A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1555-1649
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Warnar, -er, n.1 Also: varnar(e, wayrner. [e.m.E. warner (1505).] One who warns others, esp. one who issues official or legal notice or a summons, a convener. Also, deacon warner, the deacon convener in a craft.(1) 1555 Acts II 494/1.
Gif the partie warnit … remouis not … the warnar sall … cum to the lordis of counsall … schawand his precept of warning [etc.] 1576 Aberd. Sheriff Ct. I 275.
The defenderis ar debarrit fra sic defenssis as micht haue resultit to him be conferring of the warneris infeftment with his possessioun the tym of the warning 1611 St. A. Baxter Bks. 76.
Alexander Sharpe, to convene vith the deakin before the varnare 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 430.
If ye advise … with that warner within you which will not fail to speak against you in God's time 1649 Review Bramble's Faire Warning 1.
Our warner undertaketh to oppugne the Scotes discipline in a way of his owne(2) 1594 Sc. Hist. Rev. XXXIV 33.
[That the] positor to the deakin varnaris craft in absence of the said deakin varnare be obeyit as gif the said deakin varnare him selfe wor present 1598 St. A. Kirk S. 849.
Robert Narn as deacon warner is desyrit be the sessioun … to caus the … deacones of craft compeir 1634 St. A. Baxter Bks. 97.
Dauid Fairfull, decan warnar, of the craftis of the said citie
b. An employee of a mill, ? one who checks or assesses the quantity of grain. 1611 Edinb. B. Rec. VI 80.
Of ilk laid of malt … to the foure mylleris that is maisteris, item to the foure undermylleris of ilk laid … aucht penneis, item to the filler up and wayrner twa penneis
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"Warnar n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/warnar_n_1>
