Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HAWK, n. Also †haulk. Sc. combs.: 1. blue hawk, the sparrow hawk, Accipiter nisus (Lnk. 1897 Annals Sc. Nat. Hist. 212); 2. brown hawk, the kestrel, Falco tinnunculus; 3. hawk fit, the snipe, Capella gallinago (Mry.¹ 1925); †4. hawkhen, a hen levied on each household in Ork. and Sh. for the upkeep of the King's hawks, a feudal tax “payable and paid down to 1839” (I.Sc. 1866 Edm. Gl.). Also irreg., in Cai., heckhen (Cai. 1902 E.D.D.). See also reek hen  (Reek, 3. (2); 5. hawk kestrel, the merlin, Falco aesalon (Sh. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 140); 6. hawk-studyin [i.e. steadying], the way in which a hawk hovers over its prey (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 257); 7. hunting-hawk, the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus (e.Lth. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 139; ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna of “Dee” 131); 8. red hawk, = 2.1., 2., 8. s.Sc. 1893 Annals Sc. Nat. Hist. II. 139:
In the southern counties of Scotland the sparrow-hawk (which does not prey on mice) is generally known as the “blue hawk,” and the kestrel as the “brown” or “red” hawk.4. Cai. 1715 Session Papers, Petition A. Cuthbert (29 June 1773) App. 4:
Item, George Mowat, a haulk hen Item, Thomas Dunnet, a haulk hen.Sh. 1822 Scott Pirate ii.:
I know the meaning of . . . hawkhen, and hagalef, and every other exaction by which your lords, in ancient and modern days, have wrung your withers.Sh. 1822 S. Hibbert Descr. Shet. 226:
Collectors still come round for the annual duties of scat . . . hawk-hens . . . and land-mails.

Phr.: †atween hawk and buzzard, between the devil and the deep sea, in a dilemma (Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. X. 135).