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: 1375-1420, 1507-1533, 1607
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Firth, Fyrth, n.2 [ON. firði, dat. of fjörðr, a fjord.] A wide inlet of the sea; an estuary. 1375 Barb. xvi. 542.
Men of the cost of Yngland … went with schipp is to these, … And in the firth com hastely 1375 Ib. xviii. 267.
Apon no maner thai Had power till the fyrth to bring Thair vittale c1420 Wynt. vi. 2498.
Thai … off fors, as wynd thame movyd, Come in the fyrth a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 453.
The firmament na firth was newir cler, Quhill thou … was on the see 1513 Doug. iii. vi. 123.
Ane narrow fyrth flowis … Betuix tha costis 1513 Ib. x. 72.
Within the fyrth of Sycill … Thar lyis ane iland 1533 Boece x. xiv. 382.
The Ile of Maij, quhilk almaist is myd firth, betuix Louthiane and Fiffe 1607 Acts IV. 369/2.
Reserveand to Scottishmen thair trade of fisheing within thair loches, firthis, and bayis within land
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"Firth n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 13 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/firth_n_2>
