A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1513, 1650-1689
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Scroggy, Skroggy, adj. Also: scrogghy, scrogie, skrogie. [Late north. ME (obs.) scroggy, scourgy (c1440); Scrog(g n.] a. Of a place: Characterised by the presence of brushwood or scrub. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace v 131.
At the mur syde, in till a scrogghy slaid, Be est Dipplyne 1513 Doug. viii vi 84.
Of wild buskis rowch skroggy knoll 1513 Doug. xi xi 84.
In dern sladis and mony scroggy slonk
b. Of a tree or bush or a number of trees or bushes: Thin, spindly and growing densely, forming thickets or undergrowth. 1513 Doug. viii ix 120.
The cumpany … held array Throw scroggy [1553 scroggit] bussys furth the narrest way 1513 Doug. x iv 68.
Amang the scroggy [1553 skoggy] bus Of poppill tre branschis lang and squar 1513 Doug. x vii 112.
The scroggy rammell 1650 Nicoll Diary 9.
Ane hill of skrogie wod a1689 Cleland 120.
O're hills, o're mountains, scrogie woods
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"Scroggy adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/scroggy>
