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.
GREY NICK QUILL, n. See note.Ayr. 1784 Burns Twa Herds xiv.:
I doubt he's but a grey nick quill.
[This is the reading of the first print (1802) but Burns appears to have written “greyneck still”, greyneck in the context appar. = a person of indeterminate views, a shilly-shallyer, one who is a mixture of black and white, where grayneck may be a metaphor from sheep, like grayface, i.e. a cross-bred, a hybrid, keeping up the general metaphor of the Herds.]
