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

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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Sor(r)ow, n. Also: sorowe, sor(r)ou, soro, soray, sworowe, (sowre). [ME and e.m.E. sorȝe (1175), sorhe (c1230), soru(u), sorou (all Cursor M.), sorow (Rolle), sorrowe (a1559), sorrow (Shakespeare), OE sorh, soroᵹ.]

1. Distress, woe, sorrow. Also proverb. and personified.(a) a1400 Leg. S. vii 624.
The langare he sat sa, The mare grew his sorow a1400 Leg. S. xxix 843.
Thame that sorow had mad irk ?1438 Alex. ii 636.
And Gaudifeir thi father forow Quhais saull our Lord scheild fra sorow c1420 Ratis R. 800.
Quhen sorow gret … castis done thi spretis c1450-2 Howlat 42 (A).
I herd ane petuos appele, with ane pure mane, Solpit in sorowe 1456 Hay I 37/14.
He was … drownyt, of the quhilk the king had grete sorowe 1456 Hay I 57/30.
Grete God quhat sorow was to se how the cry and the noys rais in the toun 1456 Hay II 80/33.
Mekle sorowe cumis of wrechit avarice 1461 Liber Plusc. I 382.
Soro a1500 Seven S. 374.
Wit ȝe his hart was full of sorowe c1500 Rowll Cursing 166 (M).
Quhair never is mirth ewin nor morow Bot endles pane sorow on sorow c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 94.
Quhen kissis me that carybald, than kyndillis all my sorow 1513 Doug. ix viii 99.
Scho thus kyndillis sorow and wo 1549 Compl. 65/6.
Greuit is my sorrou [song-title] a1570-86 Maitl. F. 421/83.
Quhen syt and sorrow seimis superlatiwe a1605 Montg. Sonn. li 5.
Sorou(b) ?1438 Alex. ii 2480.
Quhat tua thingis dois ȝow to dre Sorrow and pane a1450 Fifteen Ois 12.
Haue mynd, Lord, of that inwart sorrow That thow had thi passioun forrow 1456 Hay I 25/28.
Sanct John … sawe ane egill fleand throu the ayre cryand … Sorow, sorow, sorowe mote fall [etc.] a1500 Henr. Test. Cress. 55. a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 464.
Sorrow thy hert and all thi bowellis cersis c1552 Lynd. Mon. 209.
In this wracheit vaill of sorrow a1568 Scott x 53.
Thair is nocht wie Can estimie My sorrow 1572 Sat. P. xxxii 5.
The schame is thyne, thocht we the sorrow drie c1590 J. Stewart 43/5.
The grivous gronyngs and the sorrow sair Of Roland 1699 Penninghame Par. Rec. I 29.
[They] both confessed their sin of fornication and professe sorrow for it(c) a1595 Cullen Chron. Aberd. 61.
Ellias bluid schow schoiritt to spill, On hir grytt sworowe thair was seinproverb. a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1341.
Seill will not come quhill sorrow be gonepersonified a1585 Maitl. Q. 203/76.
Intoxicat with sorrowis poysonit lance

b. In prep. phrases, with or without of.(1) 1375 Barb. xx 518.
Men may weill wyt … How angry for sorow and how fell Is to tyne sic a lord c1420 Wynt. iv 146.
Scho … slewe hyrself for sorowe 1456 Hay I 58/32.
The tame bestis … gret for sorow c1475 Wall. iii 225.
The Sothron … With sorow socht to the castell off Ayr c1475 Wall. vi 206.
The laiff … For pur sorou wepyt with hart full sar a1500 Seven S. 371.
The tovne lordis that couth him meit Grat for sorowe 1490 Irland Mir. I 154/15.
Pepil in tristes and sorow findis thar consolacioune [in the Virgin Mary] c1530-40 Stewart Bann. MS 140b/31.
In sorrow ay thay sitt 1549 Compl. 38/20.
Sorrou c1552 Lynd. Mon. 17.
Allace, tharefor, we may with sorrow syng(2) a1400 Leg. S. xxvii 192.
Of hyre wit scho ȝed nere wod For sorow of that frely fud 1456 Hay I 49/33.
Schir Cipro … come as a wode man, for sorowe and dule of his men that he saw tynt a1500 Gol. & Gaw. 638.
For pure sorow of that sight thai sighit vnsound a1538 Abell 84a.
The first ȝere of his ring deit Steyn king of Ingland for soro of tynyng of his ring a1568 Bann. MS 263b/4.
To leif at eis but sorrow of ane wyfe

c. fig. Something designed to cause sorrow or suffering. a1500 Seven S. 2063.
He … fand the hole maid subtelly That all that sorow thai dropit dovn Suld fall apon the pyotis crovne

