Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SAILOR, n. Sc. usages in combs.: 1. sailor lad, a ring-dance game sung to a rhyme containing these words; 2. sailor's gartens, the alga ribbon-weed, Laminaria saccharina (Mry. 1975); 3. sailor's purse, a garden flower, ? the calceolaria (Kcb. 1952).1. Abd. 1898 A. B. Gomme Trad. Games II. 147:
A sailor lad and a tailor lad, And they were baith for me; I wid raither tack the sailor lad, And lat the tailor be. A circle is formed by joining hands. They dance round and sing. Sometimes at Rosehearty two play the game by the one taking hold of the other's left hand with her right.