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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DORLACH, -LOCH, -lack, -lick, n. Also dar-, dour-. Arch. or hist.

1. A quiver for arrows.Ayr. 1811 A. Boswell Poems (1871) 82:
Darlochs there were, for distant fray, For battlement or turret gray.

2. “A bundle, apparently that kind of truss, formerly worn by our Highland troops instead of a knapsack” (Sc. 1808 Jam.), a pouch or wallet; hence extended to mean a portmanteau (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley (1817) xliv.:
His leather dorloch wi' the lock on her was come frae Doune.Sc. 1831 J. Logan Sc. Gael I. 260:
Anciently, they bore a similar wallet or builg, at the right side, for the latter [their shot], or for a quantity of meal or other provisions. This was termed dorlach, and was the knapsack of the Highland soldier.Sc. 1847 J. Grant Romance of War IV. lxvi.:
He unstrapped a leather dorlach, which he carried on his back.

3. (1) A large piece of anything solid (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 40, dorlack; Bnff.², Abd.² 1940, dorlach); (2) an untidy lump; gen. applied to persons (Mry. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.); (3) in pl.: knots of hair or wool at the tails of animals, esp. those caused by the adherence of dung (Mry.⁴ 1933, darlicks); cf. Knapdarloch.