Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BLECK, BLEK, BLEKK, BLAIK, n.², adj. Also blake. Given in N.E.D. as obs. exc. dial. Omitted by Concise and Un. Eng. Dicts. See also Black, n. [blɛk, blek]

I. n.

1. Blacking. Gen.Sc.Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
Blekk, shoe blacking.Abd.(D) 1920 G. P. Dunbar Guff o' Peat Reek 21:
Wi' brook an' bleck an' gweed cairt-grease we washed his muckle feet.Abd. 1984 David Kerr Cameron Cornkister Days :
Each horseman was given his own tin of bleck, and with it, two brushes, one for applying the blacking, the other for raising the polish to a presentable shine. Abd. 1993:
Ye get black blaik an broon blaik. Ags. 1872 J. Kennedy Jock Craufurt 78:
Ye need it a' to fill your wame, An' buying blaik an' whit'nin' too.Ags. 1996 Courier 2 Mar :
"Weel, we'll need blek fer the buits, ham fer the breakfast, soap fer the fiss, and polish fer the flair. That'll dae the noo."

2. (1) Soot or smut.w., s.Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶; w.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
Bleck, Blek. A particle of any black matter, as of coal, soot, etc.; pl. blecks, bleks is generally applied to those flakes of soot which rise from a smoky fire, and are so common in the atmosphere of large towns during damp weather.

(2) A collective term for particles of soot or smut.Ags. 1912 A. Reid Forfar Worthies, etc. x.:
An' they're a' bleck an' a'thing. [Referring to a boy's porridge, which he refuses to eat.]Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 38:
The bleck off some pocks o' soot.

(3) In pl. “Smut in plants or grain” (Bnff.² 1934; Bwk. 1934 (per Lnk.³)). Ppl.adj. blecked, smutted, of wheat. Sc. 1699 Edb. Gazette (2 March):
Wheat £17. Blecked wheat £15 13sh. 4d. Oat Meal £13 4sh.w., s.Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 74:
Blecks, mildew, smut; often called blecks amang wheat.

Hence dim. bleckie. (See quot.)Ags.¹ 1934:
In Angus a head of wheat or other grain which is composed of smutty, sooty husks is called a bleckie.

3. A certain kind of soil. (see quots.)Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Blekk in the compd. “eart'-b[lekk],” iron ore, earth containing iron, used as a black dye.Dmf. c.1700 Curiosities of Dmf. in Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. (1901) 53:
Within ten miles is a well whence the neighbouring people digs an earth which they call Bleck. It's black and thick . . . [like the clay of potter's earth]. Herewith they colour much of that cloth they call Galloway grays. [Now unknown.]

4. A negro. Gen.Sc. Also the dim. bleckie.Ags.(D) 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) ix.:
Sandy's was as black as the man More o' Vennis, the bleckie that smored his wife.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 250:
O! gowd mak's the man, sirs, an' brings him respec', Be he Pagan or Christian, white man or bleck.n.–w.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A was that hungry A could a eaten a raw (or boiled) bleck.

5. A blackguard; scoundrel; scamp, sometimes used humorously. Gen.Sc.Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1934:
Johnnie's a little bleck; he's aye at some mischief or anither.Ags.¹ 1934:
As for her man, he's a doonricht bleck.Kcb. 1897 Crockett Lad's Love xxvii.:
O the randy, the blake, the besom.Rxb. a.1860 J. Younger Autobiog. (1881) 274:
There is not a greater bleck under the sun.

Hence bleckie, n., “a mischievous boy, an imp” (w.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).Rxb.(D) 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes an Knowes 23:
The little bleckie was fair upmade when A said “Hyeh!”

6. In pl. blecks, “mourning clothes” (Ayr.⁸ 1934). See Black, n., 1 (3).sm.Sc. 1923 R. W. Mackenna Bracken and Thistledown ii.:
“Whaur's my blecks?” . . . “What dae ye want them for?” . . . “When dae I ever wear them except for a funeral?”

7. A bogey man, used to frighten children (Ayr. 1948). Cf. Blackman, 1.

II. adj.

1. Sc. forms of Eng. black.Sc.1983 John McDonald in Joy Hendry Chapman 37 44: 
Intae a bleck hole
oot frae a white
aa's naethin bit a whirligig
o thirlit licht.Slk.1985 Walter Elliot Clash-ma-clavers 42: 
Tho ye say blek when Ah say white
An Ah say dull when ye say bright,
Some day Ah'll gar ye see the light
Ye contramashous bletherskite.Ags.1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 33: 
See him rax oot
frae tasht bleck sleeve
an airm for support;
it's a sair fecht
bidan upricht here.Dundee1994 Matthew Fitt in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 174: 
The grund wus rimy an ther wus a snell wund blawin bit aa he had oan unnir his lang blek coat wus a whyte t-shirt, a perr o jeans, an mawkit gutties oan his feet.Abd.1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 15: 
Granny disna pit naethin on her face bit soapy watter an hir eyebroos rin thegither like a hairy oubit, aa blaik an jobby.Abd.1998 Sheena Blackhall in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 15: 
Efter a lang, lang time, somebody pit out the lichts in the lift an aathing gaed blaik, except for the kebbuck o cheese an a green an blue foushty baa hingin in space, like a rotten tangy.

2. Deriv.: bleckie, blekkie. A blackbird.m.Sc.1988 William Neill Making Tracks 90: 
The bleckie's cleed is blecker nor the craw's.
He maks his nest gey near yir gairden raws
an maks himsel at hame aboot the place.Sc.1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 53: 
For fullie a week the gorblin blekkie
wi the mittilt weing cokkit its heid
at our houss door and keikit up
at me wi pit-mirk sheinin een.