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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

NESS, n. Also niss. A promontory, headland (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)), as a common noun most freq. in I.Sc., but in Gen.Sc. use outside the Gaelic area as a place-name, e.g. Fife Ness, Buchan Ness, Tarbat Ness, Southerness, Skipness.Ork. 1706 W. Mackintosh Glimpses Kirkwall (1887) 47:
[They] went beneath the floodmark of the said ness.Sh. c.1733 P.S.A.S. XXVI. 201:
That none keep scar sheep, except it be in holms or nesses.Sh. 1897 J. Jakobsen Dial. Shet. 57:
Every headland, ness and point, every bay and bight.Cai. 1909 D. Houston 'E Silkie Man 10:
He keepid 'r 'awa an' brocht up on 'e back 'e Niss.m.Sc. 1992 Margaret Elphinstone in Elizabeth Burns et al. Original Prints Four 4:
Here she was, months later, walking alone down the ness, and they had never been sailing yet.

Comb. nessland, the area of a headland. Nonce.Sh. 1949 P. Jamieson Letters on Sh. 30:
Whalsay has a fair depth of peat moor in various parts of the hills and nesslands.