Scarths

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Dark seabirds of the cormorant family found on northern coasts ; small notches or clefts cut into rock, wood or the edge of a bank
2. Northern coastal cormorants known as shags ; narrow notches or cracks worn or cut into a surface
3. Shag-like sea birds of Scottish and northern waters ; cuts, nicks or clefts made in a hard edge

Etymology: "Scarths" is the plural of "scarth," a dialect word from Scotland and northern England. The noun has two senses that come from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings: a notch or gap in a hill or cliff, from "skarð," and a northern name for the shag, a dark cormorant that nests on sea cliffs, from "skarfr." The two Norse words are close in form, and English dialect speakers may have blended them, so the exact split between the senses is uncertain. Both meanings suit the rugged coastal and upland landscapes of Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland, where Norse settlers left many place names with the same element.