Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1701-1722, 1794-1999
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STRENTH, n. Also I.Sc. strent. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. strength. See P.L.D. §79. Also in Mid.Eng. and n.Eng. dial. Deriv. strenthen. [′strɛnθ]
A. Sc. forms:Sc. 1701 Seafield Corresp. (S.H.S.) 343:
I hope she will strenthen my name.Sc. 1705 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) I. 81:
I gote strenth of body.Wgt. 1794 G. Fraser Lowland Lore (1880) 69:
The strenth of the water over threw my mear.Sh. 1879 Shetland Times (23 Aug.):
Hit wis nae üse a tryin' ta “keeve” wi' him, his strent wis afu'.Ork. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. v. 174:
The sun wis gettin' a bit o' strent.Abd. 1917 D. G. Mitchell Clachan Kirk 20:
Yer priests boast o' yer strenth.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 9:
Kings an maisters syne will rise,
But haunless, wersh, their strenth bygane;
An aw thae fowk that they ruled ower
Will ken them nane.
B. Sc. usage, obs. in Eng. since 17th c.: a stronghold, a fortress.Sc. 1722 W. Macfarlane Geog. Coll. (S.H.S.) I. 305:
A considerable hight called Clatchar on the top of which the Picts of old had a great strength.Sc. 1815 Scott Antiquary xxvii.:
The ancient ruined strengths and castles that ane sees amang the hills.s.Sc. 1837 Wilson's Tales of the Borders III. 265:
The old strength of Roseallan cannot now boast even a site on the face of the earth.Sc. 1860 C. Innes Scot. in Middle Ages 314:
The great strengths of the kingdom, Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Stirling, Dunbar.Sc. 1957 Hist. Monu. Slk. (H.M.S.O.) 163:
Not all strengths were tower-houses.
