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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1707-1747, 1804, 1941

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CORFHOUSE, Corff-house, Corfe-house, n. A shed used for curing salmon, and for storing nets during the close season (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1707 Fountainhall Decisions (1761) II. 363:
The said five cobles of salmon-fishing, and . . . the corff-house and yard thereto belonging.Sc. 1804 Edin. Ev. Courant (21 April):
To Be Let, . . . The salmon-fishings in the river Awe, near Oban, in Argyleshire, . . . with the Corfhouses, Shades, etc. belonging thereto.Bnff. 1747 Process, Earl of Seafield's Petition (per Abd.16):
The market house at the seaport of Cullen, commonly called the Corfe-house.Abd.16 1941:
There is a building at the mouth of the Ythan which is called the corf-house.

[O.Sc. has corf(f)hous, corfe hous, id., from 1561 (D.O.S.T.). Origin uncertain. N.E.D. gives it s.v. corf, a basket used in mining and fishing, but the use of corf with regard to fishing is of much later appearance (a.1825). It is used only of a fruit basket and a basket made of metal-work in O.Sc. D.O.S.T. has, however, corf keyling = ? cured codfish, 1513, and Mid.Du. has corf harinc (Bense), of uncertain meaning, but prob. (cf. Eng. corved herring) = pickled herring.]

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"Corfhouse n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/corfhouse>

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