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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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MUDGE, v., n. Also mu'ge; moodge. [mʌdʒ; Cai., wm.Sc. mu-]

I. v. 1. tr. and intr. To (cause to) move, to stir, to budge, to shift (Cai. 1903 E.D.D.). Gen.Sc. Vbl.n.pl. mudgins, -eons, movements; esp. movements of the features, grimaces, wry faces (Rnf., s.Sc. 1825 Jam.). Also in sing. See also Murgeon.Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 53:
Nor from the bar shall he e'er mudge.Sc. 1802 Scott Minstrelsy (1848) IV. 344:
Thai dare na mudge for fricht.Cld. 1818 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 155:
Nowther fleechan nor whippan could mak him mudge a fit.Ayr. 1836 Galt Rich Man (1925) 8:
I was, in sooth, a pawkie wean, and kent a mite by its mudging from a moulin.Abd. 1872 J. G. Michie Deeside Tales 120:
In spite o' a' they could do' they could'na mudge the brig.Wgt. 1877 Saxon Gall. Gossip 228:
The beggars were jibing and grinning and wudna mudge.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 18:
Bit the auld lethy wad no mudge.Ags. 1894 A. Reid Sangs 37:
I cannily mudge to my sanctum.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road viii.:
Back to the blankets, lad, the pair of us, and never mudge.Bch. c.1930:
Aw saw nae mudgins aboot the place fan Aw cam by, an' Aw wis win'erin sair 'in ye wis a, weel aneuch.Fif. 1932 M. Bell Pickles & Ploys 43:
If we're a goal doon in the second half, slip roond an' moodge in oor goalposts a bit.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 39:
She lookit up, the auld wife,
an' gied a mudgeon,
as gin she suddenly foond
aa things unreddable.em.Sc. 1991 James Robertson in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 173:
She's up tae here in wae an winna moodge,
Tho she mey catch her daith frae cauld - em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 27:
"Eternity'd hae mudged nae mair
Nor gin it stertit yesterday. ... "

2. To fidget with mirth.Slk. 1824 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) xii.:
"I wish ye may hae peeled a' the hide aff his shins," quo' the Foumart, and he mudged and leugh.

‡3. With extension of meaning: to rumour, to spread news abroad in a secretive manner (Bnff. 1963).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 228:
Fouck are mudgin' it he is jist at the horn.

II. n. 1. A movement (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Ork., ne.Sc., Ags., sm.Sc. 1963, Gsw. 1970s).Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 132:
The least mudge on the pairt o' ony o' the bairns after the licht was oot, was sure to be magnifeed into something dreadfu'.Per. 1895 I. Maclaren Brier Bush 43:
There wasna ane o' them made a mudge.Cai.¹ 1928:
Nane o' them made a mudge.Sc. 1935 D. Rorie Lum Hat 19:
In sudden fear he strave to rise An' niver a mudge could mak.

2. A sound, a whisper, a rumour (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 228; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; ne.Sc., em.Sc.(a), Dmb. 1963. Cf. v. 3.Per. 1903 H. Dryerre Blairgowrie 127:
Sandy Reid, being a sound sleeper, never heard a "mudge" of it all.