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.
(Kirk-lafe,) Kirk-leafe, n. In England the names ‘holy bread’, ‘holy loaf’, and ‘church loaf’ (e.m.E. (1499) church loffe), were applied, in the pre-Reformation Church, to the blessed bread distributed to non-communicants after the eucharist, for which a special contribution was paid, and after the Reformation, to the bread provided for communion. — a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1761.
Ye are als like to eate the kirk leafe as to pay it
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"Kirk-lafe n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 24 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/kirk_lafe>
