Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
GAIR-FOWL, Gare-, n. comb. The great auk, Plautus impennis, extinct since mid-19th cent. Hist.w.Sc. 1698 M. Martin St Kilda 48:
Gairfowl . . . above the Size of a Solan Goose, of a Black Colour.w.Sc. 1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica I. 37:
Great Auk. Sometimes visits St Kilda's, and breeds there. . . . Called there Gair-fowl.Sc. 1887 Trans. Edb. Naturalists' Club 98:
Lauchlan M'Kinnon, now aged 75, tells me that, with his father-in-law and Donald M'Queen, he caught and killed a Gairfowl on Stack-an-Armin. He dates the event at about forty years ago.w.Sc. 1895 Crockett Bog-Myrtle i. vi.:
After their ill-usage at the islands of Orkney, the Gare Fowl were seen several times by fishermen in the neighbourhood of the Glistening Beaches on the lonely and uninhabited island of Suliscanna. It is supposed that a stray bird may occasionally visit that rock to this day.
