Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SLAE, n.¹ Gen.Sc. form and usages of Eng. sloe, the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, or its fruit (Sc. 1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scot. I. 254; Ayr. 1786 Burns Holy Fair iii.; Abd. 1851 W. Anderson Rhymes 96, Kcb. 1882 G. Murray Poems 41; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson). Gen. (exc. I.) Sc. Applied also, rarely, to the fruit of the whitethorn, the haw, Crataegus oxyacantha (sm.Sc. 1896 Garden Work 112). Freq. attrib. as in slae-berry (Bwk. 1942 Wettstein), -black, -buss, the blackthorn-tree, slae-leaf, -stick, a blackthorn cudgel or staff, slae-thorn, the blackthorn (Wgt. 1970), used attrib. = bent, gnarled, slae-water, the juice of the sloe, hence any sour liquid. Adj. slaeie, abounding in sloes or sloe-bushes (Cld. 1825 Jam.). [sle: See P.L.D. § 32.]Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems (1900) 25:
Auld, swirlon, slaethorn, camsheugh, crooked Wight.Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Tales (1874) 345:
Nane o' your cauld, sour slae-water.Bwk. c.1830 Minstrelsy Merse (Crockett 1893) 152:
The merle likes the slae buss weel, Whar grows the berry blue.s.Sc. 1859 Bards of Border (Watson) 209:
The slaethorn there my bonnet wreathed.Uls. 1869 D. Herbison Snow-Wreath 254:
'Tis no the slae-thorn blossom.Ayr. 1880 W. Aitken Rhymes 10:
A great muckle cudgel o' slaethorn.m.Lth. 1882 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) IV. 56:
A wenche's twa slae-berrie een.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 315:
Yer tea wus a' slae-leafs.