Duine uasal

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A Duine Uasal, anglicised as Dunnie-wassal etc by Walter Scott et al, was a Highland gentleman or noble. This word generally misprinted in the Lowlands, and by Scott in his excellent ballad of Bonnie Dundee, is from the Scottish Gaelic duine meaning a "man", and "uasal" meaning "gentle, noble, or of good birth". Uasal (Wassal) is not cognate with the English language term "vassal". It is sometimes written "duin' uasal".

"There are wild dunnie-wassals three thousand times three
will cry oich for the bonnets o' Bonnie Dundee."

[edit] References

  • MacKay, Charles – A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch (1888)
  • The Law of the Clan, in Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia
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