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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLOG, Cloge, Clug, n. Also dim. cloggie. [klɔg Sc., but m.Sc. + klog, Lnl. + klʌg]

1. A log of wood. Obs. or obsol. in Eng. but still in everyday use in Sc.: “cloggies, dry cloggies!” is a familiar street-cry to-day. Lnl.¹ (1936) gives the form clug.ne.Sc. 1996 Silvie Taylor in Sandy Stronach New Wirds: An Anthology of Winning Poems and Stories from the Doric Writing Competitions of 1994 and 1995 46:
He threw anither cloggie on the fire an settled back in his cheer.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 19:
Ging ye awa' oot an' fetch the rosetty cloggie tae the hack-stock. A'll meet ye there wi' the aixe.Abd. 1990 Stanley Robertson Fish-Hooses (1992) 50:
The reek of the cloggies burning inside the grate of the house caught her nose and the fine yome wint roon her heart. Ags. 1885 Brechin Advertiser (24 March) 3/4:
I've seen their stock reduced till a pennyworth o' brunstane an' twa'rthree cloggies o' yellow pine.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin iv.:
He . . . sits “hoo-hooin'” to himsel' on the clog by the door cheek for oors an' oors on end.Edb. 1801 J. Thomson Poems 126:
Hame staps the herd to change his hose, An' by the ingle taks his brose Syne on a clog he'll beek his toes, Till warm an' dry.Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales II. 182:
“Geordie,” says I, “aigh man! here's a great chap [a fish] just lyin steepin like an aik clog.”

†2. (See quot.)Fif. 1886 A. Stewart Reminisc. Dunfermline 61:
The roots of large trees, called “clogs,” . . . were now brought.

†3. A wooden mallet for beating steak before cooking.Per. 1763 Ochtertyre House Booke of Accomps (ed. Colville 1907) 61:
1 cloge for breaking meatt [Inventory of kitchen furniture].

4. Combs.: (1) clog-fit, a club-foot; (2) clog-ruit, “the exposed root of a tree or bush” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); (3) clog-wheel, a wheel made out of shaped blocks of wood dowelled together to form a solid disc instead of having spokes. Also in n.Eng. dial.(1) Abd.(D) 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War (1918) 41:
The baillie syne, a peer-hoose geet, nae better than a feel, He slivvers, an' has sic a mant, an' ae clog-fit as weel.(3) Mry. 1887 A. G. Wilken Peter Laing 28:
The wheels war made wi' fat they ca'd clogs they war ca'd clog wheels-heavy brutes they were-an' feint an iron ring hed they on them.

5. A block used for filling bobbins into carriages in a jacquard loom (Ayr. 1957).

6. In dim. form cloggie, a nickname for someone who wears wooden shoes (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.).