>Yes, we have cloutie trees (more usually known as Cloutie Wells or Rag
Wells
>here) - and I would be interested to hear of examples from other parts of
>the British Isles. Cloutie is Scots for a cloth - perhaps the word is more
>widely used than I realised if it turns up in Bedfordshire!
Yes, clout/cloot is a Scottish word still in common use in one context at
least. Clootie dumpling - a large dumpling made in a cloth and boiled is a
fine delicacy. My granny made the best ever, of course.
And anyway, to paraphrase Goodness gracious me, "Bedfordshire - Its
Scottish!"
Jim McNeil, South Yorkshire Archaeology Service
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