Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1725-1826
[0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
ALAKE, int. Sc. form of alack. Now archaic and poetical. [ə′lek]Sc. 1725 Ramsay G. Shepherd (1728) Act II. Sc. iii.:
Alake! what can I do, That underneath baith Eild and Poortith bow?Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 26:
Gin ye alake haud headlong on Your mad career.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 54:
Alake! the byword's o'er weel kend throughout, "Prophets at hame are held in nae repute."Ayr. 1786 Burns Scotch Drink xiv.:
Alake! that e'er my Muse has reason, To wyte her countrymen wi' treason!
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Alake interj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/alake>
