Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

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.

DIVEE DAGGER, n.comb. See quot.:Dmf. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games 213:
Divee Dagger is another game I learned at Langholm. We played it at the age of eleven when we played on the hillside. We find a flat stretch of ground of about twenty yards long and two teams are picked. Someone then makes a wooden “dagger” and places it upright in the ground. The first people from the teams come out and stand at the same distance from the “dagger” and on the cry “Now” they both race for the “dagger”. One of them gets the “dagger” and one of them does not. The two people then fight with the dagger until one of them is hit with the point and killed (in pretence). Then the second people of each team fight until each person has had a turn, and then the team with the most people alive is the winner.