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 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

‡WIG, n.³ Also weig (Sc. 1797 Edb. Mag. (July) 3), wigg; whig. A small oblong roll, baked with butter and currants (Sc. 1825 Jam., w(h)ig; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., whig), a “Chelsea bun” (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 151). Now dial. in Eng. Comb. whigman, id.Sc. 1759 E. Cleland Cookery 155:
To make Wigs. Take a Quarter of a Peck of Flour, rub into it three Quarters of a Pound of Butter, something more than Half a Pound of Sugar, a little Nutmeg and Ginger grated, three Eggs well beaten; put to them half a Mutchkin of thick Barm, and a Glass of Brandy, make a Hole in your Flour, and pour all in, with as much warm Milk as will make it in a light Paste.Sc. 1763 Boswell London Jnl. (1950) 216:
They were leaving all the significance and splendour and gaiety of the Metropolis, and were gaein down to Halkerston's Wynd and wigs and roundabouts.Peb. 1817 R. Brown Comic Poems 92:
Whig is likewise the name of a leavened wheaten bread, with thin crust, brown and round above, and white and flat below, gradually contracting to a point at each end.Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce I. ii.:
Taking up a farthing whig for her afternoon tea.w.Lth. 1868 H. Shanks Poems 77:
Wi' shortbread, whigmen, toast, and buns.Rxb. a.1900 Kelso Chron. (8 April 1921) 4:
Fancy bread consisted of butter biscuits at ½d each and “whigs” at 1d.Sc. 1927 J. Kirkland Baker's ABC 384:
Wig, Wyg, Weig, Whig. An old name used in its various forms for small buns containing currants. The name is still used for buns of a triangular shape, set in a circle, with their apices toward the centre. The name is also still used for thin shortbread, made round, and cut in triangular pieces.