Roaring Meg
Preserved but no longer current.
Formerly any large gun that made a great noise when let off was so called, as Mons Meg herself and a cannon given by the Fishmongers of London, and used m 1689. Burton says: "Music is a roaring Meg against melancholy.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Roaring Meg” mean?
Formerly any large gun that made a great noise when let off was so called, as Mons Meg herself and a cannon given by the Fishmongers of London, and used m 1689. Burton says: "Music is a roaring Meg against melancholy.
Is “Roaring Meg” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.