Well, it turned out on closer reading of the recipe (which I read, at that early hour, and followed as though it was a drop scone recipe) that only a third of the butter was actually to be added into the dough, which would have meant a tragically dry, shaggy dough. (The other two-thirds of it, referred to only opaquely in the recipe text, is to be brushed onto the dough before rolling. Makes no SENSE.)