Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1828-1877, 1958
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BLACK JACK, -JOCK, n.
1. A black leather jerkin. Arch. Given as Sc. by N.E.D.Sc. 1828 Scott F. M. Perth xx.:
Some had the black jack, or doublet, covered with small plates of iron of a lozenge shape.
2. A dark-coloured sweetmeat made of sugar or treacle and spice.Rnf. 1877 J. M. Neilson Poems 48:
For his face was a' black-jock, his feet were a' glaur.
3. The saithe or coalfish, Gadus merlangus (Sh. 1938 M. Powell 200,000 Feet on Foula 210, Sh. 1975). Sh. 1958 Shetland News (14 Oct.) 4:
We got fries of herring and black-jacks from the English drifters.
4. A box-like draught-improver for blowing up the fire in an old-fashioned range with an open chimney above it (Dmf. 1958).
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"Black Jack n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/black_jack>
