| 释义 |
shelly-coat Sc.
Also 8 shellicoat.
[f. shelly a. + coat n.]
1. A water sprite wearing sea-shells which make a clattering noise. Also attrib.
1720Pennecuik Streams from Helicon 65 No Shellicoat Goblin, or Elf on the Green. 1802Scott Minstrelsy i. Introd. 84 Shellycoat, a spirit who resides in the waters, and has given his name to many a rock and stone upon the Scotish coast. 1803Alex. Boswell Spirit of Tintoc To Rdr., Nor Kelpy, nor Shellycoat, nor any of the spirits of the deep. a1869C. Spence From Braes of Carse (1898) 90 All the sea and river imps With shelly coats and scaly jimps.
2. ‘A sheriff's messenger, or bum-bailiff, denominated perhaps from the badges of office on his coat’ (Jam.).
a1774Fergusson Poems (1807) 304, I dinna care a single jot; Tho' summon'd by a shelly-coat.
So shelly-coated a. (see 1 above).
1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. i, She fled as frae a shelly⁓coated cow [= goblin; see cow n.2]. |