Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1803, 1883
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GIPSY HERRING, n.comb. Also gipsey-, gypsey-. The pilchard, Sardina pilchardus (Edb. 1811 Wernerian Mem. Soc. I. 545, gypsey-).Sc. 1803 Essays Highl. Soc. II. 271:
The pilchard . . . is known among our fishers by the name of the gipsey herring; and in November 1800 it appeared in considerable numbers in the Forth, intermixed with the common herrings.Sc. 1883 Daily News (7 Sept.) 2:
A stranger . . . might imagine that the great shoals of “gipsy herrings” had already arrived.
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"Gipsy Herring n. comb.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gipsy_herring>
