Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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EEMAGE, n. Sc. form and usages of Eng. image. Also emage, eemige; eemeedge (Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 10). [′imɪdʒ Sc., but Sh., Rxb. ′imidʒ]

1. A figure fashioned by the fairies to resemble and be substituted for a child they desire to steal.Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 90:
Ae morning just i' da first dim-rivin' dey swüped dis eemage oot among da ase, an' oot trow da door, and . . . in comes a beautiful bairn wi' yallow curlin' hair, an' just da very face o' what dere ain bairn sud a been.ne.Sc. 1881 Gregor Folk-Lore 61:
That's nae a bairn; that's an image; the bairn's been stoun.

2. A ghost of one's former self; a pitiful little “scrap”; a “sight” (Sh.¹⁰, Ork.⁵, Bnff.², Abd.², Bwk.³ 1945). Also found in Eng. dial.Sc. 1828 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 119:
Here, perhaps, a leevin cretur, like an emage, staunin at the mouth o' a close, or hirplin alang, like the last relic o' the plague.Bnff. 1872 W. Philip It 'ill a' come richt 19:
He gaed into Aberdeen last weenter a stout healthy callan wi' a fund o' life in him, and he came back an eemage.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 65:
Wear absurd hats . . . an' itherwise mak' images o' themsel's.Sh. 1924 T. Manson Humours Peat Comm. III. 41:
It wid never du ta leave da eemige o a boy i da hoose himsell aa nicht.