A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quaw, Quhawe, Qwhawe, n. Also: qwaw(e. [Appar. a coinage with initial qua- as in e.m.E. quag and quagmire, etc., and quake v.: perh. orig. *quall (see Quaw-myre n.). Also in the mod. south Sc. and north. Irish dialect.] A piece of very soft wet ground, ? orig. one which shook or yielded when walked on; a quagmire. —c1420 Wynt. viii 5991.
Wyth-in myris in till a qwhawe [C. qwawe, W. a myre qwaw] … Thai folowyd fast on in a lyng 1530 Lennox Mun. 235.
On the ground abone writing, fra the Ryngand Stane to Androis Quhawe 1631 Reg. Great S. 573/2.
Continen. 5 lie daillis, partem ejusdem lie Quaw et Medow, et decimas garbales earundem
