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.
NOVELLE, n. Also novett, nouvelle. Sc. form of Eng. novel, a work of fiction, preserving the orig. Fr. pronunciation stress on the second syllable, now obs. except liter., but in oral use till the early 20th c. [no′vɛl]Ayr. 1784 Burns O Leave Novels i.:
O, leave novels, ye Mauchline belles.Ayr. 1822 Galt Entail lxxiii., lxxviii.:
Whatna novelle gied you that lesson, lassie? . . . Down on your knees baith o' you, and mak a novelle confession that ye were married the day.Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 66:
Hoo that used to be the case wi, Sir Walter's Novelles! Strang minds read them wi' deep delight.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xi.:
It is ae thing to read aboot love in novells.Abd. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm xv.:
“Do you like novels?” asked the girl. “I never saw a novelle . . . I dinna believe there's a single novelle in a' Portlossie.”Fif. 1882 S. Tytler Sc. Marriages I. vii.:
Sitting . . . at a window fanning herself, ganting over a nouvelle.Gall. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 108:
Deed A think Train furnish't him wi the materials for a gey feck o' his novells.wm.Sc. 1906 H. Foulis Vital Spark vii.:
“What sort o' heid-work are you talking aboot?” said the captain. “Iss it readin' your penny novelles?”Abd. 1913 Abd. Univ. Review (Nov.) 37:
The older inhabitants had an intense prejudice against novels, or, as they pronounced them, “novelles” — the accent on the second syllable.
