Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

‡AIRIE, ARRIE, n. (See Jam. quot.) [′e:rɪ̢, ′ɑrɪ̢]Sc. 1771 T. Pennant Tour in Scot. 1769 102:
Ascend a steep hill, on the top of which we refreshed ourselves with some goats whey, at a Sheelin, or, as it is sometimes called, Arrie, and Bothay, a dairy-house, where the Highland shepherds, or graziers, live during summer with their herds and flocks, and during that season make butter and cheese.Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶ Addenda:
Airie. A shealing; hill pasture, or summer residence for herdsmen and cattle; a level green among hills. Quoted for Cai. and Per. in E.D.D. Suppl.Sth. 1831 in J. Logan Scottish Gael. II. 61:
[Quoted from Agric. Report.] “When the crop is sown and the peats cut, the guidwife and her maids, with some of the male part of the family occasionally, set out with the milk cows and goats, and take up their residence in the Shealing or Airie, which is a hut, or bothy, with one apartment, perhaps 12 feet square, for the purpose of eating and sleeping in, another of a similar size for the milk vessels, and, in general, there is a small fold to keep the calves apart from the cows.”