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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LING, n.² Also ¶laing.

1. As in Eng., the common heather, Calluna vulgaris (I.Sc. 1866 Edm. Gl.). Gen.Sc. It is however uncertain whether this usage is native (exc. in I.Sc.) or derived ultimately from botanical writings and it is not always possible to distinguish the meanings in the quots.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Lilac Sunbonnet i.:
The ling was climbing the slopes of the Crae Hill above — a pale lavender near the loch-side, deepening to crimson on the dryer slopes.Ags. 1923 V. Jacob Songs of Angus 7:
Were they laid aside their ain kirk yett, i' the flower o' the ling.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 17:
An' noo, she'd ha'e her hinmaist fling, Ere lairocks cooert i' the ling.

2. One or other of the sedges, the hare-tail cotton-grass, Eriophorum vaginatum (Bwk. 1853 G. Johnston Botany E. Borders 204; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 253) or the deer's-hair moss, Scirpus caespitosus; “a kind of coarse grass, or rather a species of rush which grows on heaths and mountains” (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poet. Gl.). “Shepherds often confound this plant and Eriophorum vaginatum in their remarks on their merits” (Johnston).Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) I. 195:
His pillow was a wisp of ling.Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems 191:
Heather, bent, ling and a' there grow.Peb. 1802 C. Findlater Agric. Peb. 208:
The surface soil with the roots of the heath or ling growing on it.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xi.:
Half a dozen mountains, and a few thousand acres of the worst moss and ling in Scotland.Slk. 1845 Stat. Acc.² III. 63:
Eriophorum vaginatum, which in its youngest state is called moss-crops, is greedily pulled up by the sheep; in a farther advanced state it is called ling or laing.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 167:
She's sapless now as winter ling.

3. Combs.: (1) downy ling, the cotton-grass, Eriophorum polystachyon (Ayr. 1886 B. and H. 308); (2) draw ling, (a) the hare-tail variety of this, Eriophorum vaginatum. See also Draw, v., 17.; (b) the deer's hair, Scirpus caespitosus. Cf. 2. above; (3) pull-ling (s.Sc. 1808 Jam.), purlaing (Bwk. 1853 G. Johnston Botany E. Borders 204), = (2) (a).(2) (a) Peb. 1802 C. Findlater Agric. Peb. 192:
Draw-ling succeeds it, in the month of March; so designed, because the sheep seize tenderly, with their teeth, the part of the plant appearing above ground; and, instead of biting it over, they draw up a long white part of the plant from a socket under ground.(b) Ayr. 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Ayr. 475:
Such [sheep] again as are confined to the moss pasture, have early relief from the severity of the winter, by the draw-ling, in the spring.(3) Peb. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ I. 133:
There is a moss plant with a white cottony head, which is the first spring food of the sheep. … It is commonly called pull ling.