Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1929
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†BOW, n.1
1. "The cultivated ground of an old tunship which was enclosed by the tunship dyke" (Ork. 1929 Marw.).
2. "The dyke enclosing the arable ground; an apparent truncation of the full term — 'bow-dyke'" (Ib.).
Hence Auld Bow, the original arable land, or the original enclosing dyke.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
Another term freq. found [in Clouston's Ork. Townships in Sc. Hist. Rev. 1919 (Oct.) 25] — "Auld Bow" — can only have been applied . . . where there had been an expansion of the original arable, and a consequent shifting out of the enclosing dyke.
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"Bow n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bow_n1>
