Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
ARRAN WATER, n. comb. A jocular name for whisky distilled legally or illicitly in Arran.Ayr. a.1843 J. Stirrat Poems (1869) 30:
Spend two hours o' social clatter, Out owre a glass o' Arran water. Ayr. 1845 Stat. Acc.2 V. 368:
Smuggling . . . has now for many years been almost totally abandoned, and beyond a few casks of Arran water from the opposite shores, and a little soap from Ireland, is unknown.
