Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BLACK DOG, comb.

1. in proverb: butter in the black dog's hause, “used to denote what is irrecoverably gone” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxxviii.:
There wad hae been little speerings o't [money] had Dustansnivel kend it was there — it wad hae been butter in the black dog's hause.

2. The name of an angling fly (Sc. 1847 T. T. Stoddart Angler's Comp. 240; Abd. 1920). Abd. 1838 W. Scrope Deer-stalking 102:
He had on his line a large fly, full four inches long, called there the black dog.