Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
FULMAR, n. A bird of the petrel species, Fulmarus glacialis, orig. breeding in St. Kilda but since c.1900 more widely distributed on Sc. and n.Eng. coasts. Also attrib. fulmar petrel. The word has been in Eng. usage since c.1820.Hebr. 1698 M. Martin St. Kilda 57:
When the Young Fulmar is ready to take Wing, he being approached, ejects a quantity of pure Oyl at his Bill.Hebr. 1764 K. Macaulay St. Kilda 146:
The Tulmer [sic] furnished oil for the lamp, down for the bed, the most salubrious food, and the most efficacious ointments for healing wounds.Sc. 1840 W. Macgillivray Brit. Birds (1852) V. 431:
St Kilda has long been noted as the only breeding-place in Britain of the Fulmar Petrel, Procellaria glacialis (An Fulmar, or Fulimar).Sc. 1871 R. Gray Birds West. Scot. 500:
On the eastern shores of Scotland the Fulmar ranks only as a straggling winter visitant.
