Pend
In Scotland, a pend is a covered passageway or vaulted archway that runs through a building, usually from the street to a back court. The Dictionary of the Scots Language records it as an arch or vaulted gateway; in everyday use today it means any roofed passage under the upper floors of a building.
In practice
Pends are everywhere in Edinburgh once you notice them: in Old Town buildings on the Royal Mile and Canongate, in Stockbridge and in Leith, often leading to a mews, a workshop yard or the bin store of a tenement. Some are public routes, some private with a gate. The word turns up in planning applications ("alterations to pend"), in factors' notices about who maintains the paving, and in descriptions of flats "accessed via a pend".
Why it matters to newcomers
If a flat listing mentions a pend, the entrance is likely to be through an archway rather than off the street, and the pend may be shared property. It is also worth knowing for directions: "go through the pend" means walk under the building, not around it.
Related
- Close - the open passage a pend often leads into
- Wynd - the public lane between streets
- Tenement - the building most pends pass through