Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

†TOWAL, n. A horse-leech.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 229:
The horse-leeches . . . continue sucking so long as they can get a drop of blood, while the life-stream flows out of their nether end, whence the name “Towals”, or tails, leeches at either end.