Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1795-1996
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SKREEK, n. Also screek, skriek, screak; ¶skraik (Abd. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 43); skreech, screech, screach, scr(e)ich, schriechs; skreigh, screigh, screegh; skreeh, skrieh; scraich, scraigh. [‡skrik, skri:ç; occas. skre:ç]
In phr. skreek o day, the peep of day, first light, the crack of dawn (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 423; Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; Abd. 1897 Trans. Bch. Field Club IV. 81; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Arg. 1936 L. McInnes S. Kintyre 15, schriechs; Ork., ne., m. and s.Sc. 1970). Also skreek o dawn (Uls. 1953 Traynor Gl.; Edb. 1970), -daylicht, -licht, -mornin(g), -sky, id., and in reduced form screech and deriv. skraichum (Per. 1928).Slg. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XV. 325:
A proverbial expression in this county, the screich of day light.Rxb. 1802 Scott Minstrelsy II. 337:
The page he look'd at the skrieh of day .Sc. 1815 C. I. Johnstone Clan-Albin I. ix.:
He was at Ballyruag by the "screech".Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxiii.:
To send the crier through the toun for ye at skreigh o' day the morn.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 47:
The morn, Glenalvon, by the screek o' sky.Fif. 1841 C. Gray Lays 228:
A laverock thus, at skreek of morn.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe xxvii.:
I'll be away by the scraich o' day.Edb. 1917 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's xxxi. 15:
She's up in the mornin' by the screigh o' licht.Abd. 1920 G. P. Dunbar Peat Reek 8:
She wrocht fae skreek o' mornin' till the mirkest oor ye'll name.m.Sc. 1932 Matt Marshall in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills (1982) 10:
When ye couched it in the heather
Were ye chittered by the win?
Hae ye waukened in the mist at skreigh o day?Fif. 1933 J. Ressich Thir Braw Days 29:
Somewheres aboot the skreigh o' dawn.Edb. 1958 J. W. Oliver Peevers 18:
'Tween the screigh o' day an' the gloamin'.Per. 1979 Betsy Whyte The Yellow on the Broom 11:
So you can imagine how I felt when I heard someone bellowing and shouting at the screich of the following day. Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 30:
" ... The Corbie Coach is wytin at the Castlegate staunce in the toun o Aiberdeen, far aa consairned may board her. Takk tent tae be back in yer places bi skreich o dawn neist mornin, on pain o everlastin damnation".
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"Skreek n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/skreek>
