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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DOCKEN, n. Also dockan, dokkin, do(a)ken, dochan; dokken (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.), †docan (Peb. 1836 J. Affleck Poet. Wks. 80). [′dɔkən, ′dokən Sc., Ork. + ′dɔxən]

1. The dock, genus Rumex, usu. the common dock, R. obtusifolius, but also used for R. crispus (Mry. 1839 G. Gordon Flora Mry. 13; Ags. 1848 W. Gardiner Flora Frfsh. 159). Gen.Sc. Also used fig. in neg. expressions to indicate anything of little value. Also attrib.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 184:
I wo'd be very loth, and scant of Cloth, to sole my Hose with dockans.Sc. 1724–27 Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1733) I. 21:
Wad ye compare ye'r sell to me, A docken till a tansie?Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. (1922) 23:
The draught was regulated by filling up a part of the open doorway . . . by a flaikie made of heather or dochan stems woven very loosely.Bnff. 1924 “Knoweheid” in Swatches 81:
They caretna a docken for the price te pey.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xiii.:
It disna maitter a doaken to me wha I sell till.m.Sc. 1939 James Barke The Land of the Leal (1987) 103:
But MacBurnie assured them - and in a manner that left no room for doubt - that neither a cheese-maker nor a dairyman was worth a docken leaf if he could not milk ... m.Sc. 1979 George Campbell Hay in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 85:
Brecken will grow, docken will grow,
gerss will grow an' crofts will grow;
heather will grow an' blade o gerss will grow. m.Sc. 1986 Colin Mackay The Song of the Forest 80:
... och will it no soon be night again? - and - sweet Jesus my back's killing me! - and - slap some docken on it, there's nothing like the docken leaf for a screaming back ... em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 47:
Combing his locks and preening himself, and brushing out his finery as if God would care a docken what he looked like when He cast him into the furnace.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 8:
He'd gat a yokin' . . . that wou'd hae . . . garr'd his head hing like a doken.Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 7:
Lang had the thristles an' the dockans been In use to wag their taps upo' the green.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) xxiv.:
James Batter's e'e-bree became as green as a docken leaf.Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems, etc. 126:
In his braid tail he bore a lance, Wad pierc't through ony dockan.Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tale II. 183:
My sennins turned as supple as a dockan.Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.:
When a boy gets stung by a nettle he searches for a dock leaf, and rubs it on the wounded part, repeating the charm. “Dockan, Dockan, in. Nettle, nettle, out.”

2. Phrs. and Combs.: (1) a day (nicht) amang the dockens, a day (night) spent to little purpose (Cai.³ 1948, — nicht — ), see also Day, n., 3 (5); (2) docken blade, a dock-leaf (Abd.²⁷ 1948; Ags.¹⁷ 1940); (3) docken-budie, a basket made of dockens (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.); (4) docken-grub, a white grub found in the docken root, used as a sea-trout bait (Kcb.¹⁰ 1940), the dock-worm; (5) docken sporrow, the corn bunting, Emberiza calandra (Sh. 1975); (6) no to gie a docken, not to care (Cai., Bnff., Ayr., Dmf. 2000s).(3) Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 128:
He's laagin da dokkin büddie wi' his handel apon his shooder, an' his oil cot apon his airm.