Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1818-1823, 1931
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MOLL, n. Also molly. As in Eng., a familiar form of Mary, a contemptuous name for a woman. Sc. usage in combs.: 1. Moll Blood, a personification of the gallows, appar. a coinage of Scott; 2. moll-on-the-coals, a woman who mopes by the fire, a hypochondriac female; 3. molly-dolly, an Aunt Sally at a fair (Ayr. 1963). Also dolly-molly.1. Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xx.:
Three words of your mouth would give the girl the chance to nick Moll Blood that you make such scrupling about rapping to them.2. Ayr. 1823 Galt Entail lxxviii.:
As for our Meg, thy mother, she was ay one of your Moll-on-the-coals, a sigher of sadness.3. Dmb. 1931 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle i. ii.:
Coco-nut shies, lab-in-the-tub, and molly-dolly stalls.
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"Moll n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/moll>
