Wirds & Totties

The content of this book is a consideration of the Scottish language and the beauty of the humble potato. The words used in this volume are collected from the memories of my Scottish ancestors. Some of the book’s words are still commonly used in the contemporary vocabulary of the Scottish people, and others are “McNeil-isms” or poetic examples of the late Quintin Davidson’s everyday verse. By pairing the almost exotic quality of the diverse and evolving Scots language with the seemingly ordinary yet historically and nutritionally significant potato provide the reader with an unusual opportunity for contemplation.

The acid-free pages of Wirds & Totties are hand-bound into a signature fold, encased in an archival faux-leather hardcover. The text was manually arranged and printed with a typesetter. Potatoes were hand-sliced and stamped individually with a gouache and rice paste medium. The imagery of the Glasgow map was printed onto archival quality endpapers with an ink-jet printer. There were only 3 of these books made.

I anticipate further production of accompanying volumes. For, there were far too many words that did not manage to be catalogued into this first volume of Wirds & Totties.

This book is lovingly dedicated to Doreen (Dodie) Davidson,
Ewan and Rod McNeil. And to my namesake, Grandma Jess.