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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SPELD, v. Also spelt; spel. tr. and refl. To split, cut, slice open, esp. of fish to dry (Sh., Cai. 1971); to lay flat or extended, spread-eagle; to spread out (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl.). Pa.p. speld(it); ppl.adj. speldin, fig., expansive. Cf. Spald. [spɛld]Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis:
He spelded himself on the ice.Sc. 1754 D. Dickson Christian Love 20:
But legs or arms assunder speld, hung up and nail'd on tree.Bnff. 1827 Aberdeen Star (20 July) 313:
My throat was dried like a speldit haddock.Sc. 1874 W. Allan Hamespun Lilts 157:
In speldin words an' jerky gestures.Fif. 1882 S. Tytler Scotch Marriages II. vi.:
In their ‘saut', ‘reekit' or ‘spelded' conditions.Sh. 1893 Sinclair MS. 13:
Wi' da perrie muttle shø spelds da liver in riegs.Mry. 1930:
To spel one's fingers = to put one's fingers to one's nose.Ork. 1931 J. Leask Peculiar People 134:
Sheu wad spelt apen da harnpan o' da first ane 'at darkened 'er doorstane.Cai. 1965 Edb. John o' Groat Liter. Soc. 7:
We're busy spleetan' atoms Fan we should be speldan' herrin!em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 11:
The cloods are speldit like a door
Tae the chaumer o the King, an there
The Justice General kythes himsel,
In glory cled for ivermair.

Derivs. (1) speldin(g), speldan(e), spelden, speldack (Rs.), -ag (Cai.), spellan, a fish, gen. a haddock or whiting, split and dried in the sun, sometimes smoked (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 267; Sh., n.Sc., Ags. 1971) [′spɛldɪn; Cai. -dəg]; (2) spelder, one who splits fish to prepare them for curing (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.).Sc. 1722 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 29:
Swith hame and feast upon a Spelding.Sc. 1773 Boswell Tour (1785) 50:
I bought some speldings, fish (generally whitings) salted and dried in a particular sea and dried in the manner, being dipped in the sun, and eaten by the Scots by way of a relish.Sc. 1821 Blackwood's Mag. (July) 403:
Gude Findhorn speldings are dried haddocks. They are eaten as they are received without further dressing.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 332:
Some greedily a speldin' chow.ne.Sc. 1881 W. Gregor Folk-Lore 201:
When the haddocks are still somewhat lean after spawning, many of them are sun-dried, and go by the name of “speldanes” or “spellans.”Sc. 1933 E. S. Haldane Scotland of Our Fathers 44:
In Scotland a ‘spelding' or dried salt haddock was in former days often placed beside the glass of ale ordered at a roadside inn to whet the traveller's thirst.Rs. 1936 C. Macdonald Echoes Glen 2:
“Speldacks” (a variety of the Finnan Haddock of particularly delicious flavour).Abd. 1961 P. Buchan Mount Pleasant 22:
Reestin' stolen speldins in aneth the Lifeboat Slip.Cai. 1966 Edb. John o' Groat Liter. Soc. 43:
A saw 'e skorrie makan off wi' 'e speldag.