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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FLEG, n.², v.² Also flegg.

I. n. ‡1. A severe blow (Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems, Gl.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 205); a kick, esp. from a horse.Sc. 1722 W. Hamilton Wallace iii. i.:
Syn at the Lown a fearfull Fleg let flee, That from his Rumple shear'd away his Thigh.Kcd. c.1768 J. Beattie in A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 5:
Lang had she [muse] lyen, with beffs and flegs Bumbaz'd and dizzie.Ayr. 1785 Burns 2nd Epistle to J. Lapraik ix.:
She's [Fortune] gien me monie a jirt an' fleg, Sin I could striddle owre a rig.Dmf. 1899 J. Shaw Country Schoolmaster (ed. Wallace) 339:
Licks are “flegs.”Hdg. 1903 J. Lumsden Toorle 135:
[Religion] wad the fleggs o' faes endure, Age efter age.

†2. A fit of ill-temper (Ayr. 1825 Jam.).Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Poet. Wks. 98:
Ye follow in your surly flegs, And paiks the hen and breaks the eggs.

†3. A piece of bragging, a rash statement, a falsehood (Ayr. 1880 Jam.). Hence fleggar, one who exaggerates, a braggart, fibber, romancer (Lth. 1808, Ayr. 1825 Jam.).

II. v. 1. To fly or rush from place to place, to dash about, to flutter (Dmf. 1808 Jam., 1894 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 147; Kcb., Dmf. 1952); “to walk with a swinging step” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 205). Sometimes with on, to hurry, work hard, press on (Wgt., Kcb., Dmf. 1952). Ppl.adj. or vbl.n. fleggin, applied to “a lazy, lying fellow, running from door to door” (Dmf. 1825 Jam.).Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 16:
To see ilk flegging witless coof Get o'er his thum' a heezy.Ib. 76:
Nelly fled frae 'tween his arms, An' aff wi' Gib the Mason Flegg'd fast, that day.Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Poet. Wks. 91:
Wi' frills an' feathers on his tappin', He flegs thro' a' the nooks o' Wappin'.Ayr. 1848 J. Ramsay Woodnotes 46:
Here mony a chiel, wi' gaudy coat, Flegs by wi' unco bluster.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xv.:
The Solan understood about knives . . . he gied ae squawk and flegged aff about the roundness of the craig.

2. tr. To move rapidly to and fro. Rare.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 19:
At length upo' the shore he sten'd And flegg'd his highland shankies.

3. To rear and fling, as a horse or other animal (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Hence flegger, a horse that flings (Id.).Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls o' Hame 84:
What gars thee sae fleg an' fling? Tuggin' at thy tether-string, My pet Nannie.

4. To aim blows, to hit out.Ayr. 1818 J. Kennedy Poet. Wks. 49:
A pair at either fleg a while Wi' faces black as coal pokes.