' took delight of.Abd. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xlvi.:
But it wad only gar ye runkle yer bonny broo.Gall. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 318:
A tow-heidit falla wi a runkle't broo.Ags. 1924 M. Angus Tinker's Road 24:
Her broo runkled sair.Fif. 1958 T. G. Snoddy Green Loanings 16:
Blaws the wind frae a drumlie sky, Runklin the dub in the howe o' the hags.Edb. 1964 Weekly Scotsman (19 March) 2:
A michty carlin, Runkelt, gnarlit.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 72:
Dae ye think yon Henley kent whit a kailyard wes?
Or aw thir ither expairts frae The Toun,
the Heich-Heid-Criticasters lukkin doun
thair nebs tae snirt et kintra chiels lik us
an runkle up a tairt an sharrow phiz? w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 33:
Decipherin tends ti tax yir power,
Runcles the broo an gars ye glower

2. To crease, crumple, rumple, crush (I., n., em.Sc.(a), wm. and sm.Sc. 1968). Freq. in ppl.adj. runkled, creased, shrivelled. Deriv. runklement, creasing, rumpling, ruffling.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 189:
At runkling o' his Deary's Gown.Dmf. 1770 Session Papers, Stewart-Nicolson (21 Nov.) 6:
The bed in the defender's room was found to be runkled and disordered at the foot.Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems I. 48:
Braid spreads the runkl'd sail.Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize I. xvii.:
He soon runkled it up in his hand and put it into the fire.Fif. 1841 C. Gray Lays 179:
Our lang runkled painches will now, like a can, Be stentit wi' brose o' auld Scotland.Kcb. 1861 R. Quin Heather Lintie 57:
Wi' backs as tattered as scarcrows, And runcled wames.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xiii.:
Then wad ensue anither roon' o' rooketty-cooin' to the further befylment o' their faces an' runklement o' their ringlets.Abd. 1920 C. Murray Country Places 15:
Few set oot in runkled blacks mair eager than mysel'.Lnk. 1923 G. Rae 'Mang Lowland Hills 69:
Auld weaver Sandy in sair runckled claes.Sc. 1953 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 369:
Whan snell wunds are girnin', an' runkled leaves are sere.

3. To gnarl, twist, distort, curl (Ags., Per., w.Lth., Dmb. 1968). Ppl.adj. runkled, gnarled, twisted; ridged, corrugated.Sc. 1722 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 30:
Sair runkling ilka silly Feature O' his dull Phiz, wi' Girns and Glooms.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 96:
It kythed by her runkl'd horn Her years had number'd fifty.Fif. 1835 R. Gilfillan Songs 44:
The green buds now peep through the auld runkled timmer.Bnff. 1872 W. Philip It'll a Come Richt 261:
She was as crookit as that runklet yew.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 8:
Teem fag packets, wid-stoor,
Runkled iron, auld plastic, tyres ayont remeid:

4. intr. To curl itself, to crumple.Sc. 1827 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 307:
Whare the grass runkled only to the shepherd's foot.

II. n. 1. A wrinkle, crease, a ridged indentation (Gen.Sc.); by extension, an old wrinkled person. Also in Uls. and n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 164:
And single live, till Age and Runkles shaw Their canker'd Spirit's good for nought.Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 75:
We may ken your eild by the runkles of your horn.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 139:
Tho' age her sair dow'd front wi' runcles wave.Rxb. c.1800 J. Wilson Hawick (1858) 161:
The description of feeding hungry schoolboys, by ‘taking the runkles oot o' their wame,' amused him greatly.Edb. 1822 R. Wilson Poems 118:
Ilka runkle truly reasons We are waidin' deep in years.Fif. 1883 W. D. Latto Bodkin Papers 21:
I'll juist gie it an iron a' ower, an' tak' oot the runkles.Gsw. 1987 Peter Mason C'mon Geeze Yer Patter! 15:
Gauny iron the runkles oot ma shurt, maw? Will you press the creases from my shirt, mother? m.Lth. 1993:
Yer no gaun oot like that - yer T shirt's aw runkles and bumfles.

Hence deriv. runkly, ronkly, (1) wrinkled (ne.Sc., em.Sc.(a), wm. and s.Sc. 1968); (2) of stones: rough, gnarled, knobbly, undressed (Ork. 1968).Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 142:
A rickle of banes row'd up in a runkly skin.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 238:
Auld, runkly-fac'd an' brown.Rxb. 1871 R. Allan Poems 120:
She was sae ronkly and sae auld a dame.Ork. 1931 J. Leask Peculiar People 123:
Sheu's biggid o' runckly stanes like a peerie hoosiekin.

2. Transf. A wrinkled, shrivelled or gnarled person.Kcd. 1934 L. G. Gibbon Grey Granite ii.:
If there was anything that cumbered the earth it was some old runkle of a woman body living on.

3. A bunch, snarl or entanglement.Ags. 1930 A. Kennedy Orra Burghs xxxvii.:
Is it only when the fingers strik' a runkle o' knots that your body jars into your mind?Arg. 1975:
The tide's goin up below, an the fresh is comin doon on top. Ye got intae right runkles then.