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.
Mare, Mair(e, n.1 [ME. and e.m.E. mare, OE. mare wk. fem.] The incubus supposed to produce nightmare; the nightmare itself. —c1500 Rowll Cursing 65.
The mowlis and in thair sleip the mare a1568 Bann. MS. 231 b/19.
Than langour on me lyis lyk Morpheus the mair 1570 Sat. P. x. 6James VI Dæmonol. 69. [see Mair n. 1 (b).] Id. Poems I. 153/371.
The maire thaireafter smoaris him a1605 Montg. Flyt. 313.