A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Talisman, Telesm, n.1 [17th c. Eng. talisman (1638), telesme (1646).] A talisman. —1691 Kirk Secr. Commonw. (1964) 199.
Telesm is from an image … This cannot work by heavens influence and spirit of nature too 1691 Kirk Secr. Commonw. (1964) 398.
Charms … work in their kind, as ane once-dedicated telesm in it's own —1691 Kirk Secr. Commonw. (1964) 452.
Telesms, charms, and superstition are much of ane kind: for talismans pretend to be influenced by a constellation thorow a mutual and moral relation made between them by a compact … Charms plead a traditional virtue to words merely upon the account of the … miraculous power of the first instituters [etc.]
