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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.

Lillie, Lilie, n. Also: lilly, -é, lyllie, -y, -é; lilé, lylé. Plur. lillyis, -ies, -eis, lilies etc., also lilis. (ME. lilie (a 1250), lilye, lylye, lylly (14–15th c.), lilly, OE. lilie. Cf. Lely.]

1. The lily, usu. the white lily but also applied to other colours.Common in poetic comparisons.See also water-lilie.(1) a1400 Leg. S. xliii. 179.
Fare cronis & fresch haf we … Of rose and lyle wynly mad 1490 Irland Mir. I. 58/21.
Rosis, lilleis, flouris, herbis c1500-c1512 Dunb. xlviii. 140.
Nor latt no wyld weid … Compair hir till the lilleis nobilnes 1513 Doug. vi. xi. 59.
The blomit lylleis quhite a1605 Montg. Misc. P. xli. 10.
The feildis … Quhair lilies lyk lou is Als rid as the rone a1606 Dioscoridis Annot. 177 b.
Lilium, ane lillie(1) 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. i. 88.
A quene, as lyllie sweit of swair c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 28.
Thair faceis … Quhyt, seimlie and soft as the sweit lillies c1550 Lynd. Meldrum 947.
Lyke the quhyte lyllie wes hir lyre 15.. Christis Kirk 24. a1568 Bann. MS. 227 a/8.
Hir lyre is lilly lyk

b. Applied to persons as a metaphor of whiteness, purity or beauty. c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 65.
All the feldis wyth thai lilies quhite Depaynt war brycht Id. lxiv. 2.
Sweit rois of vertew … , Delytsum lyllie of everie lustines 1513 Doug. i. ii. 37.
That lilly quhite of swar Arundel MS. 285/221.
O Mary, the hie kinrid of the lile of chaistite, haill

2. A representation of a lily; chiefly, the heraldic ‘lily’ or fleur-de-lis. 1531 Bell. Boece II. 137.
The Florentinis … tuk the reid lille [M. lillye], na thing different fra the lille of France bot in cullour, for thair armis 1533 Boece ii. ii. 60.
Grete Charles … to the cirkill of the crowne … ekit foure lillyis of gold with foure goldin crossis a1538 Abell 14 b.
To this crowne Charlis the Mayne ekit 4 lilis and 4 crucis 1540 Inv. Wardrobe 110.
Ane basing and ane laware of gold, with thrissillis and lilleis round about the samyne 1622-6 Bisset II. 387/23.
[In the Scottish arms] ane dowbled treasant with contrarie lyllies of reid culloure or floure de luce … of blew cullour

3. Attrib. and comb. in Lillie-flour(e, -pott, -quhyte.