Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SCUTCH, n.4 Also skutch. Sc. variant of Eng. scotch, a block or wedge-shaped piece of wood put under a wheel on a slope to prevent it slipping backwards, as on a cart, a coal-wagon in a mine, etc. (e. and wm. Sc. 1969).Rxb. 1958 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 24:
Older folk remember what happened when someone “putt the dreg on” or “putt in the skutch”; and “yuised the slipes”.
