A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420, 1499-1685
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Pelf(f, n. Also: pelf(f)e. [ME. (chiefly or only northern) and e.m.E. pelf(e (a 1350), booty, wealth, also rubbish (1555), ONF. *pelfe (instanced as peuffe (1370); mod. Norman peufe), var. of OF. pelfre (11th c. in Godef.), peufre, booty, of doubtful ulterior origin.] a. Spoil of battle, booty. b. Loot; goods plundered, stolen or pilfered. c. Possessions, riches, wealth, ‘lucre’. Chiefly depreciatory. Also comb.(1) c1420 Wynt. viii. 2598.
And delt swne amang thameselff That thai had gaddyrd off othir pelff c1420 Ib. 2653.
Armowris … and othir pelff Thai departyd amang thame-selff a1500 Prestis of Peblis 1265.
The first freind is bot gude penny and pelfe That mony man lufis better than himselfe 1540 Lynd. Sat. 4533.
Sprituall fulis that takis in cure … grit dyoceis And … abbaseis For gredines of wardly pelf a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS lxxvi. 50.
Man thow se for thy self And purches thé sum pelf 1681 Colvil Whig's Suppl. 77.
The love of pelf comes from the devil(2) a1500 Henr. Fab. 2042 (H).
And we get of ȝone pelf, Ȝe man tak trauell c1500-c1512 Dunb. xiv. 33.
Sa mony theivis … Sa grit relevis of lordis thame to defend Becawis the [v.r. thai] spend the pelf thame betwene c1500-c1512 Ib. lviii. 10.
How petewuslie I luke Quhen all the pelfe thay pairt amang thame 1529 Lynd. Complaynt 198. 1540 Id. Sat. 1554.
Latt ws now pairt this pelf amang ws 15.. Black Bk. Taymouth 155. a1603 Anc. Prophecies 15.
Take thy part of the pelfe when the pack opens c1650 Spalding II. 380.
This miserabill man looking to this worldlie pelf forget his honour 1685 Lauder Notices Affairs II. 613.
To remember they ware his enemies whom he should see get the pelf(3) a1500 Henr. III. 127/51.
Thy power and thy warldis pelf Is nocht bot verry vanitie a1500 Bernardus 107.
Better is to othir kepe thi pelffe Than to … wast away thi selffe 1513 Doug. ii. iii. 89. 1535 Stewart 427.
Men had leuer haif … to eik his pelfe, His nychtbouris roume [etc.] 1554 Knox III. 189.
For the safegard of youre warldly pelfe 1572 Sempill Sat. P. xxxviii. 69.
The papistis and Spanȝards hes partit ȝour pelf ?a1640 Copie of a Baron's Court (1821) 18.
For he envies your pelfcomb. 1610 Melvill 802.
Not without sume … contentioun in pairting thair pelfedeilling 1653 Urquhart Rabelais i. liv.
Pelf-lickers
