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: 1577-1623, 1677
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(Scule,) Scuill, Schule, n.2 Also: scholl, skole, skull. [Late ME and e.m.E. scole a shoal (c1400), in sense b below (1592).] a. A shoal (of herrings). b. A flock or company (of animals or birds). Cf. Schole n. to which quot. 1677 may properly belong. —a. a1578 Pitsc. II 317/2.
Thair come in our firth ane scuill of heirinng that the lyk was nevir of befoir in thir wattiris 1596 Dalr. I 41/11.
In the Westir Seyes, in that bosum of Clide, in thir bosumis nerhand, … the hail haruest & beginning of winter is a gret shule of herring 1581-1623 James VI Poems II 93/25.
As skoles of herring flees the quhaile for feir —b. 1590 Burel Pilgr. i 247.
Ane fellon tryne [sc. of birds] come at his [sc. the eagle's] taill, Fast flichtren through the skise, Bot suddenly that skull did skaill … To fle the flichts of fudder 1677 Thanes of Cawdor 334.
For my 3 yeir old cowes, my 2 yeir olds and my year olds, I apoynt my storemaster to make ane scholl of the same and to taike a convenient graseing for them
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"Scule n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/scule_n_2>
