Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BALL, n.⁴ Boot-blacking. Also used attrib. Contr. for blacking ball.Sc. 1704 Acc. Bk. Sir J. Foulis (S.H.S. 1894) (20 June):
To Wm douglas to buy 2 balls for shoes.Sc. 1753 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 490/2:
My pumps were varnished . . . with the new German blacking ball.Edb. 1898 J. Baillie Walter Crighton 216:
They all congregated round the long table, at either end of which was a large ball bottle, and having selected from one of the drawers as good a pair of brushes as possible, the work began.