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Hi .. we're stuck on one clue in our company Christmas giant crossword .. Clue is 'Scottish coal shed' and we are fairly sure that the template is R?E? and the question mark infers that it is most probably a cryptic clue.
REEL or REEK are our favourites after carefully searching everything we have access to (paper and web). Can anyone shed (!) any light on what the answer might be and why please ?

Have always called it a bunker???

Thanks ... bunker is a Scottish coal shed but we still can't make the link to R?E?
Can you offer any further help please ?

There is a Scottish expression, said at the New Year...

Lang may your lum reek......meaning smell.

May you always have coal in your fireplace....

Any help??.

Pastille
I always thought that in Dundee coal was kept in a bath.!!

A happy New Year

TJ

Ree or reed, are names for coal enclosures in Scotland.

Well done rusty, I had heard of " reed" for sheltering cattle but not coal before.....Happy New Year....

Happy New Year to you, too, Pastille!
Chambers has ree or reed as a (partly) walled enclosure for storing coal, cattle or sheep.

Thanks Guys ... You definitely nailed it for us. As you say, the answer is in the latest version of Chambers and it's on the web (searching Google Books for 'reed coal enclosure'). However, it is missing from my 1972 edition of Chambers which we had searched thoroughly for R?E?. So maybe it's time we invested in a new copy of Chambers (any advice on whether we should buy a new hardcopy version, pay for access on the web or maybe just rely on Google books and/or other tools ?). We do all the Telegraph crosswords every day and rarely have to resort to a dictionary. It is just this annual 'Giant' crossword that contains some very obscure words for which we have to take the Big Red Book off the shelf and dust it off !

Many Thanks again and Happy New Year to you both.

Cheers
Ron

The 12th edition Chambers Dictionary hardback is on Amazon for twenty pounds.