A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1986 (DOST Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1400-1499
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Puralé, Purala, Parala, n. Also: purealé, parralaa. [ME purale (Manning); porale (c1330), thereafter obsolete except hist., AF puralee (1292), -ale (1305), -aley (1323–4), pouralee (a1300), med. L. (Eng.) puralea (1201–2), OF por-, puralee a going through, f. OF por-, pur-, pouraler to go through, f. por-, pur- (= L. prō-), forth, here interchanging with par- (= L. per-) in OF paraler to go through, a literal rendering of med. L. perambulatio walking through, Perambulatio(u)n n.] a. The action of ‘perambulating’ a piece of land in order to determine its boundaries. = Perambulatio(u)n n. 1. b. A group of persons appointed to make such a perambulation, an assize of perambulation. —a. 1425 Liber Melros II 544.
John … abbot of Melros [etc.] … tyll wndirgang asyse of purale of the marchis debatabil 14.. Acts I 57/2.
Sua that fra thin furth wyth breyff of pureale [L. per breve perambulacionis] na wyth nayn othir breyff he may tyn … the sayd land 1457 Reg. Episc. Brechin. I 183.
Nochtwithstanding that ther past a purala and ane perambulatioune off the said landis and boundis off befoirb. 1495 Acts Lords of Council I 399/1.
The said maist reuerend faider sall … cheis a parralaa of vnsuspect personis and mak thaim be sworne therto and to perambule the said landis … and giff it beis fundin be the said parala that the … faider has richt to the saidis landis [etc.]
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"Puralé n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/dost00094048>
