Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1795-1847
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HARLE, n. Also harl, earl, herald, and in combs. with -duck, -drake. Defined as the goosander, Mergus merganser (Ork. 1684 R. Sibbald Scotia Illustrata 22, a.1795 G. Low Fauna Orcad. (1813) 131; Sh. 1809 A. Edmonston Zetland II. 225; e.Lth. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 164; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.) but more correctly referring to the red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator (I.Sc. 1837 R. Dunn Ornithol. Guide 96; Sh., Ags. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 164, herald (duck); Ork. 1929 Marw.; Sh. 1956, herald duck). Also harl-loot.Fif. 1795 Stat. Acc. IX. 295 Note:
Herald ducks, as they are called here, smaller than wild ducks, with a shorter wing, red head, and gray variegated feathers.Ork. 1806 P. Neill Tour 197:
I suspect that Mr Pennant and Dr Barry are mistaken and that the harle of Orkney is the Mergus serrator, or Red-breasted merganser. It is curious that harle should be the French name for the goosander.Abd. 1847 Zoologist V. 1909:
On the same coast, one of the divers, probably the red-throated . . . has, from its cries, derived the strange-sounding name of harl loot.
