A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375, 1500-1605, 1692
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Hobbil(l, Hobil, v.1 [ME. hobyll, hobele, hoble (14th c.), MDu. hobbelen, to toss, rock.] tr. To move unsteadily or clumsily; to bob, jog about; to hobble; to dance.(1) 1375 Barb. iv. 447.
Thai … held thame thair so lang hobland, That of thre batis drownyt twa 1538 Lynd. Justing 20.
Hobland lyke cadgeris rydand on thare creillis 1568 Sempill Sat. P. xlvii. 21.
Had scho bene vndir, and he hobland abone a1605 Montg. Flyt. 272 (T).
Quhen our goode nichthouris ryddis, … Sum hobling [v.r. hobland] on hempstaikis a1605 Ib. 415.
Sum hobbillis, sum hichis 1692 Pitcairn Assembly i. iii. (1817) 22.
Fornication with the virgin, that's as ill as the curates hobbling on the whore of Babylon(2) c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyt. 212.
Thow bringis the Carrik clay to Edinburgh Corse, Upoun thy botingis hobland hard as horne(3) 1540 Lynd. Sat. 5624.
Menstrell, blaw vp ane brawll of France; Let se quha hobbils best
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"Hobbil v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/hobbill_v_1>
