A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1574, 1700+
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Snaphaunce, -hans, n. (e.m.E. snaphaunse (c1580) a gun fitted with a snaphance, or type of early flint-lock firing mechanism, appar. f. snaphanse (a1538) a robber, etc. The Cal. Sc. P. example may be simply a further example of the e.m.E. word.) — 1574 Cal. Sc. P. V 182.
[The Regent has six fair muskets come out of Flanders to serve for patterns … for which purpose his artificers are skilful and as for] dagges, [otherwise called] ‘snaphaunces’, [they have furnished the most part of the gentlemen and horsemen of the realm] 1718 Glasgow B. Rec. IV 1.
There were sent … to the magazines of Edinburgh castle three hundered and fifty snaphans
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"Snaphaunce n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/snaphaunce>
