▪ I. ˈskelly, n.1 Sc. rare.
[Of doubtful origin: cf. Irish sceilg reef, rock.]
A rock, a skerry.
| 1513 Douglas æneid v. iv. 89 On the scherp skelleis, to hir wanhap, [she] Smat with sic fard the airis in flenderis lap. 1819 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 102 The storm that dang him frae the deep, Upon our tangly skellies steep. 1839 T. Chalmers in Hanna Mem. (1852) IV. v. 81 The rocks not high; but having more the character of skellies projecting into the sea. |
▪ II. skelly, n.2 north.
(ˈskɛlɪ)
Also 8 schell(e)y, 9 skilly.
[? f. skell n. + -y.]
1. The gwyniad, the fresh-water herring, Coregonus clupeoides.
| 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. xiii. 40 The Schelley is bred in..Ulles-Water... In shape it is more like a Herring than a Trout. 1787 J. Clarke Surv. Lakes Cumbld. 38 The skelly is remarkable for this, no bait has ever been found which they will take. 1805 Dorothy Wordsworth Jrnls. (1897) II. 156 Hundreds of fish were leaping in their prison. They were all of one kind, what are called Skellies. 1899 J. Watson Lake District Fisheries vii. 91 The gwyniad (locally skelly) occurs in Ullswater. |
2. The chub, Cyprinus cephalus.
| 1769 Pennant Brit. Zool. III. 268 note. 1794 Hutchinson Hist. Cumbld. I. 33/1 Chub or Skelly... The skelly is plentiful in almost all our rivers. 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 358 It [the Chub] is the Skelly of Cumberland, so called on account of the large size of its scales. 1894 in Eng. Dial. Dist. s.v., That they no longer employ a man to kill skellies, but that the members devote one week to a competition in skelly catching. |
3. The roach, Leuciscus rutilus. [Cf. Da. skalle.]
| 1846 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 3) s.v. |
4. The dace or dare, Leuciscus vulgaris.
| 1846 Brockett N.C. Gloss. (ed. 3) s.v. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., The Petteril skellies were hated of the single-hair trout-fisher. |
▪ III. skelly, v. Sc. and north. dial.
(ˈskɛlɪ)
Also 8 scalie.
[ad. ON. *skjelga (cf. Norw. skjegla), refl. skjelgask, f. skjalgr (MSw. skälgh, skielgh, Norw. skjegl), adj., = OHG. scelah, sceleh (MHG. schelch), OE. sceolh, squint, skew.]
intr. To squint.
Cf. skellied a.; the noun and adj. skelly, and the comb. skelly-eyed, are also in dialect use.
| 1776 D. Herd Scottish Songs (ed. 2) II. 171 Sae proud was he o' his Maggie, Tho' she did baith scalie and squint. 1816 Scott Old Mort. iv, ‘It is the very man!’ said Bothwell;—‘skellies fearfully with one eye?’ 1829– in dial. glossaries (Northumb., Durh., Cumb., Yks.). |