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.
HARRIS, prop. n. The name ofthe southern part of the Island of Lewis, found in combs.: 1. Harris cold, a name given to an infection contracted by the inhabitants of the islands of St Kilda after contact with visitors from the Long Island, specif. Harris, or the mainland. Hist. See also boat cold s.v. Boat, n.2 and cf. w.Sc. (St Kilda) 1703 M. Martin Western Islands (1934) 308; 2. Harris tweed, a fine tweed spun in the Outer Hebrides, a trade name patented in 1911, now in gen. Eng. use (see quot.).1. w.Sc. (St Kilda) a.1930 Scots Mag. (Dec. 1946) 205:
That strange phenomenon which is known variously as the “visiting cough,” the “boat-cold” the “Harris cold,” or the “stranger's cold” (in Gaelic, cnatan nan gall).2. Sc. 1911 Sc. Woollens (Nov. 1937):
“Harris Tweed” means a tweed made from pure virgin wool produced in Scotland, spun, dyed, and finished in the Outer Hebrides and hand-woven by the islanders at their own homes in the Islands of Lewis, Harris, Uist, Barra and their several purtenances, and all known as the Outer Hebrides.
