A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Firth, Fyrth, n.1 [ME. firthe (a 1400), OE. fyrþ, fyrhp. In ME. usually frith; cf. the rhyme in the first quot. below.] A wood. Only in poetry, and freq. alliterating with felde, fell, or forest.a1400 Leg. S. xx. 76.
Thane send he ma knychtis tham with To hwnt in that sammyn fyrth c1420 Wynt. i. 1386.
That is ane land … Off fyrth, and felde, and flowrys fayre c1450-2 Howlat 24.
Thus sat I in solace, … Content of the fair firth Ib. 893.
The farest foule of the firth a1500 Gol. & Gaw. 28.
The king faris with his folk, our firthis and fellis c1500-c1512 Dunb. x. 35.
Celestiall fowlis … In firthis and in forrestis fair 1535 Stewart 636.
The firth, the fell, the montane, and the mayne Ib. 38350.
The fox that rynnis in the firth 1585 James VI Ess. 67.
Within the firths and fells
