Castle Quest - Reply to Topic

Forum:	Medieval Life And Culture
Topic:	loose women

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T O P I C R E V I E W
deborahknowles Could anybody tell me how these were referred to in the Middle Ages? Strumpet? Whore? (It's for a novel- a grown-up one!)
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duncan The two you stated above were used and here are a few more.
Old English:
Tart, a girl of loose morals or a prostitute.
Old Scots:
Dyke-louper, an immoral un-married woman.
The meaning of Dyke in this context is the marriage tie, or obligation, or sacramental wall that prohibits such illicit behavior and Louper is one who treats the wall with disrespect, despises it, or its impediment as non existent.
Byssim, a worthless shameless woman
Maggie-rab, an ancient term for a violent, quarrelsome and disagreable woman.
This phrase is very susceptible to interpretation but its Gaelic meanings refer to being dirty or slovenly.

Megan and Ralph
Castle Duncan
The Construction Site
[This message has been edited by duncan (edited 04-11-2002).]
Gordon Dyke louper literally means a wall jumper.
The term more frequently applies to a woman who treats anothers marriage vows with contempt....you get the picture.
Bissim is usually conected to the adjective dirty, giving dirty bissim, a term used in a much wider sense now as a general insult or even as a part humourous comment on the language of another.
Courtesan was a term used to describe a mistress. Tranter used this to title one of his novels based on the life of Ludovick Stewart, sometime Earl of Lennox, and cousin to James the 6th.
In some parts of Scotland the word 'quine' refers simply to a young woman, but has also been used to describe a prostitute in other areas.....you have to be careful where you are and which dialect you are speaking!
duncan and the meanings of words change from one century to another let alone from glen to glen.
It seems the term Dyke louper has pretty much stayed the same but the word Byssim is used a little differently now then it was 200 plus years ago.
I'm thinking the 'quine' refering to a prostitute in some areas might be a change in progress for the use of the word.
It's Interesting to note the difference that time makes.
deborahknowles Thanks guys. Did 'harlot' have a different meaning then? In Chaucer it refers to a man.
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