Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1707-1745, 1827-1845, 1939
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†PAIL, n. Also pail(l)(e), pale; peal.
1. A cloth for draping a coffin, a mortcloth, pall (Lnk. 1825 Jam., pa(i)le).Rs. 1707 W. McGill Old Ross-shire (1911) 70:
8 branches done on both sides for the peal £40, 26 small scutcheons for the peal . . . £4110s.Rxb. 1720 J. J. Vernon Par. Hawick (1900) 153:
My promise of sending you a vellvat pale for the benefite of the poor of Hawick paroch.Gall. 1745 J. Douglas Bk. Galloway (1912) 9:
Reverently covered with a dute pale or mortcloth.Sc. a.1828 Kempy Kay in Child Ballads No. 33. G. xii.:
The bolster that these lovers had Was the mattock an the mell, And the covring that these lovers had Was the clouted cloak an pale.
2. A hearse (Lnk. 1825 Jam., pail(e)). Comb. paill-house, the building in which a hearse is kept.Lnk. 1845 Stat. Acc.2 VI. 760:
They possess a pail or one-horse hearse, which they also let out for hire.Rxb. 1939 Border Mag. (July) 109:
In proximity to the smithy, which has a place of honour in the village green [in Midlem], stands a building not unlike a modern garage. Natives, young and old, call it the “paill-hoose”, that is the pall-house.
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"Pail n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/pail>
