moss-hagn.
/ˈmɒshaɡ/, U.S. /ˈmɔsˌ(h)æɡ/, /ˈmɑsˌ(h)æɡ/, Scottish English /ˈmɔshaɡ/, Irish English /ˈmɒːshæɡ/ Scottish, Irish English (northern), and English regional (northern).
Broken ground from which peat has been taken; a pit or hole from which peat has been dug. Also: a mass of firmer ground rising out of a moss or bog.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > in marsh or swamp
sedge-hill1483
hummock1636
island1638
moss-hag1790
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > other types of hole
posthole1703
dump1788
bladder-hole1789
moss-hag1790
money pit1820
butt-hole1897
sand-hole1897
scratch hole1923
1790 A. Tait Poems & Songs 224 Into moss-haugs, or pools below.
1816 W. Scott Old Mortality viii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. II. 167 A gude fit o' the batts wi' sitting amang the wat moss-hags for four hours at a yoking.
1884 T. Speedy Sport in Highlands xx. 398 Concealing themselves among the moss-hags before daybreak.
1893 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Moss-hag, a rough projecting mass of peat in the form of an escarpment on the face of a moor.
1895 S. R. Crockett Bog-myrtle & Peat i Who..know better how to loup a moss-hag than how to make a courtly bow.
1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 214 Moss-hag, a piece of ground from which peats have been dug.
1990 J. A. Begg in J. A. Begg & J. Reid Dipper & Three Wee Deils 42 Would that I were gaun wi ye, ye lang-nebbit birds, Tae the moss-hags, the mist an the rain.
Derivatives
ˈmoss-hagger n. a person who lives among moss-hags.
ΚΠ
1902 W. S. Crockett Scott Country xvi. 412 A coveted sheltering place for many a poor oppressed moss-hager.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.1790