InScotland, awirry-cow (Scots pronunciation:[ˈwɪɾɪkʌu̯,ˈwʌɾɪkʌu̯]) is abugbear,goblin,ghost,ghoul or other frightful object.[1] Sometimes the term is used for theDevil or ascarecrow.
Draggled sae 'mang muck and stanes,They looked like wirry-cows
The word was used by SirWalter Scott in his novelGuy Mannering.
The word is derived byJohn Jamieson fromworry (Modern Scotswirry[2]), in its old sense of harassment[3] in bothEnglish[4] andLowland Scots,[5] fromOld Englishwyrgan cognate withDutchwurgen andGermanwürgen;[6] andcowe, a hobgoblin, an object of terror.[7][8]
Wirry appears in several other compound words such aswirry hen, a ruffianly character, a rogue;[9]wirry-boggle, a rogue, a rascal; andwirry-carle, a snarling, ill-natured person, one who is dreaded as a bugbear.[10]
