Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
GLENNIE, Glenny, n. Mining: a flame safety-lamp used for testing the presence of gas (Edb.6 1944). Fif. 1950 Edb. Ev. Dispatch (28 Jan.):
“By the way, it's a naked light you have.” “Yes,” I replied, “It's a glennie lamp that they are using in that section.”
Comb.: glenny blinks, miner's nystagmus (Edb.6 1944, obsol.).
Also fig.Ayr. 1946 Forward (21 Dec.) 1:
After sixteen years of this, he had to leave because of the “Glennie Blinks” — the eye-twitch with which miners were afflicted through working in the dark with the old-style flickering lamps. 1987:
That wid gie ye the Glennie-blink.
