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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Maw, n.² [ON. mav- in oblique cases of má-r mew. Only Sc. Common in the mod. dial.] A gull, mew.Also goul mau, loch-, pik-, se-maw, q.v. under the first elements. c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxxiii. 90.
Thik was the clud of kayis and crawis, Of marleȝonis, mittanis and of mawis a1568 Bann. MS. 156 a/18.
Cumand by Loch Lomont huth Ane malwart tred a maw c1650 Spalding II. 82.
No mawis wes sene within the lochis of New or Auld Abirdeins since the begining of thir trubles … who befoir flokkit … in so gryte aboundans 1683 Coll. Aberd. & B. 100.
We have also the maw, and the grey maw, which is bigger than the other maw a1688 Wallace Orkney 43. 1701 Brand Orkney & Shetl. 119. Ib. 159.