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: 1549-1684
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S(c)hel(l)-fisch, n. Also: schal- and -fis(c)h(e, -fysche. [S(c)hell n. and Fisch n.1] A shell-fish. In pl., with and without inflection. 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 57/17.
Oistirs and mussillis, & al vthir schel fysche, grouis … eftir the coniunctione of the mune 1587 Carmichael Etym. 45.
Cochlea, a snail or schel fisch 1592 Aberd. B. Rec. II 75.
Schell fische 1596 Dalr. I 41/25.
Ostiris, buckies, and vthiris schal fishe ?c1639 Sc. Ant. III 132.
A maruelous kynd of schellfishe called the horse mussill 1683 Coll. Aberd. & B. 100.
Of all these shell fishes our seamen make bait, but mostly of the lempitt, muscle, and buckie or wilks 1684 Edinb. B. Rec. XI 128.
Oysters and lapsters and other shell fishes
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"Shel-fisch n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/schell_fisch>
