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.
BLONDIN, n. A cableway slung between two towers and carrying a skip which may be moved backwards and forwards and raised or lowered to hoist stone from the bottom of a deep quarry (see quots.) (Abd. 1974). The word is also used for a sim. apparatus used in the shale-mines in West Lothian. [′blɔndɪn]Abd. 1926 Sc. N. & Q. (Dec. 1926) 232:
It is said that it was the “cradle” at Abergeldie that gave the late John Fyfe, Kemnay Quarries, the idea of the “Blondin Cable” way that he introduced for quarry work instead of cranes. Abd. 1949 M. Milne in Scots Mag. (Jan.) 270:
A far-seeing pioneer of the modern granite trade, he designed and erected in 1873 the first Blondin ever used in quarrying. Sc. 1963 North-East of Scotland 161:
Today there are two blondins at Rubislaw.
[From the name of Charles Blondin (1824–97), a well-known French tight-rope walker.]
