Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1875-1914
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BACKING-ROCK, BAUKIN ROCK, BAKKIN-ROKE, n. (See 1876, 1912 and 1914 quotations.) Also balk and rock.Fif. 1875 A. Burgess Poute (1890) 29:
From steaks o' wyrie hemp — rown roond an auld gun stoke — He span his lingin ends upon the bakkin-roke.Fif. 1876 A. Laing Lindores Abbey 305:
A weaver of Newburgh, still live (1874), wove in his youth a web of linen spun entirely by the Balk and Rock, as the spindle and distaff were named in Scotland.Fif. 1912 Frae Maidenkirk to Johnny Groats in Scotsman (Jan.):
The waft was chiefly spun by old women, hence the baukin rock was the distaff of the old maids.Fif.3 1914:
Backing-rock. An imitation distaff given to a woman whose younger sister or brother was to be married before her.
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"Backing-rock n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Aug 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/backingrock>
