A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420-1447, 1566-1570, 1661
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Cleg, n. Also: clege; klegg; gleg. [Northern ME. clege (15th c.), clegge (1570), ON. klegge.] A horse-fly. c1420 Wynt. ii. 572–3 (C).
Bittyn thai war with senyphes, That a kynde of cleggis [R. gleggys] was, And alkyn kynde of cleggis [R. gleggys] als a1447 Bower Chron. II. 376.
The vnlatit woman … [is] Mare wily than a fox, pungis as the cleg 1566-70 Buch. Comm. on Virgil Georgics iii. 148.
Oestrum, a klegg 1661 Reg. Privy C. 3 Ser. I. 647.
Shoe … was stangit with ane clege on the sholder
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"Cleg n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 10 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/cleg>
