Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1740, 1801-1871, 1988
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‡SHOCKLE, n. Also shuc(k)le, shochle, shuchle; shoggle, shoogle, shuggle (Rxb.). [ʃokl; Rxb. ʃogl]
1. An icicle. Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1740 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 462:
It freezes meat and ale, The ale made shockles in our mouth.Edb. 1801 J. Thomson Poems 124:
Shucles they hang lang an' clear Down frae the roof.Rnf. 1833 J. Cairnie Curling 89:
The attendants at this funeral had the drops from their noses frozen like shuchles.Sc. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms lxxviii. 47:
He dang down their vine-stoks wi' hail-stanes; an their plane-trees wi' shoggles o' ice.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 66:
The shochles wad likely tingle on the rone
but no a tift blaws, sae caller, sae lown,
the warl's noo, wi ice alunt
alow unclooded sun
2. A large piece of floating ice in a river (Sc. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., shoggle, shuggle).
†3. A clot of blood (Rxb. 1825 Jam).
[O.Sc. schokle, a lump of ice, 1596, reduced form of Iceshogle, q.v.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Shockle n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/shockle>
