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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Loch-leich(e, n. Also: loche-, logh-, (lock-) and -leitch, -leach, -leech. [Loch n. b; Leche n.2 Only Sc. (as also in the later dial.).] A leech. Also fig., a ‘blood-sucker’, parasite.(1) 1579, 1617 Despauter (1579).
Hirudo, lochleiche
1595 Duncan App. Etym.
Hirudo, sanguisuga, a lochleach
c 1630 Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. II. 152.
In the logh they gather manie logh-leitches
1643 Edinb. B. Rec. VIII. 38.
Applying of ventosis, fomentatiouns, lochleiches, cautours, [etc.]
(2) fig. 1571 Calderwood III. 128.
This thrist of blood of these loche-leeches [the murderers of the Regent Moray]
1616 Crim. Trials III. 587.
The Scottismen as loch-leitches … soukis out ȝour merche
c 1690 Anal. Scot. I. 66.
Willie Nassau … , The lockleich [sic] of the British bloode, The lockleich of the British purse

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"Loch-leich n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 23 Nov 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/loch_leiche>

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