Dictionary

shellycoat en · NOUN

Etymology

From shelly + coat.

Meanings

1. (Scotland) A mythical water creature wearing a coat made of shells.
   • This country is also the abode of Shellycoat, who haunts Shetland and the Orkneys. 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 172:
   • The fatigued and deluded travellers now relinquished the pursuit; and had no sooner done so, than they heard shellycoat applauding, in loud bursts of laughter, his successful roguery. The spirit was supposed particularly to haunt the old house of Gorinberry situated on the River Hermitage in Liddesdale. 2013, Donald Mackenzie, Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk Life, →ISBN:

Forms