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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.

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.