History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 65

The nomenclatures of several Scottish towns are further evidence of the mediaeval
migration of Flemish traders. The nationality of these fresh settlers is still enshrined in
Scottish topography, for there is an estate known as Flemington, between Nairn and
Inverness in the old barony Petty. We have several other ‘Flemingtons’ in Scotland:
one in Ayton Parish, Berwickshire; one in Newlands Parish, Peeblesshire; one near
Cumberland, and Old Caste Flemington in Aberlemno Parish, Forfarshire. John Crab,
credited as having been the military engineer to Robert Bruce, was a Fleming. He
owned land around Rubislaw, from which we have Crabeston.
These Flemish immigrants could not fail to impress their character, customs, and
language upon Scotland, such as we may trace in the diminutives in Broad Buchan ‘je’
or ‘tje’. The East Coast of Scotland is peculiarly rich in innumerable examples which
might be cited, and in addition there are many more Scoto-Flemish terms now fast
becoming extinct through lack of use. For instance, in ’kailyard literature’ we come
across some young maiden that was ‘fell’ bonnie; ‘fel’ is the Flemish for ‘extremely”.
Spinners speak of winding a tangled ‘hesp’ (hesp is Flemish). The Scotch word ‘kittlin’
for tickling is also derived from the Flemish kittelen’. When a petted child is crying it is
said to be yammering,’ from the Flemish ‘jammeren,’ to lament. We feel a ‘snell’ wind,
from the word in Flemish, ‘snel’, meaning swift. A “mutch”, from the Flemish “muts”, is
a cap. A stitch is called a “steek” in both languages; and we call the small finger a
“pinkie”, from the Flemish “pinkje”.
There were two more important immigration waves into Scotland of Flemish
craftsmen: the first was in F