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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.

Lamskin, Lambskin, -skyn, n. Also: lam(m)e-, lambe- and -skin(n)e. [ME. lambeskin (14th c.). Cf. also lams skyn, lambis skin, Lam n. 1 b. Written both as one word and as two.]

1. The hide of a lamb, a lamb-skin. Also as a collect. sing.See also some further examples s.v. Futefell n.(a) c1420 Bute MS. 170 b.
Of a bynde of skynnys or schorlyng that is to say … ij d. of j c. hog skynnys, ij d. of j c. lamskynnys
a1500 Prestis of Peblis 184.
Thar faderis purely can begyn With hap and halfpenny & a lam skyn
15.. Aberd. B. Rec. (J).
Lamskynnis & cawar skynnis
(b) 1451 Reg. Great S. 114/1.
Burgenses … de Edynburgh … liberi … ab custume … pellium … dictarum schorlingis, … lentirneware, lambskynnis, todskynnis [etc.]
1482 Edinb. Chart. 169.
Of a pak of cunyngskynnis, lambskynnis [etc.]
1582 Conv. Burghs II. 509.
Ilk quantitie or bowlk of lambskynnis estimate … for j c. to be sett to ane barrell and ilk barrell … to pay sex penneis
1612 Bk. Rates (Halyb.) 329.
[Import] Lambskins the hundreth vi li.
Ib. 339.
[Export] Lamb skins the hundreth iii li. vi s. viii. d.
1661 Acts VII. 253/2.
Lamb skines ilk tuo thousand tuo ounces
coll. 1567 Edinb. Test. I. 66.
Fyve dozane futefaill and lambskyn
1570 Dundee B. Laws 113.
[To] be taken up … in Danskeine … fywe hundreth lentron waire or lamb-skinne
proverb. 1605-6 Welsh Forty-eight Serm. 139.
As the proverb is, As soon gaes the lamb-skin to the market as the old sheep-skin

b. Proverbially, of a wolf or fox in a lamb's skin.Also Lam n. 1 b. a1400 Leg. S. xxv. 506.
Bot ȝet he Wykyt wolfe wes withine, & heylyt in a lameskine
Ib. xxxi. 378.
He is wolf in lamskine hyd
a1500 Prestis of Peblis 414.
He is … Nocht bot ane tod in ane lambskin to creip
c1500-c1512 Dunb. xiii. 37.
Sum in ane lamb skin is ane tod
1571 Sat. P. xxix. 45.
Schawing quhow, wolfis in lam skynis, the puire scheip ȝe misgyde
1584 Sempill Sat. P. xlv. Pref. 6.
To ken the lupus in a lamb skyn lappit
1581 Hamilton Cath. Tr. 2.
Thai var seducit … be volfis in lambskynnis

2. A lamb-skin dressed and used as fur. Only in plur., = lambskin fur collectively or as a material (cf. Buge n.1). 1473 Treas. Acc. I. 14.
A lynyng of lam skinnis … to lyne a gowne of chamlot to the King, price xxxiij s.
1474 Ib. 28. 1492 Ib. 202.
For quhyte smal cotton lamskynnis to lyn this gowne
1507–8 Ib. IV. 19, 235, 241, 246, etc. 1514 Selkirk B. Ct. fol. 33 b.
[He] grantis him [£7/4/8] for clath and lammeskines
1540 Maxwell Mem. I. 410.
Ane furryne of blak lamskynnis of ane riding gowne
1561 Invent. Q. Mary 23.
Foure wylie coittis of quhite lambskynnis
1574 Edinb. Test. III. 213 b.
Ane auld Pareis blak goun lynit with … blak lambskynnis behint

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"Lamskin n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Nov 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/lamskin>

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