Cutty-sark (witch)

Cutty-sark figurehead on the British clipper of the same name.

Cutty-sark (18th century Scots for a short chemise or undergarment[1]) is a nickname given to Nannie,[citation needed] a fictional witch created by Robert Burns in his 1791 poem "Tam o' Shanter", after the garment she wore. In the poem, the erotic sight of her dancing in such a short clothing caused the protagonist Tam to cry out "Weel done, Cutty-sark", which subsequently became a well-known catchphrase.

She gave her name to the tea clipper Cutty Sark, which featured her figurehead at the bow. A brand of Scotch whisky is in turn named for the ship.

  1. ^ "cutty(-ie) sark, a short chemise or undergarment" Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Dictionary of the Scots Language, accessed 21 May 2007