▪ I. plack1 Sc. and north. dial. Obs. exc. Hist.
(plæk)
Forms: 5–7 plak, plake, plakk(e, placke, 6– plack.
[prob. a. Flem. placke, plecke, a small coin of Brabant and Flanders, current in the 15th c., of varying value, in 17th c. Du. (Hexham) applied to the French sou; hence F. plaque (1425), placque, plecque, med.L. placca (1481). Orig. ‘flat disk, tablet’; so Flem. plak, F. plaque. Cf. MLG. plack, LG. plak, plakke spot, piece, patch, rag, flat piece of land, dug turf; Du. plak flat lath for beating, blow, spot, slice; MHG. placke, phlacke spot, patch, rag. Cf. placard, placket, pleck.
Cf. 1425 Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris, an. 1425, 355, Buchon. (Godef.) En ce temps couroit une monnoie a Paris, nommee plaques, pour douze deniers parisis, et estoient de par le duc de Bourgogne. See also Du Cange, Placa, Placca.]
† a. A coin of the Netherlands of the 15th and 16th centuries. Obs. b. A small billon coin issued by James III of Scotland; also, a small copper coin current in Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries, worth 4 pennies Scots.
| a. 1479 in Cely Papers (1900) 20 Item ij docates..xxxiijs Item in plakes vli..v{supl} fls. 1482 Ibid. 126 Item iij plakes..xxvj{supd}. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues 17 Thise ben grotes of englond; Suche ther be of flaundres; Plackes and half plackes [Patards et demi patards]. 1526 in Lett. & Pap. Hen. VIII, IV. ii. 1149 Double plakks or Carolus shall be current for 4d. as now. |
| b. 1473 Sc. Acts Jas. III (1814) II. 105/1 As tuiching þe plakkis & þe new pennyis, þe lordis thinkis þat þe striking of þame be cessit. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 93 Sum penis furth a pan boddum to prent fals plakkis. 1540 Lanc. Wills (1857) II. 140 A bende placke whyche ys in my purse. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 169 The wyffis wald refuse the said cunzie quhilk was callit ane Couchrinis plak and said to him that it wald be cryit doun. 1583 in Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scot. (1876) I. 159 That all the saides twelf pennie peices babeis and plackes with the thre pennie grottis and half plackes now current salbe brocht in to his hienes cunyehous..and thairof new money to be cunyeit. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 283 The Scots haue of long time had..Placks, which they esteemed for 4 pence, but 3 of them make an English penny. 1662 Ray Three Itin. ii. 162 One bodel they call tway-pennies; two bodels a plack. a 1706 R. Semple Piper Kilbarchan ix, At bridals he wan many placks. 1786 A. de Cardonnel Numism. Scot. Pref. 33 The plack is an ideal coin at this present time in Scotland. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xix. (1857) 279 After collecting all the placks and boddles of the party (little pieces of copper coin, with the head of Charles II on one side, and the Scotch thistle on the other). |
c. In proverbial phrases, as the type of something of very small value; the smallest possible amount; a farthing; a bit; as in not worth a plack, utterly worthless; plack and bawbee, plack and boddle, in full, every penny, to the last farthing; two and a plack, a trifle, a small sum.
| a 1550 in Dunbar's Poems (S.T.S.) 307 He wald nocht mend thame worth ane plack. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxviii. 118 Plaitter nor pois we neuer left ane plak. 1693 Scotch Presbyt. Eloq. (1738) 126 I'll hazard twa and a plack. 1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 6 Ise frankly own mysel his debtor For plack an' boddle. 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 31 They pick'd my pocket i' the thrang, And de'il a plack had I. 1814 Scott Wav. xlix, He wasna a plack the waur. 1820 ― Abbot vi, I would not Sir Halbert had seen her..for two and a plack. |
d. attrib. Of the value of or costing a plack.
| 1560 Aberdeen Regr. XXIV. (Jam.), His wyf brewit plakaill. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 204 His plak Pardonis, are bot lardonis, Of new fund vanitie. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet ch. xx, He asked..‘Whether he could have a plack-pie’. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 28 July 5/3 From ancient times the revenues in Scotch burghs were derived from small imposts, variously called petty customs, plack dues, and so on,..levied on animals and goods entering the burgh. |
▪ II. † plack2 Obs. rare—1.
[app. a. F. plaque.]
= placket1, q.v. for quot.
▪ III. plack3 dial. rare.
[Etym. unknown.]
(See quot.)
| 1871 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 213 Rickles, the biggest of all the cocks, which are run together into placks, the shapeless heaps from which the hay is carted. |
▪ IV. plack
var. playock, toy.