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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WINDLE, n.², v.¹ Also winle, wun(n)l-, wonl-. [wɪn(d)l]

I. n. 1. A measure of straw or hay, equivalent to one-fortieth of a Kemple, q.v. (i.e. 5 or 6 lbs. tron, 7 to 9 lbs. avoirdupois) (m.Lth. 1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 1127).m.Lth. 1857 [J. H. Oliver] Brit. Agric. 30:
60 kemples, 18 windles consumed by stock.

2. A bottle of straw (Lnk. 1825 Jam.).Ork. 1894 W. Mackintosh Peat-Fires 196:
[He] had the kegs tied up in windles of straw.

II. v. tr. To make up (straw or hay) into bottles (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., wunnle).Bwk. 1764 Session Papers, Yules v. Others, State of Process 91:
He assisted in shaking and windling the straw of crop 1762.Abd. 1921 Swatches o' Hamespun 10:
Ae geyan grippy aul' tacksmin files set 'im tae wusp an' winle strae.

Hence windlin, -len, winlen, -lin(e), winnlin, wun(n)lin(g), †wonlyne, a bottle of straw, of a specific weight as in 1795 quot., but gen. an average bundle, as much as a man can carry in the crook of his arm (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928); Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., wunnlin; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot.; I. and n.Sc. 1974). Comb. winlin-strae, straw used in making bundles of thatch.Sc. 1706 Just Reflections on a Nonsensical Pasquil 44:
He cannot endure to see one Sheaf or Windling of Straw in them.Abd. 1720 Fintray Ct. Bk. (S.C.) 41:
For thatching the new mill every tenent shall give in three thatch sheaves, four windlings.Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 34:
He stumbles at a strae and lowps o'er a wonlyne.m.Lth. 1795 G. Robertson Agric. M. Lth. 208:
Straw is sold by tale, 40 windlens to a kemple, generally from 14 to 16 stone trone weight.Cai. 1845 Stat. Acc.² XV. 146:
To furnish a certain number of winlins to thatch the mains' stacks, a certain quantity of drawn straw to thatch the mains' houses.Rxb. 1872 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 135:
There's a lot of good fodder for the horse; won't ye step in to the haugh and get a wunling or two?Ork. 1911 Old-Lore Misc. IV.iv. 180:
The draught was regulated by filling up a part of the open doorway with windlings of straw.Cai. 1934 N. Gunn Butcher's Broom i. iv.:
Tied it [straw] into bundles or windlings.Abd. 1946 J. C. Milne Orra Loon 24:
Linseed cake and winlins o' strae.Sh. 1964 Sh. Folk Book IV. 3:
The “windlin-strae” or “raggie-strae” was now spread over the “gloy”; windlin-strae was the crushed and tangled straw which, during the process of selection, had been separated from the straight “tekkin-strae,” and twisted into small bundles called “windlins.”