Q - Quaich to quernie
quaich 18-, quhaich em>e16
1 n A drinking cup, usually wooden staved but also made from silver.
2 n A bowl-shaped depression in the landscape.
The quaich is of highland origin, the name being a corruption of the Gaelic cuach, a cup. The shape is familiar to most of us... wide and shallow, with wedge-shaped horizontal handles which to the convivially minded, seem to invite a hearty grasp, and which certainly facilitate its being passed from hand to hand when circulated as a loving cup.
F Marian McNeill, 1956, The Scots Cellar
quernie
1 n A stone hand mill for grinding grain.
2 adj Full of grains or granules la18-
The cronach stills the dowie heart,
the jurram stills the bairnie;
but the music fur a hungry wame's
the grindin o' the quernie.
And loes me o' ma little quernie!
grind the gradden, grind it:
we'll a get crowdie when its done,
and bannocks steeve tae bind it.
'The Quern Lilt' traditional song
![Saddle quern. A large oblong lump of dark granite, about half a metre long, with a deep carved oblong depression along the middle. Saddle quern. A large oblong lump of dark granite, about half a metre long, with a deep carved oblong depression along the middle.](https://exhibitions.abdn.ac.uk/university-collections/files/square_thumbnails/203e40911300a613e70a0fbc7d9c781c.jpg)
Saddle quern, the oldest type of quern, Newhills (c200BC-300AD).
ABDUA:17111
![Rotary quern. Two fat discs of coarse grey stone almost half a metre wide, the upper disc having a hole in the centre around which is carved a raised ring. Carved grooves radiate from the centre. Rotary quern. Two fat discs of coarse grey stone almost half a metre wide, the upper disc having a hole in the centre around which is carved a raised ring. Carved grooves radiate from the centre.](https://exhibitions.abdn.ac.uk/university-collections/files/square_thumbnails/cd21750287525cd5acd7a3f5eb54b02b.jpg)
Rotary quern, as used until the 19th century in the North East to grind the daily (oat) meal, New Machar (17th - 18th cent.)
ABDUA:17165
![Pepper mill. Dark wooden cylinder with turned bands, with a knob at the top. Pepper mill. Dark wooden cylinder with turned bands, with a knob at the top.](https://exhibitions.abdn.ac.uk/university-collections/files/square_thumbnails/a764a36f701541ff3f5cea0c899adddc.jpg)
Pepper mill of a type used frequently in the North East until recently, Fyvie (late 19th cent.)
ABDUA:18446