A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1579-1642, 1698
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Herry-, Herri(e)-wat(t)er, n. [Herry v.] A kind of fishing-net. = Hery-watter n. Also fig. and attrib. with net, pock. 1579 Acts III. 147/2.
Herry watteris 1599 Reg. Privy C. VI. 625.
Not to slay any salmon fish … with … creel, pock, herriwatter or any other kind of engine 1642 Aberd. Council Lett. II. 347.
Nettis, creillis, herrie watter pockis or any other ingyne for fishing of salmond 1698 Acts X. 149/1.
Salmond fishing or other fishing … with pocknets, herry water nets or other engynes or devycesfig. 1620 A. Simson Christ's Test. Unf. E viij.
[The doctrine of Purgatory] is ane herrie-water-net, and hath ouer-spread the whole waters 1629 Boyd Last B. 180.
Alexander had fished the whole world with his herrie water net
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"Herri-water n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/herrie_watter>
