A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1567-1674
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Clew, n.2 Also: clewe, cleu, cleow, clow. [ME. clew(e, clowe, OE. cleowen, cliwen. In Sc. common after 1570, prob. from English.]
1. A ball of thread or yarn.(a) a 1568 Sempill Sat. P. xlviii. 33.
Off all thir thre hewis I haif left clewis, To be oure courtmen wintter weid 1571 Inverness B. Rec. I. 207.
Ane blak clewe of wyrsattis 1571 Ib.
Thre cleowis of yarne to tartanes 1583 Edinburgh Testaments XII. 248 b.
Sevin clewis of spune hardis weikis estimat to v stane wecht a1605 Montg. Flyt. 405 (T).
Nickniven with hir nymphis … Quhais cwnning consistis in casting a clew 1591 Criminal Trials I. 253.
Fyve clewis of sindrie culloures of worsett 1615 Zetl. Sheriff Ct. 10.
His thifteous steilling of … threttie tua clewis of ȝairne … and hyding thame in a carne of stanes 1658 Edinburgh Testaments LXIX. 150.
Ane parcell of wool, ane sheit with xij littell small cleues 1674 Peebles B. Rec. II. 8.
The unsufficiencie of the yairne occasioned be selling the same in wind clewes(b) 1584 Elgin Rec. I. 175.
Thre clowis of cotting ȝairne 1595 Brechin Testaments I. 128.
Ane clow of sex hair of ȝarne to mak out the heall
2. A compact group or throng. 1597 Misc. Spald. C. I. 113.
Immediatlie efter thow went fra him, the haill oxin ran altogidder in ane clew, culd nocht be gottin red, nor wald steir furth of the place
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"Clew n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/clew_n_2>
