- generally pronounced like the word nuke, though hopefully less dangerous, this term is used in Scots to denote a projecting corner of land. The most prominent such place-name is the East Neuk of Fife, but the term also occurs in street-names such as Craig Neuk Street in Motherwell and Wallneuk Street in Paisley. The word has been recorded in Scottish sources since the fourteenth century and sometimes refers to a remote part of an area of land. A late sixteenth-century work by John Hamilton, Ane Catholik and Facile Traictise, describes Scotland itself as
ane nuke of the warld.
Neuks can also be hiding-places, but this quotation from James Robertson's novel, The Fanatic (2000), reminds us to protect our secrets:
When the bailies came to take them to prison, they asked Thomas if he had any money to secure... Jean piped up, and kindly showed them all the panels and neuks where it was hidden.