The Scots word dump means a quick blow, a thump or a thud. It can be a blow on the knuckles given to the loser at marbles, but among children it is best known in the phrase ‘gettin yer dumps’. This ritual can take place in various ways. According to to Catherine M. Maclean in Farewell to Tharrus (1944) “Getting what they called their ‘dumps’ is a great ceremony with these children from the south. Every one they call Friend gives them their ‘dumps’ on a birthday, the kind of ‘dumps’ administered varying according to the giver ... Cordelia’s ‘dumps’ consisted of lifting Kennie off the ground and making him touch the kitchen flags with his toes ten times”. An Ayrshire Scots speaker recalled to dictionary researchers in 2005, “We used to get a knee in the behind – once for each year – it was called ‘getting the dumps’. The dictionary definition reads “A children’s birthday ceremony, taking various forms, for example: the child is held by the hands and feet and its back thumped on the floor, a thump for each year of age, sometimes dropped on the final count”. That, with an upwards fling in the air that grew in enthusiam and danger as one progressed through primary school, accords with my own recollection. Scottish Language Dictionaries get their dumps today. The organisation is now ten years old, although the two parent organisations go back much further. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue was founded in 1919 and the Scottish National Dictionary Association came into being in 1929. These gave us the two great dictionaries which are combined in the online Dictionary of the Scots Language. We maintain and build on these great works. We are planning a series of events throughout the year and I hope to see many of you there. Keep an eye on our main website for details.

Scots Word of the Week is written by Chris Robinson of Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Happy birthday SLD!