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Scots Language Centre Centre for the Scots Leid

Stinkie

Chin-chinnie, mou merry
Ee winkie, broo brinkie
An ower the hillies An awa tae stinkie*

The stinkie is a fearsome place
The hippens hap frae sicht
An whyles, the bairnie skirls tae say
The stinkie needs a dicht

The first verse is a traditional game played on babies. The child's chin is lightly tapped, then its mouth, then the adult stoops down and peers into the baby's eyes. At 'broo brinkie', the adult runs his fingers over the child's forehead down its back to its nether regions.