Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SCULDUDDERY, n. Also -dud(d)(e)ry, -dudrie, skul-, ¶scol-. [skʌl′dʌdəri]
1. Lewd behaviour, fornication, unchastity (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc., only in liter. or occas. jocular use. Freq. used attrib. = lewd, unchaste, concerned with immorality.Sc. 1714 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 14:
To fill his Post, alake there's none, Could sa'r Sculdudry out like John.n.Sc. c.1730 E. Burt Letters (1815) I. 183:
If any one be brought before a presbytery, etc. to be questioned for sculduddery, i.e. fornication or adultery.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 135:
Then we gat anither sort o' gospel fouk they ca'd curits they didna like sculdudery wark, but said nae meikle against it.Sc. 1800 R. Bisset Douglas I. vi.:
The sins of the present generation, especially in the article of skulduddery.Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems (1900) 87:
But a sic clish clash cracks I lea' Tae yon sculdudry committee.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xvi.:
Officers, and constables, that can find out naething but a wee bit skulduddery for the benefit o' the Kirk-treasurer.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) II. 329:
If this benae scolduddery, I never saw't wi' my een.Abd. 1868 G. MacDonald R. Falconer i. v.:
Some o's deevil-ma'-care sculduddery.Sc. 1890 Scots Observer (23 Aug.) 346:
In a state of liquor and sculduddery.Ayr. 1927 J. Carruthers A Man Beset i. ii.:
If a'body was as guid's you, there'd be nae sculduddery in this warld. . . . A parten-faced, sculduddery loon.Edb. 1979 Albert D. Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 42:
Repentant o my infidelitie
And thae sculdudderie warks
Frae La Fontaine, Crebillon, Busny-Rabutin
I brocht intil the Advocates' Library,
2. Obscenity, indecency, esp. in words, obscene language or conversation, smut (‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Also attrib.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ayr. Legatees xxxii.:
All the sculduddery of the business might have been well spared from the eye of the public.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xi.:
Speaking blasphemy and sculduddry.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 281:
His conversation, though aye stopping short of skulduddery itsel', was whyles, still and on, of a gey heich-kiltit kind.Sc. 1885 Stevenson Letters to Baxter (1956) 161:
When I read him my Sculduddry Sangs, he seemed fine an' pleased wi' them.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Mad Sir Uchtred vi.:
He aye rade in your front file an' sang braw sculduddery ballants till ye.Lnk. 1925 G. Blake Wild Men x.:
The boys giggled the sculduddery of their kind.Sc. 1931 J. Lorimer Red Sergeant xvi.:
A lively tale, maybe garnished with sculdudry a wee bit.
3. In extended uses: (1) rubbish, rags, tatters (Kcd., Lnk. 1825 Jam.); (2) vulgar low people, riff-raff (Cai. 1904 E.D.D.).
[Found in 1713 in Mrs. Centlivre's Wonder iii. iii. in the speech of a Scots character. Of obscure orig., phs. a fanciful quasi-euphemistic formation incorporating Dud, n., and ? Cur-, pref. with prothetic s-. The word appeared in U.S. about the end of the 19th c. in the form skulduggery with the meaning of misappropriation of funds, fraud.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Sculduddery n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sculduddery>
