Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
COLMIE, COALMIE, Colmey, Colemie, Colomy, n. The mature coal-fish, Pollachius virens (Mearns 1825 Jam.2, colmie). Also in forms colm, comb (Bnff.), com, colmouth (Jam.6); coam (Bnff.9 c.1927), coalman (Mry.1 1914), and colman's seeth (saith). Jam. (1808) gives colemie, coalmie for Ags.Sc. 1808 P. Neill List of Fishes in Memoirs Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. (1811) I. 532:
When full grown, they [coal-fish] are quite black, and have still other names bestowed on them, as colmeys, sethes, seys, and greylords.Ags.(D) 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xviii.:
It's no' so very lang syne sin' Mistress Kenawee got fower bits o' skellie i' the erap o' a colomy.Fif. 1710 R. Sibbald Hist. Fife and Kinross 52:
Asellus Niger, the Cole-fish of the North of England; our Fishers call it, a Colman's Seeth.
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"Colmie n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 25 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/colmie>