Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
STOWER, n. Also stour(e). [′stʌuər]
1. A stake, post, in a fence, for a fishing -net, etc. (Dmf. 1971).Dmf. 1776 Dmf. Weekly Mag. (14 May):
Oak, Ash and other woods, fit for the following uses, viz. house building, fishing, stours and hoops.Dmf. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 II. 16:
Another method is called pock-net fishing. This is performed by fixing stakes or stours (as they are called) in the sand.Dmf. 1841 S. Hawkins Poems V. 42:
Frae ilk dyke they took stump and stoure.
2. Gen. in pl.: the common reed, Phragmites communis, “used of the masses of tall reeds growing in the Loch of Bae in Sanday and from North Ronaldsay” (Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1971).Ork. 1892 Annals Sc. Nat. Hist. I. 138:
Hiding among the rushes (locally called “stowers”).
