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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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SCUG, v., n. Also skug(g), skjug (Sh.); scog(g), skog, scogue, skjoag (Sh.); scoog, scoug, skoog; scowg; skough, skeugh; ¶scig (Jam.); ¶scok-. [skʌg; skug; Cai. skʌug. See P.L.D. §157. (2).]

I. v. 1. To conceal, screen, hide (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 265; em.Sc. (a) 1969); also nonce usages: in a.1774 quot., to block the view of, shut off; in 1803 quot. to cover over, blot out.Edb. a.1774 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 96:
They'll skug ill een frae you and me.Sc. 1803 Scott Minstrelsy III. 258:
For that's the penance he maun drie, To scug his deadly sin.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie ii. ii.:
Naebody in this country-side kens me; I'll be scoggit wi' my ain hamely manner.Sc. 1930 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 223:
Dark as a saumon-pool, scoogit and still.

2. To shelter, shield, give protection (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 265; Abd., Fif. 1949).Sc. 1818 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 154:
He hadnae call'd on the Halie Name That scugs in the evil hour.Sc. 1824 R. K. Douglas Poems 134:
We're scugget fu' snug wi' a weel-bigget wa'.Ayr. 1830 Galt Southennan I. xxiii.:
He chappit at the door wi' his knuckle, 'Scog me!' quo' he.Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 13:
It scougs gentle Mysie, that broom-wattled bower.Bnff. 1890 W. Garden Sonnets 236:
He'd scoug my head when turnin' frail and aul'.Fif. 1899 S. Tytler Miss Nanse v.:
He 'scouget' you from every rough blast that blew.Ags. 1914 I. Bell Country Clash 80:
We'll be scoogit fae the wind there.Lth. 1923 S. A. Robertson Double Tongue 38:
Ye're cosy scougit frae the rain.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 16:
The treis that skuggeet Barnhill's staney bed.

3. refl. or intr. (1) To take shelter or refuge, seek protection (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 263; Sh., Kcd., Ags., Per., Fif. 1969).Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 155:
They scoug frae street or field, An' hap them in a lyther bield.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xxi.:
Sailor lads left their vessels, and came to scog themselves with us.Dmf. 1875 P. Ponder Kirkcumdoon 10:
I was stannin scuggin' frae the rain.Fif. 1905 S. Tytler Daughter of Manse i. v.:
When he was scoogin' in the hallan from a shoor.Fif.¹⁴ 1945:
Come and scoug under my umbrella.

(2) to hide, seek concealment, go surreptitiously, skulk, lurk, shelter behind a pretence (Sc. 1808 Jam.; ne.Sc. 1969). Adv. scugways, -wise, in a clandestine way, with a design to hide oneself (Lth. 1825 Jam.).Sc. 1731 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) IV. 257:
Hereticks and evil-minded men scogged themselves under scripturall and standart phrazes.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xvi.:
I scougged myself behind a big pear-tree.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 164:
He geed skuggin' up the dyke side jist gehn he wir gain't stehl.s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws xxiv.:
Folks that comes stravaigin' scugwise intae Tarras this gate.Sc. 1906 J. A. Harvie-Brown Fauna Tay 49:
I "skugged" until he [a squirrel] thought the coast clear.Bnff. 1925 G. Cumming A'anside Lilts 36:
Some scoug awa' 'mang cairts an' ploos.

‡4. tr. To take shelter from, to avoid, dodge, evade (bad weather, etc.) (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 265; Sh., Cai., Per., Fif. 1969).Rnf. 1813 E. Picken Poems I. 99:
We'll scug the blast an' dread nae harm.Per. 1881 D. MacAra Crieff 164:
There's no a place to scug a shooer.m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 11:
Ye'll scoug it whan it's weet.Abd. 1920 G. P. Dunbar Peat Reek 45:
He scoggit a' his lessons an' he loath't the thocht o' skweel.Sh. 1963 New Shetlander No. 67. 29:
Mony a storm we're hed ta skjoag.

5. To scowl, frown, have a stupid or dismal expression (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 164). Hence skuggin'(-faced, -leukin), having a gloomy countenance (Id.). This usage may have been transferred from Scouk.ne.Sc. 1782 Caled. Mercury (4 Sept.):
An' ilka scougan, flyplug lown, Speaks Greik an' Latin.

II. n. 1. Concealment, shade, a means of hiding (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 464; Sc. 1825 Jam.). Adj. scoggy, ¶scokky, shady (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.).Sc. c.1726 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 200:
The alcove and coach are bewitching And aft to the ugly a Scogue.Ayr. 1822 Galt Entail xxi.:
Gallanting awa under the scog and cloud o' night.

2. A shelter, protection or shield, a sheltered place, lit. and fig. (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 464; Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh., Kcd., Ags., Fif. 1969); a hood, screen, cover as of a pram (Fif. 1971, skoog). Also in n.Eng. dial. Phr. to tak (to) scoug, to take shelter (Kcd. 1969). Adj. scougy, sheltered, affording protection.Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis:
"The scug of a brae", the lythe of it.Dmb. 1777 Weekly Mag. (20 Feb.) 273:
Fu' snug we'll sit beneath this scougy brae.Mry. 1790 Aberdeen Mag. 31:
The sheep tak' to scoug, wi' a weet lagart fleece.Sc. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads I. 300:
Whan they tak scoug in your arms.Sc. 1826 Blackwood's Mag. (Oct.) 622:
But house nor hame aneath the heaven Except the skeugh of greenwood tree.Bnff. 1847 A. Cumming Tales 71:
Nae scug frae sharp affliction's wand.Fif. 1895 G. Setoun Sunshine & Haar 241:
Keepin' close in by the houses — an' gey an' glad o' the scoug.Sh. 1897 Shetland News (4 Dec.):
A'm houpin' 'at he's juist run ta some skjug.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 9:
The treis gien skug ti the Auld Cross.Ags. 1954 Forfar Dispatch (13 May):
A thunder plunk cam on, we made for a garage and got a skog there.

3. A pretence, pretext, subterfuge, hypocritical excuse (Fif. 1710 R. Sibbald Hist. Fif. (1803) 34; Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh., Mry., Bnff., Kcd. 1969).Sc. 1728 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) 20:
Under this scogg Jacobitisme and dissafection will terribly be propagated.Lnk. 1738 Session Papers, Memorial J. Henderson:
The Petitioner under the Scog of his son is himself in possession of the Room.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxviii.:
A' this was but a scoug to keep some ither thing oot o' sicht.Abd.¹³ 1910:
He did it for a skoog (for a pretence).

†4. A two-faced or underhand sort of person (Abd. 1921 T.S.D.C.).

5. A frown, scowl, a gloomy face or expression (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 164).