A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1585
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Blame, n. Also: blam, blayme. Also ? irregular variant: plame. [ME. blame (c 1230), blam, OF. blame, blasme.] Blame; reproof, censure; culpability, fault. a1400 Legends of the Saints Prol. 31.
Quha-sa wil nocht sal haf blam a1400 Ib. i. 548.
The blame That … tholit he c1420 Wynt. Prol. 62.
Quhat kyne blame that I sulde bere c1420 Ib. vi. 1356.
Thare put till hym wes gret blame 1456 Hay I. 158/27.
But blame or repruf 1456 Ib. 298/31.
Quhat blame serve we now? c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace vii. 917.
I haiff had blayme to say the suthfastnes c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 320.
So rad he wes for blame a 1510 Aberd. Univ. Rev. XXXVI. 51.
[… ] it loss and plame in ane ballance, [… ]y sone see the defferance 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 477.
Suld I therfor haue blame 1535 Stewart 46775.
This ladie … wnblekkit wes with blame a1585 Maitland Quarto MS xxxv. 69.
Sic rewleris … sould have the blame
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"Blame n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/blame_n>
