A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1593-1646
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Parrat-, Parret(t)-coll, n. Also: -coal, -coalle. Also variant or misreading: purrat coill. [Cf. mod. Eng. (north.) parrot coal (a 1789); also in the mod. Sc. and north. Eng. dial. Origin of parrot- uncertain.] A bright-burning bituminous coal; cannel. —1593–4 Lothian Mun. (Reg. H.) 24 Mar.
Reservand to the saidis lordis self … the coll callit the parrat coll 1633–4 Aberd. Shore Wk. Acc. 187.
Ane syss boll of purrat coill1639 Sc. Ant. III. 134.
Coale called vulgarlie the parret coal 1645–6 J. Hope Diary (1958) 146.
Or lyke a hard parrett coalle


