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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PARR, n. Also par. [pɑr]

1. An immature salmon at the stage when it bears dark stripes on its side and before it becomes a Smolt or Brandling, a samlet (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Peb. 1815 A. Pennecuik Tweeddale 107). Gen.Sc., and now St. Eng. Comb. par(r)-tail, an angling bait made of the tail of a parr.Sc. a.1771 Smollett Plays and Poems (1777) 255:
The ruthless pike, intent on war; The silver eel, and motled par.Lnk. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XII. 569:
The Clyde affords salmon, pike, trout, and parrs.Sc. 1820 Scott Abbot xxiv.:
Par, which some suppose infant salmon.s.Sc. 1831 Quarterly Jnl. Agric. III. 443:
I suspected all my life that pars were the fry of salmon, not merely because they had the same forms, the same eyes, and the same tails; but simply because I found over all Scotland that where there were no salmon there were no pars, and vice versa.Sc. 1834 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1864) IV. 143:
Five score o' hyucks, baited for pike and eel, wi' trout and par-tail, frogs, chicken-heads.s.Sc. 1847 T. Stoddart Angler's Comp. 290:
I have frequently on Teviot seen kelted fish taken by means of the minnow or parr-tail.Sc. 1862 Acts 25 and 26 Vict. c. 97 § 2:
“Salmon” shall . . . include . . . Bull Trout, Smolts, Parr, and any other migratory fish of the salmon kind.Sc. 1877 A. Young Salmon Fisheries 207:
The silver mail which marks the transition of the parr into the smolt.Sc. 1956 Scotsman (6 March) 5:
The protection of parr and smolts all the year round (instead of only April and May) would have had some effect.Sc. 1963 Huntly Express (6 Dec.) 6:
By the end of the year in which they were hatched the parr have grown to a length of two inches or so.

2. A type of trout, phs. a usage due to an erroneous identification of 1.Ags. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ IV. 4:
A species of trout called Par, about the size of a common burn trout, with a small head, and sides beautifully clouded.m.Lth. 1845 Stat. Acc.² I. 404:
The trouts found in Gala, including par and sea trout, are . . . of six different kinds.