Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
HAG, n.2 Also hagg.
1. A stall-fed ox (Fif. 1869 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 723). Comb. hagman, a cattleman (Fif.3 1919, Fif. 1956).
Also in dim. form haggie (Fif. 1957). Fif. 1882 “S. Tytler” Sc. Marriages I. 279:
He'll no even be fit for a hagman (the used-up man who is the cattle-feeder on a farm).Fif. 1896 “G. Setoun” R. Urquhart xix.:
That's what he ca'd his hagman last year, an' Jock ta'en it out o' him. He stretched him wi' a hay-fork.
2. One who tends fat cattle (Fif. 1909 Colville 66, hagg).
[Etym. uncertain. ? From Hag, v., in the sense of “castrate.” Cf. Hogg.]
