What is a 'brae'

Subject: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Calonkat
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 08:43 PM

OK, my daughter is playing Annie Laurie on an old toy piano and wants to know what a "brae" is. I looked at a couple of hundred webpages and learned an amazing amount about Miss Laurie (not all of which I shared) and that everyone agrees the the braes are bonny. But I must have missed the part where someone explained what the heck they are!

If someone knows, could they please explain it to me?

---

Mudcat Scottish Glossary (click)

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 08:47 PM

As in "Ye banks and braes o bonnie doon"?

Or as in "we two hae run about the brae, and put the gowans high"?

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Calonkat
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 08:50 PM

I guess as in "Maxwelton's braes are bonnie"

Maybe this isn't a song she should be singing at 11 years old :-)

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: jimmyt
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:04 PM

according to this old Yankee, it refers to a hillside or slope , of Scottish usage. Hope this is close TODD

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:05 PM

A wonderful device for finding out such things, called a dictionary!

Brae (n.) Scot & N. Eng. A slope, declivity, hillside.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:18 PM

Judging by many inquiries like this one, the dictionary is a relic of the past.

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,calonkat
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:23 PM

Not usually, usually we have 3 (one unabridged) but there are nativity sets and angels in the bookcase. Thought the internet would be faster than 1)figuring out where we put those books (in all the others) 2)going to the library

Sorry for the bother...

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: jimmyt
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:29 PM

No bother, calonkat. Doesn't hurt a bit to answer a question. If someone wants to bitch about the bother, maybe they should not go to the trouble to respond! Have a nice Holiday season! TODD

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:33 PM

Yeah, I've been wonderin' that myself. My Martin guitar is at the repair shop and I've been playin' a beater, a Fender la "BRAE".

Bobert

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: John Routledge
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 09:44 PM

The advantage of coming here is that you get a bit of background.

In Northern England we consider "brae" to be Scottish not English.We all know what "brae" means but never use it :0)

Perhaps in the Middle Ages when the border was more blurred....

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Rosebrook
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 10:22 PM

Hey! A dictionary is not a relic of the past! www.dictionary.com

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Sandy McLean
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 10:50 PM

From the Gaelic "braighe" meaning upper slopes, higher ground.
               Sandy

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Tom Hamilton
Date: 06 Dec 02 - 11:53 PM

I know that a brae is a hill, slope however in Saaltcoats where I live there is an area near Saltcoats's harbour called 'The braes' and yet it is a flat as anything.
It's not even on a hill.
I can't understand that!

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 07:37 AM

An e-cup bra.

RtS
(been opening the Xmas cracker jokes early!)

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: weepiper
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 09:11 AM

It's not from Gaelic, Gaelic and English both borrowed it from the Old Norse word for 'brow' as in eyebrow etc... it refers to the shape of the hill being like a brow. There are a lot of Norse words which appear in both English and Gaelic....

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 09:36 AM

Why are many braes bonnie?

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Hollowfox
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 09:48 AM

I suspect that so many braes are bonny from the many happy memories of connubial companionship. *wicked grin* Or, they could have just given a nice view of the valley. Er, the surrounding landscape, that is.

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,daylia
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 10:05 AM

Always thought "brae" was what the donkeys say.

Guess that's pretty ASS-inine!

Hmmmmmm, 'pretty ASS-inine' ....

Is that the 'nice view' you were referring to, Hollowfox?

Sorry, I'm feeling a little strange today ...

Hee-haw! - daylia

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 10:14 AM

Guest Tom Hamilton: I figure that is similar to describing rolling uplands as "Downs"

Nigel

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: jimmyt
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 10:33 AM

Nigel, I guess Downs are from the uphill prospective, otherwise, they would be ups! TODD

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Nick
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 11:52 AM

I wonder if the area near Saltcotes is named for the view ? Would there be any Braes seen in the distance? Or could it be sarcastic? Like nameing a landfill Mt Trashmore?

Nick

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 12:03 PM

Say...this might be a good opportunity for me to invite people to look at our QuickLinks on almost every page. One of the selections is the Scottish Glossary (click). John in Brisbane and Pene Azul did a wonderful job on it.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Tom Hamilton from SALTCOATSS
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 08:22 PM

To Nick and everyone else that reads this message please don't misspell my town 'SALTCOATS' only the Forigners spell it Saltcoates.
There is no place in Scotland called SALTCOTES' or AYRESHIRE as well.

The people of SALTCOATS are getting fed up with people who can't spell or listen.

I'm sorry about all this however it gets me angry whenever people can't spell a town, even when it's written for them.

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Tom Hamitlon
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 08:27 PM

I know I spelt Saaltcoats 'saaltcoats' the reason is that I'm not used to this computer typwriter thing

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Haruo
Date: 07 Dec 02 - 11:39 PM

One little quibble about the Glossary (which is generally great): since it was (apparently) compiled by computer without human intervention, it alphabetizes all words beginning with an apostrophe before the letter a. Now I don't know how they do these things in Scotland, but in Seattle when we want to look up "'Twas" we look between tuppence and twerp, not before aardvark.

But correcting that little glitch efficiently and cost-effectively may not be a possibility. The index in the Esperanto hymnal Adoru is the same way (and it's a much bigger problem there), involving the alphabetical order of commas, apostrophes, hyphens, ....

Leland

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,coco
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 05:24 AM

A'Brae' is a noun,also chiefly a scottish word. I believe it goes back to the 13th century..... meaning: A hillside especially alongside a loch/river. Hope this is of some help, if not keep asking?

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Mr Happy
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 06:08 AM

around areas of cheshire & greater manchester- a small hill is often refered to as a 'brew'

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: greg stephens
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 07:37 AM

Re "put the gowans high" in an earlier post. This is gibberish. Try "pulled the gowans fine" (with pulled pronounced pu'd in the Scottish fashion). "Picked the fine daisies" in English.

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Don Firth
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 01:21 PM

A mold-ripened, whole-milk cheese with a whitish rind and a soft, light yellow center.

Always glad to help. . . .

Don Firth

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,Mary Lou Ridgeway
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 10:40 PM

Well, I just wandered in, using a link from "Google" on Alaister McDonald (no flack about the spelling, I'm here accidently and won't be back to see it!) whom I heard while I was in Scotland, and by the time I finished this thread, you guys have me flat on the floor, kicking my heels up in the air. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't catch my breath. I just hope I don't wake up my poor husband. He'll send me to the looney bin for sure!

Excuse me while I go rub my rock from "Scara Brae".

Mary Lou

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Boab
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 01:40 AM

Gin ye're stannin i' the biel o' a knowe, an' rinnin yer e'en frae the laight a' the wey tae the hiegh, ye're rinnin yer e'en up a brae [or doon a brae if ye stert frae the hiegh---och...this is waur nor yon auld yin aboot "mud" ; glaur, glauber or drookit stoor.] Aye---a merry CHRISTMAS, an' a guid New Year tae yez a'. I'll be in the Auld Country by Thursday. All the best!

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 05:26 AM

Masato - Try to lay a wee lass on a brae, and you will know why they are mostly bonnie. probatum est.
Wilfried

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: greg stephens
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 06:27 AM

Go for it, masato. Your standard brae is normally well-provided with bracken, broom and other appropriate vegetation which provides excellent cover for any country pursuits that grab your fancy.

Subject: RE: What is a 'brae'
From: GUEST,parahandy
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 12:45 PM

Hmm, I hope Mary Lou was joinkg about the rock from Skara Brae! Otherwise I will have to set the "Leave Only Footprints, Take Only Pictures Police" on her!