Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1828-1924
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CLOSHACH, CLOSSACH, Clushach, n. Confined to ne.Sc. [′klɔʃəx, ′klɔsəx, ′klʌʃəx]
1. “The carcase of a fowl” (Mry.1 1925; Abd.22 1936); “a person lying in a heap; a dead body” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.).Bnff. a.1829 J. Sellar Poems (1844) 52:
Will buried be deep in the tomb, Just wi' our clossach.Abd. c.1870 Old rhyme (per D. J. Mitchell):
Beggar's advice to a family disputing the division of a goose: The gray gweedman, the gray goose-heid, The gray gweedwife, the nibbock o't, The fower lads, the fower langs, An' the peerman, the closhach o't.
2. “An untidy mass” (Abd.6 1913; Abd.2 1936); “a large mass of anything, particularly of anything semi-liquid” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 27, clossach).Bnff. 1924 Burnie's Jeannie in Swatches o' Hamespun 16:
Taul ye her o' yon clossach o' croods in the middle o' yon haaf-pun o' butter ye tried to paan on to me?
3. A hoard of money saved up (Bnff.2, Ags.2 1936).Abd. 1851 W. Anderson Rhymes, etc. 109:
And left a clushach i' the moggan In times o' 'stress to keep them joggin'.Abd.(D) 1903 W. Watson Auld Lang Syne 81:
Auld Parkie's said to hae a gryte closhach o' siller.
4. In phr. the haill clossach, “the whole quantity, or the whole number” (Bnff. 1866 D. Bnff. 27; Bnff.2, Abd.9 1936).
[Gael. closach, a carcase, from clos, rest, sleep, stillness (MacBain).]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Closhach n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 7 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/closhach>
