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: 1438-1630, 1683
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Sparhalk, n. Also: sparr-, sper- and -halke, -hauk(e, -hawke, (sperkhalk). [ME sparhalk (Cursor M.), sperhauke (1377), OE spearhafoc, ON sparrhaukr.] A sparrowhawk.In early use freq. allusive. Also attrib.(a) ?1438 Alex. i 443.
That steid, that is suifter Than is sparhalk [etc.] ?1438 Alex. i 627.
Now be we sparhalkis and thay quailȝeis For multitude in fecht oft failȝeis! ?1438 Alex. i 367. c1450-2 Howlat 330 (A).
Spar halkis [B. sperkhalkis], that spedely will compas the cost, War kene knychtis of kynd [etc.] 1473 Treasurer's Accounts I 45.
Gevin to a man … that brocht a spar halk to the King iij s. 1505 Treasurer's Accounts III 155. c1500-c1512 Dunb. (OUP) 163/79.
The sparhalk … Als fers as fyre of flynt 1531 Bell. Boece I xlii.
Of fowlis, sic as leiffis of reif ar sindry kindis in Scotland; as ernis, falconis, goishalkis, sparhalkis, marlyonis and sik like fowlis 1567–8 Reg. Great S. 458/1.
Unum nisum, vulgariter ane spar halk 1599 Bk. Rates MS p. 10 from end of bk.
The prices of the blenschis … the kingis officiaris suld mak ȝeirlie compt in the cheker … ane sparr halk, i rois nobill [etc.] 1581-1623 James VI Poems II 90/2.
As falcons are by nature faire of flight Of kinde as sparhalks far excells in speede 1630 Gordon Geneal. Hist. 8.
Divers kinds of halks doe breed in Southerland, such as falcons, … sparhalkes 1683 Erskine Diary 16.
[He] slew 6 partridges with a spar hauke(b) 1446 Charter 31 July.
Unum nisum Anglice a sper hawke 1456 Hay I 299/28.
That he [sc. a king] be lord of his subjectis, as to the quaile the sperhaukattrib. 1587 Treasurer's Accounts MS 72b.
Tua dosane of spar halk bellis l s.
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"Sparhalk n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/sparhalk>
