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: 1554, 1620-1700+
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S(c)hifting, vbl. n. [S(c)hift v.] a. ? The action of moving, or transferring, (something) from one place to another. b. Evasion; the use of evasions or deceitful subterfuges; failure to tell the truth (of a matter). —a. 1554 Corr. M. Lorraine 385.
I had rady payment of the four thousand merkis … , sofar superspendit be interesse of schifting silver to interteine meself and sending to Rome for thir Iles —b. 1620 Fraserburgh Kirk S. 102b (2 Feb.).
The sessioun … , finding nothing in the said Jhone Mylne bot schifting, thocht guid [etc.] 1625 Ib. II 1 June.
Efter long schifting he confessit that it was his said pairtie 1655 Dumfries Kirk S. 9 Nov.
He is rebuikit for his dissobedience to the sessioun & shifting of his sin 1669 Jus Populi 35 (To the reader).
Some … have condemned your riseing, to justify their owne sinful shifting 1707 Inverness Kirk S. 59.
In regard the session were sensible of his former shifting of them
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"Shifting vbl. n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/schifting_vbl_n>
