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.
Quotation dates: 1824-1996
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SKELLOCH, v., n.1 Also -ach, skailach, skilloch; skyallach (Abd.). [′skɛləx; Abd. †‡skjɑl-]
I. v. To shriek, scream, yell, cry shrilly (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rnf. c.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) S.55, skilloch; ne.Sc., Ags. 1970). Vbl.n. skellochin.Mry. 1830 T. D. Lauder Flood (1873) 253:
He was awakened, as he said, "by them skellachin' i' the main hoose."Fif. 1846 W. Tennant Muckomachy 62:
Their skirlin', skellochin', and screamin'.Per. 1881 R. Ford Hum. Sc. Readings 21:
An' dinna skelloch like a pyot.Sc. 1892 Stevenson Catriona xv.:
We could hear it skelloch as it span.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xiii.:
Her laugh went skelloching up the street.Ags. 1933 W. Muir Mrs Ritchie viii.:
Mary burst into skelloching laughter.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick iii.:
Sic a helm o' skyallachin vratches.Sc. 1979 T. S. Law in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 82:
or catchie-quick as bairns skelloch in a playgrund;
or slocherie as onie slum mentalitie: Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 86:
Ilkie noo an again, he luikit up, his een reengin ower the smeeth sea, an skelloched, "Zeffirino! Far are ye?" m.Sc. 1996 John Murray Aspen 9:
but Ah hear a skellochin yet
fae the thoosans deid,
II. n. 1. A scream, screech, shrill cry (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Lth., Ayr. 1970); transf. a tune on the bagpipes.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xi.:
Bang gaed the knight's pistol, and, Hutcheon and my gudesire that stood beside him hears a loud skelloch.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 127:
His skrilles, and skriechs, and skellochs dreir.Abd. 1872 J. G. Michie Deeside Tales 170:
Down they came upon me wi a skailach like wallapy weeks.Sc. 1881 Stevenson Thrawn Janet:
Mr Soulis ran, wi' skelloch upon skelloch, for the clachan.Ags. 1911 V. Jacob Flemington xiv.:
Will a gi' ye a skelloch o' the pipes to help ye alang?Sc. 1943 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 438:
Eh, whit'n a skelloch he let lowse!
2. One who talks in a shrill silly manner with giggles or guffaws (Abd. 1911, a bletherin skelloch).
[Appar. a freq. deriv. in -Och from skell, in n.Eng. dial. = scream, yell, prob. O.N. skella, to make a din, scold, burst out (with laughter). Cf. Skell, n.2]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Skelloch v., n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/skelloch_v_n1>
