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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PELL, n.¹, v.¹ Also pjöl(l) (Jak.). [pɛl, pjøl]

I. n. 1. A matted tuft of hair, esp. on an animal (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)), e.g. at a sheep's tail (I.Sc., Cai. 1965), in 1922 quot. by synecdoche of a sheep that has been reduced to skin and bone in a snowdrift. Hence pelly, adj., having matted, dirt-caked hair or fleece (Ork., Cai. 1965, a pelly dog).Sh. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. vi. 226:
If the poor thing [a pony] has been wandering afield all winter, starved of cold and hunger, he becomes so weak he is unable to cast the dreggled bunches of his thick winter coat which hangs about him in forlorn “pells.”Cai. 1916 John o' Groat Jnl. (14 Jan.):
“A pelly staig maks a good horse” — a rough or poorly clad boy may become a good man.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 123:
Lowse up yon pell, daa, an' pit her inunder da mill.

2. A rag, a tatter, a torn and ragged garment (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 172, 1914 Angus Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc., Cai. 1965); “a thick dirty piece of . . . cloth or dress” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 123). Hence pelly, adj., ragged, hanging in tatters (Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), pjol(l)i); comb. pjoli-man, a ragged, shabby person, at atterdemalion, “scarecrow” (Jak.).Sc. 1894 Stevenson New Poems (1918) 51:
John micht hae jingled cap an' bells, Been a braw fule in silks an' pells.Sh. 1900 Shetland News (24 Nov.):
I min pit a lok o' dis dirty pjolls in steep.Sh. 1915 Old-Lore Misc. VIII. i. 23:
To these would be added the ormals of any household article, and pells of no use.Ork. 1920:
Me breeks is a' in pells.Ork. 1930 P. Ork. A.S. VIII. 35:
Poogs are clothes old and shabby but not yet at the pelly stage.

3. Fig., a shred, morsel, the slightest trace or vestige. Phs. for Peel, n.², 1.Sh. 1895 Williamson MSS. (21 Feb.):
Dis fann [of snow] at wis aleng da dek is pined away. Der harly a pel ta be seen.

4. A term of contempt for a dirty, worthless person, a sloven, “tramp”, a reprobate (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc. 1965); a weak complaining child (Cai. 1965).Ags. 1880 J. E. Watt Poet. Sk. 21:
Yet there were wives ca'd “weirdless pells” Whase mou's whiles needit to be wat.Sh. 1902 J. Burgess Sh. Folk 93:
I thought . . . that du would hev hed more pride in dee as to be takin' up with a drukken pell, as du's doin'.Ork. 1931 J. Leask Peculiar People 133:
Sibbie waas a slesterin' pell.Sh. 1952 New Shetlander No. 31. 25:
“He,” so he said, “would get up any hour of the day or night to rid the island of the d — old pell.”

5. A broken-down shabby object, “anything . . . that is very much out of repair, as applied to a vessel, house, etc.” (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1965).

6. “A salted hide” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.). This usage corresponds to the orig. (see etym. note) but no example has been traced.

II. v. Only as ppl.adj. pel(le)d, pellet, -it, -at, pjol(l)et, 1. of the hair, an animal's coat, etc.: wispy, matted, caked with dirt, hanging in elf-locks (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1908 Jak. (1928), pellet, pjollet, 1914 Angus Gl.). Comb. pellet röl, -rül, -rool, a pony or young horse before its new coat of hair grows in (Edm., Angus; Sh. 1965).Sh. 1836 Gentleman's Mag. (Dec.) 589:
I kam apo Jeemie Tamsin markin up wir pellat Rüll i da humin o da eenin.Sh. 1894 Williamson MSS. (20 May):
Of a dog: whan it's no lost da aald hair den it gets peld.Sh. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. 1. vi. 226:
When a Shetlander speaks compassionately, or contemptuously, of some unfortunate being as looking like a “pellit rül”, we have a graphic picture of that individual's miserable appearance.Sh. 1957 Sh. Folk-Bk. III. 32:
Mony a pellet rül is made a güde horse.

2. Of a garment: ragged, tattered, worn-out (Jak.; I.Sc. 1965).