A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Lay, n.7 (In the mod. dial. of Shetl., Orkney and Caithness (to wait for a) lay = a momentary lull between breakers during which a boat etc. may dart through the surf: cf. Icel. lag in the same use.) —c1650-1700 Descr. Zetland 31.
Toward the midle of the isle, the sea is divided by a bank of sand and channel … by which they goe both on horse and foot … excepting when it blows a stress … at which time the islanders … will venture forth upon their horses bred for that purpose, who will cautiously wait a lay, and so at the regress of the surges, they come safely through
