Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SKEMMEL, n., adj., v. Also -le, -il, skem(b)le; †scamble. [′skɛməl]

I. n. 1. In pl.: a shambles, slaughterhouse; a meat-market, orig. the tables or benches on which the meat was exposed for sale (n.Sc. 1808 Jam. s.v. skamyll; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 157; ne.Sc., Ags. 1970). Also as a place-name in Forfar (Ags. 1970).Ags. 1720 Dundee Charters (1880) 177:
The scambles in the Murraygate.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 8:
He kill't nowt an' swine i' the skemmles.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 19:
The place wis like a vera skemmels.

2. A peat-bank, the Hagg or area left in a moss from which peats have been cut, prob. from the similarity to a series of benches (Ayr. 1928; Wgt. 1958). Deriv. skemlin, id.Ayr. 1925 Ayr Advertiser (29 Oct.):
Ye skiffed alang the skemlin.

3. A tall thin ungainly person (Cld. 1825 Jam.). Cf. II.

4. A faulty aim or throw, a wry or swerving movement, a side-slip.Dmf. 1913 J. L. Waugh Cracks Wi' R. Doo 112:
It was the biggest an' the luckiest skemmel he ever made in his life. He was a mile off what he played for, but his bool by accident struck yin that struck oot his neibor's game shot.

II. adj. Having the legs and feet turned outwards, splay-footed (Lth. 1825 Jam.); “lean and overgrown” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.), prob. orig. = gawky in gait. Cf. I. 3.

III. v. 1. To slaughter an animal, gen. in a shambles (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 157).Abd. 1951 Huntly Express (19 Oct.):
Those who fatten cattle may have the opportunity of seeing their cattle skeml't, hung up, and placed in the proper grade by an expert of the butchery trade.

2. To throw the legs out loosely and awkwardly in walking, to walk with splay feet, to shamble (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 427; Lth., Slk. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); to walk or move about in a clumsy zig-zag staggering way; †“to climb or walk over slight or loose obstructions, to climb over rocks or walls” (Rxb. 1825 Jam.). Derivs. skemlie, adj., ungainly in gait (m.Lth. 1890), skemloch, n., an ungainly walker (Kcb. 1900).Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken xi.:
Skemmeling over Findochart like a nine-year old!Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 20:
Where ee skemmlin ti? Can ee no sei ee're dunshin iz?

3. To work or do anything in a clumsy fashion, “to throw things hither and thither in a slovenly and careless way” (Rxb. 1825 Jam., 1923 Watson W.-B.).