Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

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.

DROUD, Drowd, n.¹ [drʌud]

1. A cod-fish (Ayr. 1825 Jam.²), esp. one of poor quality, “a sickly or spawned cod” (Arg.¹ 1947, drowd). Also attrib.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ayrsh. Legatees iii.:
Half-a-guinea for a cod's head, and no bigger than the drouds the cadgers bring from Ayr.Ayr. 1885 J. Meikle Yachting Yarns 58:
Shifty, I often think ye hae a heap in you, an' at ither times I think you're as toom as a drowd cod.

2. A useless, slovenly person; “a worthless female” (Ayr. 1825 Jam.²).Ayr. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xlii.:
His mother, who was by this time a widow woman, did not well know what to do with him, and folk pitied her heavy handful of such a droud.