v1.0
Published 01/10/24
sgrabair m. [ˈs̪kɾab̥əɾʲ],
Cf. [skrab´-ur-ȧ] (McAlpine 1832); [skrab´-ur-u] (MacLennan 1925); /sgrabɪrʲ/ (AFB˄).
gen. idem., ‘manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus; (occasionally) black guillemot, Cepphus grylle’ has been compared with Far. skrápur m. ‘idem’ and derived from an unattested ON skrápr m. Lockwood (1961, 33–37) takes SG sgr(i)ab, sgrèab and Eng. scrabe to represent the Old Norse stem form *skráp-, describing sgrabair as having a ‘secondary termination’ (from Gaelic), as in sùlair, q.v. Later (1963, 55–56), Lockwood sees sgrabair as a direct reflex of Far. skrápur, but later still (1984, s.v. scraber) reverts to his earlier view, describing final -air as a ‘redundant suffix’. Sommerfelt (≈1952, 230) remarks that the Gaelic word (in the forms sgrab, sgriab, sgrabair and sgrabaire) ‘is Far. skrápur, Norw. [Nn.] skråp, skråpa [“great shearwater, Puffinus major” (Torp 1992, s.v. 1skraap)]’. McDonald (2009, 405; 2015, 129) considers an Old Norse loan uncertain, but suggests ON skrap nt. ‘clattering, chat’ or skrapr m. ‘tattler’ may be behind the Gaelic forms. Henderson (1910, 333) cites SG scrèab, sgrèab, noting (after Skeat 1882) that Eng. scrape ‘to scratch’ is Scandinavian in origin. SND˄ derives Scots scrabe, scraib from Scandinavian, comparing Far. skrápur and Dan. skraape (skråpe), but Scots scraber from SG sgrabair.
Cf. MacBain 1911: Scots scraber from SG sgrabaire.
ON *skráp acc. would formally yield SG *sgràb [s̪kɾaːb̥], with a long vowel.
MacKenzie (1911, 44: scrabaire) opines the shearwater gets its name ‘from the way its pats the water’. Coates (1988, 15) suggests MacKenzie was ‘perhaps thinking of sgròb “to scratch”’, and goes on (p. 16) to imply that sgràbaire (sic) means ‘scraper’, because it digs nest holes.
A variety of Scottish Gaelic forms are found:
A. sgraib [s̪kɾɛb̥]
(Fergusson 1888, 91; Forbes 1905, 35).
B. sgrab [s̪kɾab̥]
(Fergusson 1888, 91: Barra; Forbes 1905, 36, 332; Dwelly 1911; Garvie 1999, 119; AFB˄).
C. sgrìob [s̪kɾʲiːb̥]
(i) sgriob (Forbes 1905, 332, ignoring lengthmarks), for SG sgrìob ‘(to) scratch’;
(ii) sgroib (Forbes 1905, 36), probably a typesetting error for sgriob, above.
D. sgriab [s̪kɾʲiab̥]
(i) sgriab (Dwelly 1911);
(ii) sgrèab (McDonald 1972, s.v. sgràib;
Derived by McDonald’s editor John Lorne Campbell from Far. skrápur.
Henderson 1910, 333: scrèab, sgrèab), an alternative spelling of sgriab, above.
E. sgrabair [ˈs̪kɾab̥əɾʲ]
(i) sgrabair (HSS 1828; NicFhionghuin 1987a, 19: (pl.) sgrabairean;
Although sgrabairean might also be the plural of sgrabaire (F).
An Stòr-Dàta 1993; Garvie 1999, 8; AFB˄;
(ii) scraber (Martin 1698, 106) is taken to be SG sgrabair rendered in Scots orthography;
(iii) sgrobir (Macaulay 1764, 160) is probably a misprint for *sgrabir, although a ~ o alternation in Gaelic is possible;
(iv) sgrabail (Fergusson 1888, 91: St Kilda; so Dwelly 1911), with final <l> representing a St Kilda reflex of SG r, cf. SG Alasdair [ɑwəstil̠´] (SGDS Item 29, Point 15); cf. F (iv).
F. sgrabaire [ˈs̪kɾab̥əɾʲə]
(i) sgrabaire (McAlpine 1832; MacKenzie 1905, 141: scrabaire, St Kilda; Forbes 1905, 332; MacKenzie 1911, 44: scrabaire; MacBain 1911; MacLennan 1925; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: Skye (of St Kilda); MacFhearghuis 1995, 37, 144);
(ii) sgrapaire (Forbes 1905, 332; ibid., 36: sgrapire, scrapire);
(iii) sgràbaire is cited by Coates (1988, 15–16), but with no apparent justification; besides sgrabaire (1995, 37, 144), MacFhearghuis writes sgràbaire and (pl.) sgràbairean pl. (pp. 59 and 37) in error;
(iv) scrabillay (MacFhearghuis 1995, 144): while her husband Peter MacLachlan was serving as minister on St Kilda between 1906–1909, Alice MacLachlan (née Sgroggie), who was originally from Haddington, East Lothian, kept a diary (Riches 2021˄) in which she gives the English phonetic spelling scrabillay, with <ll> representing a St Kilda reflex of SG r; cf. E (iv).
ON *skráp acc. yields Scots scrabe, scraib [skreb] regularly, which in turn yields SG (A) sgraib [skɾɛb̥] (e.g. Scots pail [pel] > SG peile [ˈpʰelə] ‘bucket’) and (B) sgrab [skɾab̥] (cf. Scots scrape [skrep] > SG sgrab vb ‘to scrape’
Also sgrob, with a ~ o alternation; also sgràb, sgròb with the vowel lengthened (sgràb, sgròb) under the influence of Eng. scrape /skreɪp/.
); SG (C) sgrìob [s̪kɾʲiːb̥] and (D) sgriab [s̪kɾʲiab̥] appear to be folk etymologically driven forms based on SG sgrìob (EG scríb) and sgriab (< Eng. scrape /skreɪp/) ‘(to) scratch, scrape’; while SG (E) sgrabair [ˈs̪kɾab̥əɾʲ] and (F) sgrabaire [ˈs̪kɾab̥əɾʲə] consist of SG sgrab + the Gaelic agentive suffixes -air and -aire, respectively, hence Scots scraber.
ON *skrápr is in ablaut relation to ON skrapa ‘to scrape’,
Cf. Ice. skrápr to skrapa (Cleasby 1874, s.v. skrápr) and Nn. skråp, skråpa to skrapa (Torp ibid.).
and, from the secondary forms SG sgrìob and sgriab, it certainly appears the bird’s name in Gaelic was generally understood to mean, or was interpreted in the sense, ‘scrape, scraping’, either because the creature scrapes out its burrow or, perhaps more likely, because it scrapes as it flies ‘with a series of rapid stiff-winged flaps followed by long glides on stiff straight wings over the surface of the sea, occasionally banking or shearing’ (≈RSPB˄).