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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DOLE, n. Sc. law.

†1. Fraud, trickery.Sc. 1773 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iv. i. 27:
All bargains which . . . discover . . . an intention in any of the contractors to catch some undue advantage from his neighbour's necessities, lie open to reduction on the head of dole or extortion, without the necessity of proving any special circumstances of fraud or circumvention on the part of the contractor.

2. “The corrupt, malicious, or evil intention” which, in legal theory, is a necessary constituent of a criminal act; “obsolescent, with mens rea gaining in favour as a substitute” (Sc. 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms).Sc. 1753 E. Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. dole:
Under Dole are comprehended the vices and errors of the will, which are immediately productive of the criminal act, though not premeditated, but the effect of sudden passion. In this respect Dole differs from what the English law calls malice.Sc. 1795 Scott in J. G. Lockhart Scott (1837) I. 230:
Admitting there may have been a certain degree of culpability in the panel's conduct, still there is one circumstance which pleads strongly in his favour, so as to preclude all presumption of dole.Sc. 1928 W. Green Encycl. Law Scot. V. 54:
The term “dole,” like the English “malice,” is an elastic term, and may vary from the most pronounced malice aforethought to culpable neglect in the performance of duty.

Hence dolous, adj.Sc. 1903 J. Erskine Princ. Law Scot. iv. iv. 2:
It is of the essence of a crime that it is a dolous act inferring punishment.