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: 1643-1658
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(Selfy,) Selfie, adj. [Self pron.] Devoted to self, selfish. —1643 Baillie II 106.
Yow know what woe and danger selfie men in the top of a commission may doe 1651 Dingwall Presb. 211.
The causes [of the fast] are … 5. The selfines of the tyme, so that many … be suffering, yet the most part of the land is secuire and tenacious and selfie in particulare interest a1658 Durham Subtile Self 12.
Let the action be never so good, if its end be selfie, the more Gods honour be pretended a1658 Durham Subtile Self 58.
Nothing comes wrong to the self-denyed man; but every thing that comes in betwixt the selfie man and his end perplexes him and puts him on the rack a1658 Durham Subtile Self 36, etc.
