Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1733, 1836, 1919-1948
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DECK, Dek(k), Daek, n.3 Sh. variants of Dyke, a wall; also applied to “peats built like a wall” (Sh. 1913–14 J. M. Hutcheson W.-L.). Hence daek-end (Ib.).Sh. c.1733 Shet. Acts 6 in P.S.A.S. (1892) 197:
That they pay forty shillings Scots for each winter slap found in their decks after the first of May.Sh. 1836 Gentleman's Mag. II. 589:
Aboot twa bocht lent abùn da krù dekk o' Oxigill.Sh. 1919 T. Manson Humours Peat Comm. II. 236:
What's dis daek here fur? Wha is wantin' dis daek here?Sh. 1930 A.N.O.F. in Shet. Almanac 191:
He stumbled ta da faely dek Wi' head an' figer bent.Sh. 1948 New Shetlander (Jan.–Feb.) 6:
Yowes kruggin' closs i' da lee o' a daek-end, Creepin' frae a chill 'at bites ta da bon'.
Phr.: in-a-daeks, within the hill-dyke, into the arable ground round the farmhouse, of cattle taken from the hill-pasture (Sh. 1975). Cf. out-a-decks s.v. Out.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 58:
Dat pits hit i' my mind at doo'll dae ta tak wir quaiks in-a-daeks frae da day an' sae trow.
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"Deck n.3". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Jul 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/deck_n3>
