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Awa' an' Bile Yer Heid!: Scottish Curses and Insults
Awa' an' Bile Yer Heid Scottish Curses and Insults Author:David Ross Last time I saw a mouth like yours, pal, Lester Piggott was sitting behind it. -- Billy Connolly — I wondered not, when I was told/The venal Scot his country sold,/I rather very much admire/How he could ever find a buyer -- from Nicholson's Select Collection of Poems, 1790 — Over the centuries the Scots have made scathingly witty remarks on just a... more »bout every subject under the sun--not least one another. From the days of William Dunbar to those of Irvine Welsh, a long tradition has been worthily and vividly maintained. This new, expanded edition of the bestselling Awa' an' Bile Yer Heid is a unique collection of scottish curses and insults which reveals fully the Scottish gift for insult and invective.
Special features of the book include a most useful glossary of insulting terms and notes on some celebrated insulters. For the sake of maintaining perspective, the collection also features a range of less than ecstatic comments made on Scotland and the Scots by outsiders. It all adds up to a rich, ripe, and often hilarious collection, aprly illustrated by Barbara Robertson.« less