High heidyin n: a leader, a person in authority; pl: the authorities
HIGH heidyin is commonly heard in Scottish speech though its relative informality often excludes it from use in certain contexts. That said, it is a versatile term which can be cheeky or disparaging as well as simply descriptive, and is no stranger to the media. A nonjudgmental use of the term appeared in an article in Scotland on Sunday in February 2003, which explained the background to the TV programme Operatunity: "2500 applicants have sent in videos of themselves singing in the shower, and the high heidyins of the English National Opera decide which of them will get to pursue their dream of one day singing on the stage at Covent Garden."
High heidyins have been with us for a long time, but according to the known written sources, they have only been referred to as such since the 1920s. An early example occurs in a contribution to the Scots Magazine in 1928, where it clarifies the significance of a given person's status: "He wis administratin, somewheers in India, a rale high heid yin, mind ye."
A literal translation such as "high head one" or "high head person" really doesn't do it justice. Depending on the context, more appropriate English equivalents might include "bosses" or perhaps "powers-that-be".
High heidyin has been used to describe both real and imaginary inhabitants of the world of modern Scottish literature. The introduction to Dream State, a 1994 collection of Scottish poems, comments that "many poems poke marvellously malicious fun at Scot Lit's High Heidyins", while Ian Rankin's 1992 novel, Strip Jack, makes effective use of the term in reference to the upper echelons of law enforcement: "Looks like the chief super's on the way out, doesn't it? Can't be long before the high heidyins see what's going on and pension him off."
Scottish Word of the Week is written by Maggie Scott of Scottish Language Dictionaries www. scotsdictionaries. org. uk, 27 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9LD (0131) 650 4149 mail@scotsdictionaries. org. uk. Visit www. dsl. ac. uk to consult the 22-volume online Dictionary of the Scots Language.
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