Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MOLE, n., v. Dim. molie, moly. Sc. usages:

I. n. 1. Combs.: (1) mole-blind, blind as a mole; (2) mole-drunk, blind drunk (e.Rs.¹ 1929); (3) mole-heid, a dolt, a blockhead (Rxb. 1868 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 33, 1923 Watson W.-B.), phs. orig. an alteration of mall-head, see mell-heid s.v. Mell, n.¹; (4) moleskin, adj., genuine, true, reliable, from the strong durable qualities of moleskin trousers (ne. and em.Sc. (a), wm. and sm.Sc. 1963); ¶(5) molesman, a mole-catcher; (6) molliwork, lit. a mole-burrow, in phr. to mak a molliwork o', to burrow into like a mole, to riddle with holes, appar. from molie, adj. + Wark, a construction. Cf. also Mowdiewort.(1) Gsw. 1838 A. Rodger Poems 246:
Scores o' mole-blind fools.(4) Abd.¹³ 1910:
The thing's moleskin = It's true. It's all right.Abd. 1962:
“That's as gweed as moleskin”, said when clinching a bargain.(5) Sc. 1933 N. Morrison Gowk Storm ii. iii.:
My skirts swished in the long grasses, which wetted their hems as I moved from stone to stone over the eardmeal that covered molesmen and elders, shepherds and farmers, their spouses, relicts and children who had “departed this life.”(6) Cai. 1948:
The mice hae made a molliwork o' the mealbags.

2. In dim. molie, moley, a mole-catcher, esp. used as the form of address (n. and em.Sc., Lnk. 1963). See -Ie, B. 2. (b).Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxix.:
Man, ye'll need 'a gi'e Molie yon bottle 't I gied you to cairry; he hisna fesh'n a drap wi' 'im.Abd. 1900 Wkly. Free Press (27 Oct.):
Jamie Meldrum's begun tae mak' the cairt, an' Moley's on the outlook for a beast.Abd. 1952 Press & Jnl. (10 Jan.) 3:
The “molie,” with his capacious bag slung over his shoulder, his small, highly-polished spade tucked under his arm, and his clutter of barrel-and-spring traps dangling at his hip, once so familiar a character in the countryside, has, alas, almost disappeared from our ken.

3. The fresh-water flounder, Platichthys flesus, from its habit of lying concealed in the sand on the river bed (Arg.¹ 1931).

II. v. Also in intensive form molich, mollach, molloch. To loiter about, to prowl around, to wander about in an aimless or idly curious manner (ne.Sc. 1963, mole, molich); to potter about.Abd.¹⁴ c.1915:
I'm nae eese for a lang traivel, bit I'm a' richt molichin' aboot the hoose.Abd.²⁷ 1940:
I cud hear the Jerry [German aeroplane] molin aboot for a fyle.Abd. 1959 People's Jnl. (25 July):
Raither than mollach aboot at hame we set sail for a ferm toon doon Cyack wye.ne.Sc. 1992 Press and Journal (1 Aug.) 4:
"Onywye," he said, "fit wye are ye back mollochin aboot Stronach?"