Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CURLY-MURLY, Curlie-, n. comb. A kind of sweet (see last quot.).Ags. 1893 Arbroath Herald (30 March) 2/5:
He gae a start that sent a box o' curlie-murlies fleein' i' the fluir.Ags. 1934 G. M. Martin Dundee Worthies 163:
The ecstasy of acquiring a “Sugar Hert,” a handful of “Curly Murlies” or a bottle of “Treacle Ale” and a slab of “Gingerbread” is impossible to describe.Ags.17 1942:
Curlie-murlies were mixed sweets of various shapes and sizes of the texture of pan-drops although the curlie-murlie proper had rather a gnarled exterior. They were formed on a seed or other foundation such as carvie, clove or almond. The nucleus of the curlie-murlie proper was probably aniseed. It was about the size of a large pea. These sweets were popular on feeing-market days when Jock was expected to give Jenny her “market” in the form of a pockie of market sweeties or curlie-murlies.
