Dalgetʹty (Dugald)

Jeffrey calls him “a compound of Captain Fluellen and Bobʹadil,” but this is scarcely just. Without doubt, he has all the pedantry and conceit of the former, and all the vulgar assurance of the latter; but, unlike Bobadil, he is a man of real courage, and wholly trustworthy to those who pay him for the service of his sword, which, like a thrifty mercenary, he lets out to the highest bidder. (Scott: Legend of Montrose.)

“Neither Schiller, Strada, Thuanus, Monroe, nor Dugald Dalgetty makes any mention of it.”—Carlyle.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.