A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1512-1699
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Makrel(l, Mackrel, Makarell, n. Also: macrell, mcrel, makral, -reill, mackreel, makcaral. [ME. makerel(l (c 1300), makyrelle, e.m.E. macquerell (1530), mackrell (1573), mackarel (1614), OF. makerel (F. maquereau).] The mackerel. (Also Store-makrel (tunny), and cf. Macfische n.)Also uninflected as a collective plur. 1512 Household Bk. Jas. IV 2 b.
For sex makralis xii d. 1512 Ib. 4 b.
For vi makrellis ix d. 1512 Ib. 6 b.
For vi mcrellis xii d. 1512 Ib. 8 a.
Makrallis 1524–5 Wigtownshire Chart. 64.
Tua mais macrellis, price therof ii li. x s. c1575 Balfour Pract. 623.
Gif twa shippis … ar partneris … in taking of hering, makrellis or uther fish 1596 Dalr. I. 13/21.
Killine, skait and makrell 1598 Household Bks. Jas. VI 29 July.
Four dissoun makcaralis 1641-8 Skipper's Acc. (Smettone) 11 b.
For makrels to the company c 1641–54 J. Gordon in Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. II. 527.
In this loch ar plentie of herring and makarell 1684 Sibbald Scot. Illustr. iii. 24.
Scomber, the mackrel 1683 Garden in Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. II. 135.
The seath fish, mackreel and flook 1684 Symson Descr. Galloway 93.
At Polton … are sometimes great quantities of herring and mackreels 1699 Analecta Scotica I. 355.
They have plenty of large fish, shaped like a makreill
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"Makrel n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/makrell>
