A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1983 (DOST Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1590-1637
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Overlay, -ley, -lai, n. Also: ovir-, owerlay. [Shortened form of Overlayer n.Also in the mod. dial., applied to a kind of cravat.]
= Overlayer n. Also comb. with -band. c 1590–1600 Skipper's Acc. (Morton) 38 b.
Ane dosone bonet moches. Item mar 2 dosone ouerlais 1613 Edinb. B. Rec. VI. 362.
Bocht 2 ovirlayes, my awne being oute of fason 1616 Elgin Rec. II. 148.
[He] tuyk him be the throt and raif his overlay 1622 Perth Kirk S. MS. 11 Mar.
They apprehendit Margaret Melling … quha appeirit to be stiffen ruffis and owerlayis 1623 Orkney Bishopric Court Book 53.
Fyve laine overlayis 1628 Edinburgh Testaments LIV. 342.
Ane camerage overlay 1629 Elgin Rec. II. 208.
[To] sit … on the stule without ether ruff, ouerlay or handkuffs about himattrib. 1637 Edinburgh Testaments LVIII. 142 b.
Sex pair of overley bandis
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"Overlay n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/overlay_n>
