A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1493-1522, 1589-1661
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Hek(k)il(l, n. Also: hek(k)yll, -ell, hekle, heckle. [ME. heckle, hekell, hekylle (c 1425), MLG. and MDu. hekele (Du. hekel).]
1. A hackle for combing out flax or hemp; a flaxcomb. 1493 Acts Lords of Council 287/2.
A hekle, price xxx d. 1496 Halyb. 136.
A hekyll, cost 6 s. 1522 Dunferm. B. Rec. 209.
Ane eilcruk, ane hekkill 1589 Glasgow B. Rec. I. 129.
Ane heckle of erne 1591 Edinburgh Testaments XXIII. 209 b.
Ane girdill and tua heckillis 1613 Proceedings of Society of Antiquaries I. 173.
An heckell with a pair of clatting wool cammis 1661 Brechin Testaments VI. 206 b.
Ane hekell estimat to xij s.comb. 1613 Index Edinb. Test. II. 299.
James Mynto, heckilmaker
2. The hackle of a cock. b. In heckle wys, having a fringe like a cock's hackle. a1500 Henr. Fab. 446.
Quhen I behald … Ȝour heik, ȝour breist, ȝour hekill, and ȝour came 1513 Doug. xii. Prol. 156.
Phebus red fowle … Oft strekyng furth hys hekkill [v.r. hekkyll]b. a1500 Henr. Fab. 1345 (B).
His hude of skarlet, bordowrit with silk, In heckle wys vntill his girdill doun
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"Hekil n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/hekkill_n>
