A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Nain-sell, -shell, Nane-sell. [Cf. Nain a., Nan(e a.2; -sell, common reduced form of -self]. a. Him nain-sell, = himsell, Himself pron. 3. b. Chiefly, as in the later dial., her nain-sell, = hir owne selfe, Hir pron. 1 d, as a Gaelic speaker's supposed way of speaking of himself. —a. c 1690 Sc. Pasquils 314.
Should … heaven or hell Make a man such a fool as forget him nain-sell?b. a1689 Cleland 13. Ib. 32.
Foresooth her nain sell lives by thift Ib. 35. c 1700 Fugitive Poetry ii. xli. 1; 1.
When her nain shell to Edinburgh went, She pe saw pony tings Ib. 1; 104.
A tish of water poured town Apout her nain shell's luggs
