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.
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.
