A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1457, 1513-1604
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Ern(e, n.1 Also: herne, eyrn(e, eirn-, airne. [ME. ern, earn, œrn, OE. earn.] An eagle.The place-name Ernysclucht is recorded c 1350.(a) a1400 Legends of the Saints xiii. 76.
Sanct Ionne in portratoure Of ane erne has the fygure, For that the erne maste hey fleis c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 442.
One herne … Ryght sodenynly descendet thar c1420 Wynt. i. 670.
Weyngys als thai hawe, … As yhe se ernys hawand here 1456 Hay I. 41/25.
He met vij grete foulis lyke ernis callit voultouris 1457 Acts II. 51/2.
Foulys of reif as ernys, bussardis, gleddis, and myttallis, the quhilkis distroyis … cornis 1513 Doug. xi. xiv. 72.
Evir the farar this ern strenys hys gryp 1513 Ib. xii. v. 63.
Jovis fowle, the ern, com sorand by 1531 Bell. Boece I. p. xlii.
Of fowlis, sic as leiffis of reif, ar sindry kindis in Scotland, as ernis, falconis [etc.] 1531 Bell. Boece (M) I. 99.
The herne, quhilk is the Romane ansenȝe(b) a1400 Legends of the Saints v. 495.
Thocht the eyrne flie heyeste. And the sone seis clerlyaste 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 60/23.
The thrid thyng is the eyrn, that fleis sa hie (a1570-86 Dunb.) Maitland Folio MS xxxv. 23.
Quhill than ane abbot him cleythe in eirnis pennys 1604 Shetland Sheriff Ct. 125.
The eirnis and the corbeis continewalie sleais and destroyis the haile lambes(c) 1587 Treasurer's Accounts 68.
To tua men that brocht ane airne, ane ram, and ane foule to his hienes 1590 Burel Pilgr. i. xx.
The airne and the goshalk 1604 Shetland Sheriff Ct. 125.
The haile houshaldis … to follow and. slea the saidis airnis and corbeis
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"Ern n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/erne_n_1>
