Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLAGGY, CLAGGIE, Klaggi, adj. Applied to anything of a sticky, glutinous character (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., klaggi; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 134). Extended also to weather which produces a heavy, sticky soil. Gen.Sc. Also used in Eng. dial. (E.D.D.).Ags. 1867 G. W. Donald Poems, etc. 68:
Ye shor'd's wi' sic a claggie Spring That nane cud gang about a thing, Or get the seed out o' the bing To fill the furrow.Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick v.:
An' on the Sabbath mornin she gart me . . . creish my pow wi' the claggiest pomatum she could come by.Lnk. 1928 H. Lauder Roamin' in the Gloamin' 34:
The soft and “claggy” mass [of gutta percha] was rolled out on the kitchen table and shaped into whips.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish xxxix.:
The ground that should have been dry at the seed-time, was as claggy as clay.

Hence clagginess, “adhesiveness in moist or miry substances” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).