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.
PERSECUTING TIME(S), n.phr. = Killing times, s.v. Kill, v., 1. (2), the worst period of the persecution of the Covenanters in the 17th c.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxxv.:
Your honour [Duke of Argyll]'s house, and especially your gudesire and his father, laid down their lives on the scaffold in the persecuting time.Peb. 1826 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 42:
A cave penetrating the hill, and nearly blocked up with stones and shrubs . . . gave shelter in the persecuting times to the inhabitants of the farms.
