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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.

MUG, n.5 Also mugg. A breed of sheep, with long bodies and legs and characterised by a profusion of white wool, even covering the face, which was imported from England to improve the quality of wool in the Scottish breeds (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 353). They were probably an early type of Border Leicester. Also in n.Eng. dial. Freq. attrib.; mutton from cross-bred sheep (Slk. 1919 T.S.D.C.).

Comb. mug-yarn, yarn spun from a mugg.Gall. 1784 A. Wight Present State Husbandry III. 127:
I noticed what are called mug sheep, in little parcels here and there. These were long ago imported for improving their wool, which indeed is their sole quality. It is a heavy dull creature, not apt to break through fences.
Gall. 1793 R. Heron Journey II. 206:
A large white-faced species of sheep were, a good many years since, introduced here. These are fed for the butcher, and sold at a guinea or thirty shillings each. Their mutton is inferior . . . to that of the small, old Galloway breed. Of their wool, some portions are singularly fine others coarse and hairy. They are named Mug-sheep; and Mug-wool is in great request for stockings.
Bwk. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 VIII. 73:
The sheep formerly in this country, called Muggs, were a tender, slow feeding animal, with wool over most of their faces, from whence the name Muggs.
Dmf. 1812 W. Singer Agric. Dmf. 360:
At first in the lower districts of Eskdale and Roxburgh, some dash of the mug, the old breed [of sheep] in some parts of Northumberland, has been supposed to have taken place.
Sc. 1820 Scott Monastery Intro.:
A wig like the curled back of a mug-ewe.
Sc. 1828 Quarterly Jnl. Agric. I. 221:
Mugg Sheep. — In this variety, the face and legs are white, or rarely spotted with yellow, and the forehead covered with long wool.
Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Leaderside Leg. 26:
They fand the bairn i' the mids o' the fluir, like a mug sheep awalt.
Gall. 1900 Gallovidian II. 59:
A pokeful of purns of mug-yarn for Davie McLamroch the weaver.

[Orig. obscure. In early Mod.Eng. (16th c.) usage the mug is sometimes defined as a hornless sheep and this may be the original meaning; mugged cow, a hornless cow is found in 1588.]

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"Mug n.5". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/mug_n5>

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