Why are puffins called tammie norries?

Question

Does anybody know how the puffins in Shetland got their nickname of "Tammy Norries".......where did that name come from?

Kate H · Accepted Answer

You're right -- in Scotland they are called "Tammy Norries" or "Clowns of the Sea."  

I'm not sure how it started (it's been around for over 100 yrs), but here's the explanation I found on Wikitionary.com:

tammie norrie (plural tammie norries)

   1. the puffin
   2. a stupid-looking, bashful man

[edit] Quotations

    * 1842, unknown source quoted or summarised in 2002 2nd edition of Thesaurus of traditional English metaphors, by Peter Richard Wilkinson, page 346:

          Tammie Norrie [Sc : 1842] A stupid looking, bashful man; a puffin.

    * 1867, The Sailor's Word-Book, by William Henry Smyth and Edward Belcher, page 500:

          NORRIE, and TAMMIE NORRIE. The Scotch name for the puffin.

    * 1873, Handbook for Northumberland, by John Murray, page 215 (from 1892 quote in English Folk Rhymes, by G. F. Northall, page 276):

          Tammie Norrie o' the Bass, / Canna kiss a pretty lass.

    * 1896, Proverbs, proverbial expressions, and popular rhymes of Scotland, by Andrew Cheviot, page 310:

          Tammie Norrie o' the Bass, / Canna kiss a bonnie lass.

              “The Tammie Norrie” or puffin has a peculiar beak. The rhyme is a hit at bashful lovers. –“The Antiquary.” ch. 7. So–
              “A Tammie Norrie” is a stupid-looking, bashful man.

durick · Answer

Tammie Norrie

Feenix3 · Answer

I looked in a dictionary of the Scottish language.

http://www.dsl.ac.uk/

A "tammie" is a variation of the English name "Tommy."
 *Sh. 1774 G. Low Tour (1879) 98:
    The whole rock ahive with Tomies.
    *Ork. 1806 P. Neill Tour 197:
    This bird is very common in the Orkney seas: it is there frequently named the Tommy.

A "norrie" may refer

 DSL - SND1     NORIE, n.2 Also nori, nory. See also tammie-norie s.v. Tammie. [ˈnɔ:re]     1. (i) The puffin, Fratercula arctica (I.Sc. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1964). Phr.: Foula norie, a nickname for an inhabitant of Foula in Shetland (Sh. 1883 J. R. Tudor Ork. and Sh. 614, Sh. 1964); (ii) a barnacle, Lepas anatifera (Jak.), from its resemblance in shape to the beak of the puffin. (i)
    *Ork. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 VII. 546:
    The pickternie, the norie, and culterneb, the calaw, the scarf.
    *Kcd. 1808 Scots Mag. (July) 512: 

From the above, it seems that sometime the bird was called a "tammie," sometimes a "norrie," and sometimes a combination of the two.

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Why are puffins called tammie norries?

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