Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1700-1965
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SHAW, n.2 Also schaw. [ʃǫ:]
1. A small wood, esp. one of natural growth, a thicket, coppice, grove (Sc. 1808 Jam., 1832 Scott Castle Dangerous i.; Ags., Per., Bwk. 1970), now chiefly liter. exc. in place-names, specif. The Shaws, a local name for Pollokshaws, a suburb of Glasgow. Phr. a shaw of wood, id.Sc. c.1700 Outlaw Murray in Child Ballads No. 305 A. lxxii.:
I have mony steeds in the forest shaw, But them by name I dinna knaw.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 49:
The Crystal Spring, and Green-Wood Shaw.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 48:
For monie a day ye plaid amo' the shaws.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 194:
Mony braw green shaw and meadow.Ayr. 1787 Burns Letters (Ferguson) No. 112:
A new-blawn plum-rose in a hazle shaw.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxxvii.:
The bonny burnsides and green shaws.s.Sc. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems 39:
By hoary thorn, or birken shaw.Uls. 1869 D. Herbison Children of Year 255:
Through meadow, wood, valley, and shaw.Ayr. c.1892 R. Lawson Ballads Carrick 25:
They're spinnin' thread in Paisley toun, They're weavin' in the 'Shaws.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xxix.:
A shaw of wood by Silvermills.Ags. 1916 V. Jacob Songs 19:
And May-month decked the shaws.Bwk. 1947 W. L. Ferguson Makar's Medley 12:
Or wi' paitricks and doos hes a quarrel Owre there i' the shaw?Gsw. proverb 1965:
They're queer folk i' the Shaws.
¶2. Transferred to mean a reef of coral', as having a sim. appearance.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 159:
O'er Shaws of Coral', and the Pearly Sands.
3. A bank or slope of ground narrow at the top but broadening out towards the foot (Tvd. 1825 Jam.), as in place-names Birkenshaw (Lnk.), Breckanshaw, etc. (Ib.).Slk. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake (1874) 58:
Shaw . . . denotes the snout or brow of a hill; but the part so denominated is always understood to be of a particular form, broad at the base, and contracted to a point above.
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"Shaw n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 21 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/shaw_n2>
