Dictionary

collie-shangie en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒliˌʃɑŋi/

Etymology

From Scots collie-shangie, from collie (“a breed of dog”), and shangie (“an object tied to a dog's tail”). The frustration of having a shangie attached made the highly energetic collies irritable and likely to fight.

Meanings

1. (Scotland, archaic) A loud quarrelsome fight.
   • At five minutes to eleven rode off with Beatrice, good Sharp going with us and having occasional "collie-shangies" with collies when we came near cottages (A. Thomson and Kennedy following). 1869 September 6, Victoria Queen of England, “A Visit to Invertrossachs”, in More Leaves From the Journal of A Life in the Highlands From 1862 to 1882, page 69:
   • But though the weaver tried to dance all desire of mischief down, and manfully vowed that he would make vengeance the work of another day, such seemed not the pleasure of the less philosophic spirits of the company. They had counted on a collie-shangie, and resolved to have one. 1841 April, “Rustic Controversies - The Penny Wedding”, in Fraser's Magazine, volume 24, page 456:
   • She therefore glanced at a table-cloth not quite clean, and conned over her proposed supper a minute or two, before, patting her husband on the shoulder, she bade him sit down for "a hard-headed loon, that was aye bringing himsell and other folk into collie-shangies." 1819, Sir Walter Scott, Guy Mannering, page 30:

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