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MARCH REID
In Scots, reid or red gives rise to some interesting compounds. As early as the fifteenth century, criminals were being 'apprehendit with the red hand'. It was not until the nineteenth century that the form red-handed was used by Sir Walter Scott and was taken up south of the Border. Red shanks may be found on a wading bird, but the redness of legs caused by exposure to the elements could have been the rationale behind redshanks as a name for a highlander. The Bannatyne Miscellany (1827-1855) refers to this explanation, quoting from a letter written in 1542 by a highlander: We...goynge alwaies bair leggide and bair footide,...the tendir delicatt gentillmen of Scotland call ws Reddshankes. 'Red-lichties', as every football enthusiast knows, are natives of Arbroath. The nickname came from an unfortunate incident in which a harbour light was painted red, thereby making the light invisible from the sea. It has since been adopted by the Red-lichties themselves. Moving on to the animal kingdom, reid-ersies, reid-doups or reid-belties are species of bee with red on the abdomen; reid-gibbie is the stickle-back; the reid-back is the ladybird and a reid-sodger is a variety of red spider. |