Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BALLOCH, n.¹ A narrow mountain pass. [′bɑləx]Sc. 1883 Lord Saltoun Scraps II. iii.:
North, south, and east were three high round hills, with two passes or ballochs between them.em.Sc. 1794 W. Marshall Agric. Cent. Highl. 11:
Each balloch, pass, or cross chasm between the glens or larger vallies.Slk. 1750–1800 J. Hogg Farewell to Glen-Shalloch in Jacobite Minstrelsy (1828) 263:
I'll sing thee to rest In the balloch untrodden.