A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
(Muk-,) Muck-bell, n. A silver bell given in Dumfries until 1716 as the prize for the winner of an annual horse-race of the ‘muckmen’ or scavengers of the town (Mukman n. b). —"In a … minute dated the 15th of April, 1662, the treasurer is ordered … to provide a silver bell … as a prize to be run for, every second Tuesday of May, by the work-horses of the Burgh, ‘according to the auncient custome’." William McDowall History of the Burgh of Dumfries (1867) 359. ? 1700 Petition by the Muckmen in Dumfries Doc. (Petitions No. 197.)
The muck bell to reid for to be returned for the five merks according to the old custome 1716 McDowall Hist. Dumfries (1867) 360.
[The Council] prohibit the riding of the muckmen in all time coming, and … appoint the treasurer to sell the muck-bell for the best advantage
