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

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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Vail(l, Val(e, n. Also: vaile, wail(l)(e, wale, ve(i)le, veel(e, vial(e. [ME and e.m.E. ueil(e (a1225), veil (c1250), vayl (Cursor M.), vail (14th c.), vale (1580-3), AF veil(l)e, veil, L. vēlum.]

1. The headdress of a nun. b. To tak the val, to become a nun. c. transf. In Doug.: The headdress of a religious image or a person conducting or taking part in a religious ceremony.Quot. Doug. iii vi 98 seems to involve some confusion with 4 a below. a1400 Leg. S. x 380.
Eufagen[e]a, Throw a wou & halowit vaile … Is spousit to the Kinge of hewyn a1400 Leg. S. x 422.
Waile c1420 Wynt. v 1577.
That thare [sc. the nuns'] wale [C. wail, W. waillis] ware na tyme lewyde Than thai suld were it on thare hewyde 1531 Bell. Boece II 73.
Brigida … dedicat hir virginite to God and was confirmit … Scho bure ane leddern belt above ane quhit kirtil, with ane vale [M. waill] ouir hir schoulderis 1596 Dalr. I 228/19.
Eftir her consecratione, haueng put on the vale [L. velo] of her virginitie … eftir the consuetude of the kirkeb. a1400 Leg. S. vi 186.
Pelagia … the val can ta, That halouyt ves, & the gold rynge a1400 Leg. S. xxi 661.
Wale c1420 Wynt. vii 264.
Dame Crystyane Off relygyowne the wale had tane(b) 1533 Boece 309b.
Guanore tuke the vele and professit religiounc. transf. 1513 Doug. ii iii 46.
The haly ymage … fylit and with thar bludy handis Hir vyrgyne valis [L. vittas] … Presumyt twich 1513 Doug. iii vi 98.
Settis vp ane altare thi [sc. Aeneas'] sacrifyce to ȝeild Thyne haris with a purpur vail [L. velare comas] ourheild Les … amyd the godly fyris … Thi ennemeis mycht occur and knaw thi face 1513 Doug. iii viii 77.
Our hedis befor the altar we array With valys [L. et capita … velamur] brown eftir the Troiane gys 1513 Doug. xii iii 17.
The altaris coverit with the scherald greyn … With lynnyng valis or lyke apronys lycht Thai war arrayt and thar hedis dicht In wyppys of the haly herb vervane

2. a. A veil more generally, esp. an article of a woman's attire, worn to cover or conceal the head and neck. b. Applied to a piece of cloth used to cover or conceal a person's face. c. transf. The foliage and branches of a tree.a. 1460 Hay Alex. 508.
Ane weill sett on taill [sc. of a horse] Baith lang and schire, lach hingand as a vale 1537 Treas. Acc. VI 350.
Thretty elnis holland claith … to be valis to the Franche ladyis … xij li. 1681 Colvil Whig's Suppl. (1681) ii 13.
Widows from vails set out their noses 1687 Montgomery Mem. 339 (see Luve n. 3 c (2)).b. c1520-c1535 Nisbet 2 Cor. iii 13.
Moyses laid a vaile [W. veil, P. veyl] on his face, that the childer of Israel suld nocht behald into his face c1520-c1535 Nisbet Prol. Rom. 338/30.
Thairfor thai se notht Moyses rycht in the face; the waille hyngis betuix ande hydis his face 1643 Fugitive Poetry II xx 19/2.
He with a vaile muffled the fatheris facec. transf. a1610 J. Sempill in Sempill Ballates (1872) 242.
Ouervoited with the vailles of balme-rebaiting trees

3. A hanging or curtain, chiefly used in a church or religious building, esp. during Lent, for the concealment of various religious objects. b. specif. The veil of the Temple in Jewish usage.(a) 1501 Treas. Acc. II 64.
xliij elne lynnyn claith, that wes antependis and vales in the Kirk of Strivelin(b) c1500 Coll. St. Salvator 156.
For Lentryn ane vaill of brad claith for the quher 1504–5 Treas. Acc. II 294.
For xxvij elne Bertane claith, to be the vail in the chapel of Halyrudhous agane Lenterane c1520-c1535 Nisbet Heb. ix 3.
The tabernacile was made first … And eftir the vaile, the secund tabernacile 1559 Edinb. B. Rec. III 43.
The vestiamentis of the Kirk … the pendicle of reid crammesye welwote, alias callit the waill 1559 Reg. Episc. Aberd. I xc.
Item, the vaill with the towes, a vaill for the ruid loft, and for Our Lady 1579 Edinb. B. Rec. IV 117.
Ane waill of blew veluett of sevintene elnis of purpour and lynit within with reid tafatie … anentis the making thairof agane the kingis entrie c1590 Fowler II 58/30.
Ane vaile hinging at the entrie of the kirk paynted hauing the image as it war of Christ 15… Crail Ch. Reg. 65.
Fywe alter towallis, and ane grit waile of bartane claitht to hynge befor the alter in lentron 1688 Soc. Ant. II 455.
Inventar of what was gotten in my Lord Traquair's house … An large broad, opening with two leaves, … having a vail covering the middle part wherein were sued severall superstitious picturesb. a1499 Contempl. Sinn. 1066 (Asl.).
His spreit commendit vnto His faderis cure The vale than trymblit throw diuisioun c1520-c1535 Nisbet Luke xxiii 45.
The veile of the tempile was revyn in twa 1644 Petrie Chiliasto-Mastix 58.
The assumption … is grounded on Rev. 11. 15, which shewes that till the time of the sevent trumpet (with the beginning wherof the last vial does concurre) … The synchronisme of the seven viales with the last trumpet is confuted before

4. fig. a. Something used to conceal (a veiled object, attitude, etc.). b. A means of preventing a person from seeing.a. c1552 Lynd. Mon. 157.
The … nychtis quene, … waxit dirk and paill, And ouer hir visage kest ane mistye vaill 1569–70 Soc. Ant. VI 53.
For the len of certane daillis to be ane vaill the tyme of the building of the sepulteur [sc. of the Regent Moray] 1603 W. Alexander Darius 992 (A).
A vaile more fit we by no meanes could finde, Then crooked seeming-vpright counsell to … maske our minde 1608 Hist. Fam. Seton 908.
Latte the waille of ȝour heines moste gratious favour couver my bauldeness and pardoune my presumptioun 1611-57 Mure Early Misc. P. i 1.
Quhen Morpheus with his sleepie vaile, Apollo's brightness did assaile 1611-57 Mure Dido & Æneas ii 650.
Beauty … overclouded with afflictions vaileb. a1561 Norvell Meroure 15b.
Many haue worne, an wail before their eine And stopped them, to se the lyght

5. The sail of a windmill. 1601–2 Montrose Treas. Acc. 8b.
The vynd myll thre veeles xviij li.