A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1513, 1567-1670
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Slaw, adv. Also: slau, slou, slow. [e.m.E. slawe (a1500), slow (1591); Slaw adj.] Slowly, at a slow pace; tardily. 1513 Doug. viii vii 105.
The mychty god of fyre this tyme als tyte, And no slawar, … Furth of hys bed startis a1568 Scott ii 69.
Bot wald thay tary thair all nycht, Thair lancis come to lidder And slaw a1568 Bannatyne MS 141a/35.
Allace, quod scho, ȝe gar me swett, Ȝe wirk so slaw a1605 Montg. Misc. P. xvii 69.
Go slau, and sie vha folouis thee(b) 1581-1623 James VI Poems I 153/363.
The corrozif flouing of a guttaire dropping slou c1660–70 Select Biographies I 270.
Creep laigh and slow like a snail
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"Slaw adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/slaw_adv>
