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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

DREG, n.², v.² Also draeg.

1. n.

(1) A dredge, esp. one used by fishermen for collecting shell-fish (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., draeg; 1914 Angus Gl.).Sh. 1875 W. C. M'Intosh Marine Invertebrates and Fishes of St Andrews 62:
The old fashioned ten-tooth “dreg” is still the chief instrument in procuring shell-fish and is much more serviceable to the zoologist than the dredge.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 124:
Da tae o' an auld dreg.

(2) A kind of rake for drawing dung out of a cart or turfs out of a drain (Ayr.⁴ 1928; Dmf. 1950 (per Fif.¹⁷)).

2. v. To dredge, esp. for shell-fish (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; 1914 Angus Gl.).Ags. 1821 J. Ross Parnassus 18:
Or wi' some sorceress dreg the Nile, For Auld Egyptian charms!

3. Combs.: †(1) dreg-boat, (a) a boat or large punt used for dredging (Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶); (b) “a track-boat, a canal boat drawn by a horse” (Ib.); †(2) dreg song, a long nonsense song, orig. one used by oyster-dredgers; for an ex. see D. Herd Sc. Songs (1776) II. 163; (3) dreg-tow, “the rope attached to a dredging-machine” (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.).(1) (a) Edb. 1739 Caled. Mercury (16 Jan.) 2933:
At Kinghorn, almost every House was uncovered, particularly the Church, which was otherwise greatly damaged: A Dreg-boat, which had been hawled up from the Sea-mark, was tossed in the Air, and thrown to an incredible Distance.(2) Sc. a.1850 H. Hecht Herd's MSS. (1904) 312:
“Dreg songs” were the interminable delight of the harvest dinner-hour — especially among the Irishmen. . . . I have heard an old man recite one of these long-blown medleys for three-quarters of an hour without a break. The more mixed the metaphor the more delight it gave. Any sing-song tune serves for the recital, if the cadences can be worked in.