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: 1750-1795
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†KEITH, n. A bar across a river or stream to prevent salmon from mounting further (Per. 1825 Jam.). [kiθ]Per. 1750 Morison Decisions 14290:
Keith-fishing . . . is exercised at a particular kind of dam or bulwark erected in the river, at a place where the water is contracted to a narrow pass between two rocks; and so great a fall of water is occasioned by the dam, that no fish can get over it.Per. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XV. 521:
A kind of bar, called a keith, laid across the river at Blairgowrie, by those who are concerned in the salmon fishery there, effectually prevents the salmon from coming up the rivers of Ardle and Shee.
