A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1516, 1612-1697
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(Schaltie,) Shaltie, S(c)heltie, -y, n. and adj. Also: s(c)halte. [ON Hjalti a Shetlander.]Quots. f. Orkney Test. are taken from A. Fenton The Various Names of Shetland (1973) Table III.
1. noun. Once, in early use, as a nickname: (A, or the,) Shetlander. 1516 Rec. Earld. Orkney 90.
Jhone Schalte
2. attrib. or adj. A Shetland (horse or pony) = sense 3 noun below. 1612 Orkney Test. and Inv. 46.
1 scheltie hors, £8 1666-74 Fraser Polichron. 353.
Montross … set uppon a little shelty horse without a sude 1666-74 Ib. 483.
My Lord Ray gifted him a curious, curled, black, shelty horse 1685 Orkney Test.
Ane old shaltie mear 1685 Ib.
Ane old shaltie hors and a shaltie mear 1688 Ib.
Ane shaltie horse
3. noun. A Shetland pony. 1633 (1711) Sibbald's Orkn. & Shetl. 22.
The little horses called shalties go softlie a natural pace, and are sure footed in ragged and steep places, they are litle bigger than asses, and are very durable 1633 (1711) Ib. 77. 1681 Orkney Test.
Ane redd shaltie … Ane broun shaltie 1687 Ib.
Ane Zetland shalte of sixteine yeir 1697 Rental of Brabster in Old-lore Misc. IX i 48.
Ane accompt of horse, shalties and meares and staiges
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"Schaltie n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/schaltie>
