Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
HASTY, HEASTY, n. A cattle disease, the murrain (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.). Also heastie (Sth. Ib.). Now only hist.Cai. 1812 J. Henderson Agric. Cai. 200:
The most formidable of these distempers is called the murrain (provincially, hasty), because the animal dies soon after it is seized with it.Cai. 1921 Old-Lore Misc. IX. i. 19:
A much more elaborate performance had to be resorted to in dealing with “murrain” or “heasty,” as it was called in Caithness in olden times.
