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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DALL, n.¹ Also dawl. [dɑl]

1. Sc. form of Eng. doll, a child's toy; a pretty, silly woman (Sc. 1818 Sawers Dict. Sc. Lang.; Cai.⁷ (obsol.) 1939; Mry.¹ 1925; Bnff.², Abd. correspondents, Lnk.³ 1939). Dim. dally (dallie Bnff., Abd., Ags., Dmf. 2002).Ags. 1810 J. Paterson Poems 123:
Bonny Betty coft a dall.Ags. 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters I. xi.:
There's your uncle Peter took a poor primpet-up dally, wi' feant hae't but the duds on her back.m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 106:
There was nae doot something o't, wi' his brucket dawls. . . . I wonder hoo the saft tawpie will be looking' noo?Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 9:
An' bawbee Dalls the fashions apit, Sae rosy cheekit, jimpy shapit.

Comb. dall(y)'s claes, cleysies, a children's name for the sea-tangle, Laminaria, the fronds of which were used to wrap dolls (Abd. 1964). Abd. 1961 P. Buchan Mount Pleasant 23:
Far's a' the lachin' quines that plowtered doon the braes, An' gaithered dally's-cleysies on the bonny simmer days?

†2. “A sloven” (Ayr. 1825 Jam.²); cf. dial. and colloq. Eng. dolly, a slattern. Hence dallish, slovenly (Ib.).

3. A post-rammer, a weighted handle for pounding and packing soil (Ags., Slk. 1975). Cf. Eng. dolly, a stick for pounding. Also transf. in phr. to gie (someane) the dalls, to take one's fists to, give (someone) a hammering.