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.
Quotation dates: 1836
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CHANNEL, n.3 Sc. usage: a kind of balcony with an arcade below (see quot.).Per. 1836 G. Penny Traditions 9:
The houses in Perth were generally built on the plan of having arched door-ways and windows; but on the front wall there was erected a projection of wooden work, about six feet wide. On the ground floor these were open, and were termed channels; here the goods were displayed. Several of these houses are still to be seen, with the wooden fronts; but the channels are filled up and converted into shops.
[Phs. a local extended usage of Eng. channel, chainwale, a wooden ledge projecting from the side of a ship, to carry the shrouds clear of the bulwarks.]
