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.
BLACKEN, v. Sc. usages in phrs.: (1) to blacken (one's) door, = Eng. “to darken one's door”, to enter (one's) door (Ork., Ags. 1975); (2) to blacken paper, to put pen to paper, to write. Cf. Black, 3. (1).(1) m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 263:
It'll be a wee or my shadday blackens yer door again.(2) Ags. a.1823 G. Beattie Poems (1882) 160:
They spill not ink for fame or glory, Nor paper blacken, con amore.