2. pl. Instances of sorrow or sadness; troubles, sufferings.(a) 1566-70 Buch. Comm. on Virgil Æn. iv 435.
Miserere: (beir with me), movearis malis (sorrowis) 1572 Buch. Detect. (1727) 29.
Ane place not altogidder unfit to asswage thair sorrowis a1605 Montg. Flyt. 112 (H).
Thy sorrowes [T. scrowis] obscure is borrowed fro some buik c1620 Boyd Zion's Fl. App. xiii/1.
Sorrows are as threeds a crosse In this our earthly loome(b) 1611-57 Mure Dido & Æneas ii 160.
Ascanius … she softly doth enchaine, By sweits suppos'd, her sowres of life relenting

3. In various special uses.

a. In imprecations. Also proverb. c1500-c1512 Dunb. (STS) xxix 1.
Sanct Saluatour! send siluer sorrow 1533 Boece 188.
God gif thé sorowe … with all thy decepciouns and fallace 1570 Bann. Memor. 12.
I thocht, sorrow fall yow, and God saue me that lyis heir 1638 Rothes Affairs Kirk 150.
He said, Sorrow fall the fingers writ the supplicatione ?1665 M. Bruce Six Dreadful Alarms 13.
The men of the world says, What a sorrow aills this mans holiness 1692 Presb. Eloq. (1693) 78.
Sorrow to his thank, says the Deel, you make his cup stand full evenproverb. a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1383.
Sorrow fal the ghest the house is the war of a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 1392.
Sorow fall the bachil

b. In exclamations of grief or distress. 1535 Stewart 22685.
‘Allace’! he said ‘soray and wo is me’

c. As an emphatic negative. 15.. Wyf Awcht. 68.
The sorow crap of butter he gatt 1570 Bann. Memor. 12.
Sorrow a body heiris us but our selues 1573 Sempill in Sat. P. xxxix 87.
Watter sowllit thame, cheik and chin: Persauing that, sorrow mair thay socht it, Bot keppit standfulis at the sklatis thair in 1584 Sempill in Sat. P. xlv 791.
But sorrow mair the men mycht gett 1659 Dumfries Kirk S. 30 June.
It is alledged he answered … the divell a penny ye payed for my drink, … [but] confesses that he said sorrow penny yee payed for my drink 1692 Presb. Eloq. (1693) 26.
The sorrow a bit of your dog will I be, said Andrew

d. It is sorow, it is a shame, it is distressing (to do something, etc.). a1400 Leg. S. xxvii 115.
It is mast sorow of ane, Barne to be fra the gettare sa tane c1420 Wynt. viii 6030.
To tell yow thare-off the manere, It is bot sorow for till here 1460 Hay Alex. 2752.
Thay maid sic dule that sorow was to se

4. Grief, suffering, as expressed or demonstrated. Freq., to mak sorow. 1375 Barb. xx 264.
The sorow rais fra steid to steid 1375 Barb. xx 500.
With gretyng and with iwill cher, Thar sorow wes angry for till her a1400 Leg. S. xxx 369.
Scho mad sorou, because scho Til hym that lufit suld mysdo a1400 Leg. S. xxxi 358.
Quhen scho schaw that scho wes sa Refusit scho can sorou ma 1456 Hay I 55/35.
All maid sik sorow, man and womman, that pitee was to see a1500 Henr. Fab. 509.
Quod Sprutok than, ‘Ceis sister off ȝour sorrow' a1500 Lanc. 696.
Gret peite was the sorow that he maad c1475 Wall. xi 1130.
Quhat sorow rais, quhen thai him myst away? The cruell payn, the wofull complenyng 1549 Compl. 39/18.
The dou croutit hyr sad sang that soundit lyik sorrou a1628 Carmichael Prov. No. 780 (see Say v.¹ 1 (4)).

5. Physical pain or suffering. ?1438 Alex. ii 10122.
He plungit in the thikkest pres Quhare sa vndemous sorrow [F. ou si grant dolour] wes