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.
Quotation dates: 1436-1474
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Sperver, n. Also: spervoure, (sparwort). [Late ME and e.m.E. (freq. north.) sperver (1440-1), sparver (1444), OF esprevier (1080 in Greimas), espervier, Frankish *sparwari.] A canopy for a cradle. — 1436 Exchequer Rolls IV 682.
Pro quadam circumferencia pro lecto domini nostri regis vocata sperver 1448 Exchequer Rolls V 299.
In viginti ulnis panni linei lati … pro uno spervoure pro rege … xxxiij s. iiij d. Et pro filo empto et deliberato eidem pro predicto spervoure, xvj d. 1474 Treasurer's Accounts I 41.
For iiij½ elne of tartar for a sparwort abone his [sc. the prince's] creddil
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"Sperver n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/sperver>
