skillygalee

alternative skilligalee · alternative skilligolee

1. obsoleteuncountablenauticalA type of gruel made from oatmeal, oft-served historically in poorhouses, sailors' ships, etc.

   Breakfast was served at 8am and sometimes consisted of skillygalee, a sort of oatmeal gruel prepared in fatty water and which by the time of Trafalgar included butter and sugar.

   2005, Gregory Fremont-Barnes, Steve Noon, Nelson's Sailors, Osprey Publishing, page 24

2. obsoleteuncountableA thin broth generally prepared by soaking hardtack in water, and frying with pork fat/lard.

   Skillygalee was born of left-over pork grease and crackers too tough to bite and chew.

   2004, Brian Leehan, Pale Horse at Plum Run: The First Minnesota at Gettysburg, Minnesota Historical Society Press, page 200