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Encyclopaedia of the North East

L - Leister to luckenbooth

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A large printed capital letter L with small heart shaped brooches and a large iron fork and basket on wooden handles.

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Leister and leister crusie. A large iron fork almost two metres long with five barbed prongs and a thick wooden handle, and an iron basket hanging from a similarly long handle.

Leister crusie and leister from Strathdon (19th cent.)

The light from burning peats in the crusie attracts fish, and the fish are speared with the leister which has barbed tines to prevent fish slipping off.

ABDUA:18748, 18749

leister la16- 
1 n A pronged spear used to catch salmon, now used only by poachers, 
2 v To spear with a leister. 

A fish from the pool, a tree from the wood, and a deer from the mountain are thefts of which no man was ever ashamed.
Traditional Proverb 

The stones of Banchory were not worth talking about; shooting and fishing made up for them. Those hours they were sacred, how glad one was to escape after dinner to the Feugh! During a spate we generally fished in the pool below the bridge with a worm or minnow and watched the salmon leaping up...
Norman Douglas 1934 Looking Back.

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Luckenbooths. Eighteen small brooches mostly heart shaped and made of silver. Two have crowns on top, one is decorated with pink and clear glass gems, another has a single large glass gem in the middle, another is gold and one is horseshoe shaped and decorated with clear glass gems.

Luckenbooths from Aberdeen (17th - early 20th cent.)

luckenbooth 18
1 n A booth or shop esp that found in Edinburgh in the 18th century. 
2 n A type of brooch usually sold at such places. The luckenbooth is a small heart-shaped brooch. It used to be worn as a betrothal token and as a protective charm against the evil eye. Often the brooch was hidden in the petticoats of children who were deemed particularly susceptible to harm from the Guid Folk (fairies). Usually the brooches had charms or mottoes engraved upon the reverse.

L - Leister to luckenbooth