Teuchter


Teuchter is a Lowland Scots word sometimes used to offensively describe a Scottish Highlander, in particular a Gaelic-speaking Teuchter. The term is also in use with more broader meanings attached, commonly applied to any Scot perceived to be from a rural area, and within Glasgow those who are from outwith the Greater Glasgow area. It is offensive, equivalent to other cultural epithets used by more powerful groups to describe people they have oppressed, but is often seen as amusing by the speaker. The term is contemptuous, essentially describing someone seen to be uncouth and rural.

Derivation

The word also shows up as cheuchter, tschooktir, chuchter, teuchtar, chookter but has no universally accepted orthography. From relative obscurity, it gained currency around 1910.
There are three main theories on the etymology of the word:
  • a purely Gaelic derivation from tuath "peasantry, tenantry" or deoch "drink" plus an agent-forming suffix -air or -adair
  • a derivation from the Scots adjective teuch "physically or mentally strong, tough" plus a suffix
  • a derivation from the Scots noun teuchit/teuchat "lapwing"
One folk etymology/urban myth is that during the First World War, many members of the Highland regiments were pipers. A book of sheet music for the pipes is called a "tutor", and when pronounced with the pre-aspiration of Gaelic accents when speaking English, this sounds like "teuchter".

Humour

Like other rural stereotypes, teuchters commonly feature in jokes though such stories often end with the apparently naive teuchter triumphing through hidden wiliness.
The archetypal cartoon teuchter is the cartoon character Angus Og, created by Ewen Bain.
A teuchter is the hero of Scottish musician Bill Hill's The Portree Kid, which parodies the song Ghost Riders in the Sky as "The teuchter that cam frae Skye".