A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1438, 1513
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Quhar(e)sa, -so, rel. adv. Also: qwaresa, quhayrso. [North. ME quar-sa (Cursor M.), whare-so (Rolle), midl. ME hwore so (Havelok), early ME hwarse (Ancr. R.), war sæ (1154), also ME wher so (Chaucer) quer-so (Cursor M., Gött.) e.m.E. wher so(o, early ME whære swa (Layamon), repr. OE swá hwǽr swá.] In or to any place where, wherever.(a) a1400 Legends of the Saints ii 216.
Thai prait he wald ga Quhare sa hym leste a1400 Ib. xxxv 96.
Fra thine I sal redy be To gange quhare-sa thu bydis me ?1438 Alex. ii 3853.
And, shir, na wraith suld haue resting Quhare sa he lufe had harbry tane 1406 Rep. Hist. MSS. Var. Coll. V 79.
Qware sa hir happins or likis to sujourne(b) 1513 Doug. viii ix 116.
The wofull moderis … dyd … follow with thair sight The dusty sop, quharso [Sm. quhayr so] the rak went rycht 1513 Ib. xii Prol. 195.
Quhill all the dail resovndis, Quharso [Ruddim. quhareso] thai walk into thar caralyng 1513 Ib. xii Prol. 195. 1513 Ib. x v 49.
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"Quharsa rel. adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/quharesa>
