Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PEARLIN, n. Also -ling, -line, perlin. Lace used as a trimming for garments, “properly, a coarse sort of bone-lace” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); in pl. lace-trimming. Also attrib. and fig. Now only liter.Sc. c.1708 Copie of a Baron's Court 14:
To sow, to spin, weave Pearline, and knit shanks.Sc. 1724 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1876) II. 84:
Sae put on your pearlins, Marion, And kyrtle of the cramasie.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 125:
Then round the ring she dealt them ane by ane, Clean in her pearlin keek an' gown alane.Edb. c.1796 H. Macneill Poet. Works (1806) II. 102:
Ribbans, and perlins, and breast-knots enew.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxvi.:
Silk gowns wad stand on their ends, their pearlin-lace as fine as spiders' webs.Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce I. ii.:
“Idle clavers!” retorted Miss Jacobina, the very pearlin' edge of her night-cap vibrating with indignation.Sc. 1848 Tait's Mag. (Jan.) 34:
She [a ghost] appeared as a skeleton, clad in a winding-sheet, which was covered over with rich lace, such as she was at all times fond of wearing while alive. This, in the common language of Scotland, is called pearlin, and thus it was that she received the name of “Pearlin Jean”.Sc. 1864 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace (1902) 422:
The word lace does not exist in the Scotch language. “Pearlin” is the term used in old documents, defined in the dictionaries to be “a species of lace made with thread.”Sc. 1904 R. Ford Vagabond Songs 7:
She wadna walk to the yetts o' Drum But the pearlins abune her bree, O.Bch. 1934 Abd. Univ. Review (March) 124:
Your fabala's an' perlin's tak a hantle o' time by's mine 'at are sae easy to pit aff an' on.Abd. 2000 Sheena Blackhall The Singing Bird 56:
The wyver spun a pearlin wab
That micht hae graced a Scottish queen,
Sae fine it wis - her threid wis snappt
Bi Daith, ae sunny efterneen.