The origin of the word maud is uncertain. Writing in 1894, Russell said that it came from the Gaelic or , a poetic synonym for plaid.Russell. (1894). "The Gaelic element in the spoken language of the south of Scotland". History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, Instituted September 22, 1831, Vol. 14. Her view seems to be backed by an old poem in Gaelic, "The Tale of Connal", recorded in Ross-shire in 1859, which has the line, "And wrapped my around".Urquhart, H. (1859). "The Tale of Connal". Popular tales of the West Highlands. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. An alternate source is that the word derives from maldy, meaning 'a coarse grey woollen cloth',"Maud". Retrieved February 14, 2016, from http://www.dictionary.com which in turn comes from medley, meaning 'a parti-coloured cloth', by way of mispronunciation.Dunnigan, S. M.; Harker, C. M.; Newlyn, E. S. (eds.). (2004). Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Early Modern Scottish Writing. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. However, the reverse is also said to be true, whereby maldy was an early-19th-century noun for yarn and cloth used to make mauds, as in "a cloak of maldy", where it was pronounced "mawdy".Jamieson, J. (1825). "Maldy". Supplement to the Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language. Edinburgh: Tait.
