A Duine Uasal or duin' uasal, anglicised as Dunnie-wassal etc. by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

et al., was a

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

gentleman or noble. This word generally misprinted in the Lowlands, and by Scott in his excellent ballad of ''

Bonnie Dundee Bonnie Dundee is the title of a poem and a song written by Walter Scott in 1825 in honour of John Graham, 7th Laird of Claverhouse, who was created 1st Viscount Dundee in November 1688, then in 1689 led a Jacobite rising in which he died, beco ...

'', is from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

''duine'' meaning a "man", and "uasal" meaning "gentle, noble, or of good birth". ''Uasal'' (Wassal) is not cognate with the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

term "vassal". It is sometimes written "duin' uasal". It is the same in the Irish language,

Gaeilge Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the p ...

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

References

* MacKay, Charles – ''A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch'' (1888) * ''The Law of the Clan'', in ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia'' History of the Scottish Highlands Social history of Scotland Scottish Gaelic language {{Scotland-stub