Clootie

A clootie or cloot in Scots is a strip or piece of cloth, a rag or item of clothing; it can also refer to fabric used in the patching of clothes or the making of proddy rugs (aka "clootie mats").^[1] The saying "Ne'er cast a cloot til Mey's oot" conveys a warning not to shed any clothes before the summer has fully arrived and the may flowers (hawthorn blossoms) are in full bloom.^[2][3][4] The saying also appears in English as "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out".^[5]

Clootie dumpling

A traditional dessert pudding called clootie dumpling is made with flour, breadcrumbs, dried fruit (sultanas and currants), suet, sugar and spice with some milk to bind it, and sometimes golden syrup. Ingredients are mixed well into a dough, then wrapped up in a floured cloth, placed in a large pan of boiling water and simmered for a couple of hours before being lifted out and dried before the fire or in an oven.^[6] Recipes vary from region to region e.g. in North Fife and Dundee it is not common to use breadcrumbs but the use of treacle is.

Clootie wells are wells or springs in Celtic areas where pilgrims leave strips of cloth or rags, usually as part of a healing ritual.

A cluit (Anglicised cloot) less commonly refers to the cloven hoof of cattle, sheep or pigs, and from this the term Cluitie is used as a euphemism for the Devil.

Notes

1. ^ Scuil Wab: Wird O The Month - Mey (Scots language)
2. ^ A tale from two cities, ne'er cast a cloot
3. ^ Kist example (Scots language poem)
4. ^ Glesca Patter,
5. ^ "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out". The Phrase Finder. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html. Retrieved 2008-05-28. 
6. ^ Cropley, May. "Clootie Dumpling Recipe". http://www.scotlands-enchanting-kingdom.com/clootie-dumpling-recipe.html. Retrieved 2008-07-20.