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• press n. a large cupboard, usually built into a recess in the wall
• ajee adv. to one side, off the straight; ajar, partly open
• umquhile adj. former, erstwhile, late; deceased

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umquhile adj. former, erstwhile, late; deceased

“umquhile adj. former, erstwhile, late; deceased”

5th November 2007

Umquhile is a rare and rather unusual word, now generally confined to archaic use in Scottish legal or literary texts. Twentieth-century examples occur in John Buchan's The Free Fishers (1934): "What do you think of your umquhile pupil, Professor?" and in Neil Munro's Ayrshire Idylls (1912): "Their umquhile shepherd for a moment made no answer". The spelling of the word harks back to an older form of Scots writing, where -quh- was used in positions where English has -wh-, as in quhilk (which), quhare (where), quhymper (whimper) and quhite (white).
The modern adjectival use of umquhile evolved from an adverb meaning "formerly, at some previous time", itself derived from Old English ymb hwile, literally meaning "at or around a time". This adverbial use is reflected in Scottish texts from the Middle Ages until at least the nineteenth century. An early example occurs in the title of one of William Dunbar's poems (a1508): "The ballade of ane right noble victorius and myghty lord, Barnard Stewart .. conquereur of Naplis and umquhile constable general of the same". A later use is found in Sir Walter's Scott's novel Guy Mannering (1815): "That is Henry Bertram, son of Godfrey Bertram, umquhile of Ellangowan".
The sense "late" or "deceased" is recorded in Scots texts from the fifteenth century onwards. An early illustration appears in a legal document regarding a land dispute, in the Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes (1497), when "ane charter of gift" made by "umquhile King Robert the Bruyse" was submitted as evidence. In legal use, the word often appears in formulaic statements, typified by the following from an Orkney document of 1734: "Jean Manson, relict (widow) of umquhill James Fea of Whitehall". Although umquhile is still known, we have very few examples of its use in twenty-first century sources, so if you can help shed light on the contemporary usage of this Scots word, please get in touch.