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.
Quotation dates: 1912
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SKEGG, n. Also skeg. The awns or beard of barley (Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1970). In n.Eng. dial. applied to a variety of bearded oat. [sk(j)ɛg]Ork. 1912 Old-Lore Misc. V. i. 35:
That [barley] intended for malt and burstin was put into a large tub, and chopped with a tuskar to free the mettins from skegs.
Comb. skegg-peat, the outermost peat in a peat-bank, freq. left uncut at the end of the season to assist in the drainage and by next year shaggy and frayed out as a result of winter weather, any shaggy or grassy peat (Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1970).
[Norw. skjegg, O.N. skegg, beard, awns.]
