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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.

MUSSEL, n. Also Sc. forms mus(s)le (Sc. 1800 R. Wodrow Early Letters (S.H.S.) 76), mussil (Jam.); muscle. For Abd. form see Missel, n.2

Sc. usages in combs.: †1. mussel brose, mussels boiled in their own juice which is then stirred into oatmeal; 2. musset-draig, a rake with hooked teeth used for bringing mussels within reach (Sh. 1963); 3. mussel-ebb, the mussel-beds exposed at ebb-tide (Sh. 1963); 4. mussel-faup, the oyster-catcher, from its call (Abd. 1958). See Faup and cf. 7., 8.; 5. mussel-midden, a refuse heap where mussel-shells are thrown (Fif. 1963). Also fig.; 6. mussel-mou, a mouth resembling a mussel, esp. one with a protruding lower lip. Hence mussel-mou'd, having such a mouth; 7. mussel picker, -pecker, the oyster-catcher, Haematopus ostralegus (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; Rs. 1958); 8. mussel piet, id. (Ayr. c.1930), from the bird's black and white plumage resembling that of a magpie. See Pyot; 9. mussel-scaup, -sca(l)p, a mussel-bed (Sh., ne.Sc., Fif. 1963). See Scaup and 1899 quot. s.v. 7.1. Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 130:
Whan lads gang out on Sunday's even To treat their joes, An' tak' o' fat pandours a prieven Or mussel brose.
Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 355:
Mussle-brose — A brose made from mussles. These shell-fish are boiled in their own sap, and this juice, when warm, is mingled with oatmeal; so that a strong brose indeed is made.
Knr. 1894 H. Haliburton Furth in Field 58:
On the holy day he cooled his stomach with a dish of mussel-brose at Newhaven.
2. Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Tales 92. 98:
My mussel-draigs, my lempit pick, An' sae my lempit cuddie . . . Four ling huiks, like mussel draig, Wi' lead an' string for lowerin'.
3. Arg. c.1835 Flory Loynachan in Colville Studies in Lowland Scots (1909) 116:
The Anachan and Brollochan. They love the mussel-ebb.
5. Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie & Bess 5:
Tak' care ye dinna land in the mussel midden wi' yer strikes.
ne.Sc. 1924 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 443:
They war a' i' tha mussel-midden thrapplin' een anidder!
6. Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 237:
Mussel mou'd Harry, the skull-maker.
Abd. 1827 G. Kinloch Ballad Bk. iii., ix.:
Charles Lesley (better known by the name of “Mussel-mou'd Charlie”, from a singular protrusion of his nether lip, in the form of a muscle). Grim death has clos'd his mussel mou.
7. Fif. 1899 Colville Vernacular 47:
The mussel scaups and lagoons dear to the flounder and the heron, the mussel-picker and the whaup.
9. Sc. 1763 Caled. Mercury (27 Aug.) 411:
A Set of the Lands of Castlehill, with the wreck and ware upon the said lands, mussels and mussel-scaps thereon.
m.Sc. 1906 J. A. Harvie-Brown Fauna of Tay 307:
The Oystercatchers . . . assemble in vast flocks upon the “mussel-scalps ” of Tay and Edenmouth.

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"Mussel n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/mussel>

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