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: 1726-1828, 1958
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PALE, n., v. Also peal, pail (Sc. 1818 Sawers Dict.), pele (Sc. 1825 Jam.). [pel]
I. n. 1. An implement like a small shovel or scoop, used for taking samples of food, esp. of cheese (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Lnk., Gall. 1965), "of cheese, ham, butter, etc." (Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Proverbs Gl.); the sample so taken.Lnk. 1816 G. Muir Minstrelsy 46:
If this hauds true Ise gi'e a cheese O' twa stane weight, the very wale, To try it ye may bring a pale.Dmf. 1958 Dmf. & Gall. Standard (9 Aug.):
Single stilton cheese, Cheddar make, not more than 13 lbs., two pales allowed.
2. A plug or peg used to control the flow of liquid in a pipe or faucet, a spigot, e.g. of a cask (w.Sc. 1741 A. M'Donald Galick Vocab. 90); comb. cock and pail, spigot and faucet (Ork. 1965). See also Cock, n.1Sc. 1726 Rules for propagating . . . Lint and Hemp 22:
Let go that Water by the means of a Spigget and Fosset, or Cock and Pail.Sc. 1737 J. Dunbar Industrious Country-Man 8:
The Water may be conveyed in with a Trough into the Pipe-stand or Fleck-stand. . . . a Peal in the lower End of the Pipe-Stand, to let the warm Water run off by Degrees.Sc. 1743 R. Maxwell Select Trans. 288:
You may have a Barrell above the Pipe-stand at a Side, so as a Peal may run in cool Water.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 68:
Just whan the tapster the first chapin drew; Then bad her lick the pail, and aff I flew.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ayr. Legatees vii.:
A tree of yill . . . for their draw and drink, with a cock and pail.Sc. a.1828 Fair Annie in Child Ballads No. 62 J. xlv.:
The pale's out o my wine-puncheon, And lang it winna rest.
II. v. 1. To pierce with a pale, to remove a sample (of cheese, etc.) using a pale or scoop (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Kcb. 1965).Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 46:
Demure he looks. — The Cheese he pales, — He prives it good, — Ca's for the Scales.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch vii.:
A famous Dunlop cheese, at fivepence-halfpenny the pound — I blief [sic] I paled fifteen, in Joseph Gowdy's shop, before I fixed on it.
2. To puncture or tap for dropsy (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.).
[Ad. Fr. pelle, shovel, paddle-blade, shutter of a sluice or the like, dial. pale, id., O.Fr. pele, which gives Eng. peel, a baker's shovel, Lat. pala, spade, shovel.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Pale n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/pale>
