Spairick

When this bird first visited us I presumed it was a female Sparrowhawk, but today as I am collecting thoughts to write I notice again the blue beak, and I realise it is a juvenile. I looked again at my other photos, and some paler spots on the bird’s back also confirm it’s a juvenile. I learn.

I don’t know whether it was male or female, but in recent months the garden has only been visited by a male, and this bird “stopped visiting” – and I sit wondering whether we unknowingly witnessed the growth and development of a fledgling to a self-sufficient adult.

In looking at Scots words for this post, I came upon spur-hawk and spairick. Spairick is linked to the Gaelic speireag, which is a word for both sparrowhawk, and “slender-limbed woman”. The Scots spairick describes a “small thin sharp-tongued energetic woman”.

Whether my juvenile was male or female, the imagery in these words captures the nature of the bird as it arrived in my garden… scattering the wee birdies into hiding, all but the singular great tit hiding in the bush beneath that piercing yellow eye… a fast turning chase ensued, all the more impressive in the tiny walled space… the harshness of nature on display.

The great tit survived that day.

Referring to a woman as a “spairick” isn’t intended as a compliment. First, there is the reference to the woman’s appearance, and its equation with the other qualities. The correlation between woman and bird is an echo of the Harpies of Greek mythology, and fits in with the depictions of harpies, harridans and hags – unpleasant women, according to our colonial and patriarchal conditioning.

Misogyny is rife, it is rooted in our language. When a woman takes a position of power, a misogynist will want to “take her down”, or refer to her as a “nippy sweetie”. When a woman voices an opinion, she may be framed as “scary”, “opinionated”, or having “strong opinions”. Or any of the other put-downs aimed at women for having a voice.

In the misogynist patriarchy, it does not matter whether the woman’s voice is soft, or sharp, it is the voicing of opinions, or standing in her power, or failing to be a doormat, that attracts the “sharp-tongued” framing.

Spairick…. I’ll take it as a compliment…

Spairick n. A small thin sharp-tongued energetic woman (Inv., Mry. 1971). Gael. [′sperək] [Ad. Gael. speireag, sparrow-hawk, thin female.] Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.