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: 1547-1573, 1625-1668
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Pik-, Pick(e)man, n.1 Also: pic-, peik-. [e.m.E. (north.) pickman (16th c.).] A soldier armed with a pike; a pikeman. —(a.) 1547 Treasurer's Accounts IX. 138.
[120] pikmen 1569-73 Bann. Memor. 113.
Pickmen 1572 Reeves Sc. Prose bef. 1600 81.
Pic men 1625 Aberd. B. Rec. III. 2. 1626 Edinb. B. Rec. VI. 300.
Men of heich stature and of abilitie of bodye to carye pick … and the said pickmen to be provydit with corslat taicelett [sic] and heidpeace 1627 Kellie Pallas Armata 2 a.
Our pickemen and our musquetiers serueth in place of the Greeke and Romane heauie armed and light armed —(b) 1668 Reg. Privy C. 3 Ser. II. 571.
[They also ordain the] peikmen [foresaid to be armed with swords and] peicks
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"Pickman n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/pickeman>
