Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SOLDU, n. Herring feed (see quot.) (Arg. 1936 L. McInnes S. Kintyre 9). [sɔl′du]Arg. 1930:
Hungry, poor herring after spawning feed on the crustacean Nyctiphanes Norvegica. This food is rich and digests and decomposes quickly, leaving the stomachs full of the jet-black eyes of the Nyctiphanes in a half-digested mass — hence the term Soldhu, black sile: the fishermen mistaking these undigested eyes for minute marine organisms.
