Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
WHERRY, n. Also Sc. form whurry. Sc. usage: a kind of sailing barge, with one sail, and mast stepped forward (Sc. 1905 E.D.D.; Lth., Ayr. 1974); a two-masted vessel without yards (Arg. 1930).Sc. a.1788 Origins '45 (S.H.S.) 260:
The wherries sailed by to the southward without ever stopping.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 197:
We had rigged an' reekit out a prime swanking wherry; — she was o' the right Gourock bigg, — syde in the rib, an' strait in the beam.Dmb. 1894 D. MacLeod Past Worthies 191:
The whurry's needin' new sails the noo.Wgt. 1904 J. F. Cannon Whithorn 10:
The Most High kens best hoo to steer his ain whurry.
