Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MISLUCK, n., v. Also misluk.
I. n. Bad luck, misfortune (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh., Bnff., Uls. 1963). Hence mislucky, unlucky, unfortunate. Obs. in Eng.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shep. i. i.:
Wha can help Misluck?Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 59:
But doolyet had na letten her find her want, Or think of the misluck of being scant.Dmb. 1777 Weekly Mag. (4 Dec.) 231:
Whan, as misluck wad hae't, wha then came by, But the auld maiden gaun to milk the ky.Rnf. 1835 D. Webster Rhymes 118:
They hae a knack o' ilka beuk, Can tell the cure for ilk misluck.Sc. 1895 A. G. Murdoch Readings III. 114:
What but the very blackest misluck could she expect to happen during a year that had begun with such a dire misfortune?Uls. 1898 J. Barlow East unto West 193:
The divil himself only knows what desthruction I mayn't ha' done on some mislucky body afore I quit a hold of it.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ ii. xii.:
It isna i' the naitir o' man . . . tae thole a' misluck an' domage an' tae grien for nae thrivance i' this warl'.
II. v., intr. To meet with bad luck or misfortune; to miscarry (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Ppl.adj. misluckit, -ed, dogged with bad luck, unfortunate (Abd. 1963).Sc. 1710 A. Crichton Life Col. Blackader (1824) 391:
I wrote to Colonel Cunningham the other day, as we had a design upon Ypres lately, but it has mislucked.Sc. 1831 Fife Herald (28 July):
Some birds misluck, and maun therefore begin again.Sc. 1855 Carlyle Misc. Essays (1869) VII. 144:
They are to ride by two different roads towards Bohemia, that if one misluck, there may still be another to make terms.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 228:
He's a mis-luckit stock wee a' thing he pits his han' till. He's sair mis-luckit wee's baiss.
