Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MOCHRUM, n. The name of a coastal parish in Wigtownshire, in Combs.: 1. Mochrum elder, the cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo (Wgt. 1878 Zoologist 428; Dmf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 151, Gall. 1963), from its black plumage resembling the Sunday garb of an elder of the church. Cf. Cowe'en Elders, id.; 2. Mochrum-laird, id.3. Mochrum scart, = 1.1. Kcb. 1927 Gallovidian Annual 25:
Along the South-west Coast the Scart [Cormorant] is known by the nickname of the “Mochrum Elder”.2. Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 422:
Mochrum laird. A name for the black cormorant; . . . because they have been, as it were, proprietors there of a piece of wild shore, for an unknown length of time. Wgt. 1993:
A Mochrum elder has always been known as a Mochrum Scart to me and I have seldom heard your term for the cormorant used locally and I lived in the parish of Mochrum for many years.
