Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

COLLOGUE, Colloug, Killogue, n. and v.

Sc. usages and variant forms. [kɔ′log, kə′log Sc.; kɔ′lʌug Uls.]

1. n.

(1) “A conversation in whispers or secret, a private interview, a conference, confederacy” (Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶; Bnff.², Abd.¹⁹, Lnk.³ 1937); “a confidential chat” (Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.). Also found in Cum. dial. (E.D.D. Suppl.).w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 28:
A collogue wi ma son [sub-title].Gsw. 1994 Alasdair Gray A History Maker 12:
" ... The outcome depends on that ... No spying! This collogue is private."

(2) A meeting; a conference.Sc. 1991 Tom Hubbard ed. The New Makars 8:
The main organisation promoting Scots is the Scots Language Society. On a much smaller scale, Scots Glasnost runs an annual collogue in Dundee and issues occasional publications.Sc. 1993 Herald 27 May 16:
... and Alastair Horne, adviser in English with the Educational Development Service of Tayside region, thought it fit to address the 21st annual collogue of the Scots Language Society last month seems to refute his contention that Scots is not a language.Sc. 1994 Scotsman 29 Oct :
Pipers' gathering Ceilidh dancing will be just one of the events in a packed programme on Saturday, 5 November, when the Lowland Border Pipers' Society holds its "collogue" in the Duchess Anne Rooms, Dunkeld - the first occasion on which this annual event has been held outside the Border area.

2. v.

(1) To talk together, chat (not necessarily in secret or in confidence), as in colloq. Eng. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1927 John Buchan Witch Wood 255:
The night's the time, when we can step across and collogue at our ease.L.Bnff. 1935 J. M. Caie in Abd. Press and Jnl. (1 Oct.):
Th' fishers come colloguin' up the brae Wi' muckle say-awa' o' boats an' gear.Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes III. xxvii.:
“Losh, lassie! what hae ye been aboot? Ye hae a colour by ordinar'.” “That's easy accoontet for. . . . She was stan'in' killoguin wi' a bonnie young lad.”Uls. 1924 “Peadar” in North. Whig (8 Jan.):
Two or more persons having a quiet “yarn” are said to be “collouging.”

(2) To be in league, have an understanding (with), to scheme (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰ 1937). Also in Eng. dial.em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 175:
'How would I get intae the Tolbooth o Edinburgh in secret? Dae ye think a man wantit for a capital crime against a Croun servant would o his ain volition enter that place tae collogue wi a convicted felon in his cell? I'd as weill hae pit ma heid in a noose.'Fif. 1998 Tom Hubbard Isolde's Luve-Daith 4:
We twa cuid ken nae saucht whaur a sauntlik king
Warkt guid ti ilka body baur himsel;
Whaur aa collogued fir cheatrie baur himself. Edb. 1917 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's o' Solomon xi. 21:
Collogue wi' ane anither as they like, ill-doers 'll dree their ain skaith.Lnk. 1838 M'Ilwham Papers (ed. J. Morrison) Letter i. 10:
First, he says, ye hae been colloguein' wi' the enemies of the Kirk o' Scotlan'.Kcb. 1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders Foreword 11:
The hill outlaws collogued with the wild freetraders of the Holland traffic.Uls. 2001 Belfast News Letter 24 Mar 22:
Capetoun, Friday. - Amang tha Orange River Plantin, tha whid is at De Wit's sodgers is bruk up an skailed. Aiblins he cannae be daein ocht acause o his sodgers want o aisement, an aiblins fur tae collogue wi Botha.

†(3) To flatter. Vbl.n. colloguing. Obs. earlier in Eng. (last quot. in N.E.D. from Johnson (1755), who gives it as “a low word”), but still found in Eng. dial. (E.D.D.).Sc. 1896 R. L. Stevenson Weir of Hermiston v.:
But for curtchying and complimenting and colloguing, thank ye kindly!