Les Jones

Word of the Day > Word of the Day: Cutty Sark

Cutty sark - Scottish for a short woman's undershirt or chemise. Made famous by Robert Burn's poem, Tam O'Shanter, in which a drunken Tam riding home from town spies a coven of witches dancing around a fire. One especially comely young witch is wearing a chemise which she has outgrown, and which presumably shows her midriff. When the witches stop dancing Tam can't help himself from shouting out praise to her, calling her "cutty sark" for her short chemise.

Till first ae caper, syne anither,
Tam tint his reason ' thegither,
And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!"
And in an instant all was dark:
And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,
When out the hellish legion sallied.

No, wha this tale o' truth shall read,
Ilk man and mother's son take heed;
Whene'er to drink you are inclin'd,
Or cutty-sarks run in your mind,
Think! ye may buy joys o'er dear -
Remember Tam o' Shanter's mare.

Because of the poem, "cutty sark" was used for the name of a clipper ship and a Scotch whisky whose label bears the image of a clipper ship.

P.S. - Do you know what they call Scotch whisky in Scotland? Whisky. Besides being a bad joke, it's true. By law Scotch whisky is the only type of whisky that can be made in Scotland. American whiskey is usually spelled with an "e" while Scotch whisky should always be spelled without.

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And to prove Burns understood the perils of temptation:

But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You sieze the flower, its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white--then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Evanishing amid the storm.--
Nae man can tether time or tide;
The hour approaches Tam maun ride;
That hour, o' night's black arch the key-stane,
That dreary hour he mounts his beast in;
And sic a night he taks the road in
As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in.