Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BOW-TANG, n. “Bladder-wrack, kind of tang that has air-bladders on the blades” (Ork. 1929 Marw.). Fucus vesiculosus.
[Bow is supposed by some to be from O.N. bū, stock of a farmstead, as Bow-tang is used as a kind of fodder for cattle (see Marw.); but cf. Bougwaar, a kind of sea-weed, where the first element is Gael. bolg, a bag, descriptive of the air-bladders.]
