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: 1500-1605
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Incubus, -cobus, n. Also: incubie, incuby. [ME. (c 1383, Chaucer) and L. incubus, plur. incubi. Cf. Incube.] The spirit supposed to lie upon sleeping persons.(a) c1515 Asloan MS I. 204/5.
The said erll Galfryd … was incobus, and gottin betuix a devill & his moder in mannis likncs c1500-c1512 Dunb. G. Targe 125.
Thare was Pluto, the elrich incubus 1535 Stewart 26739.
Merlin … wes … Ane incobus with subtill sorcerie 1584 Satirical Poems xlv. 7.
The legend of a lymmeris lyfe, Ane elphe, ane elvasche incubus a1605 Montg. Flyt. 275 (T).
The king of pharie … With mony alrege incubus(b) c1500-c1512 Dunb. vi. 3.
Andro Kennedy, … Gottin with sum incuby [M. incubie] 1533 Boece viii. xiii. 279.
The tyme was the brute that Merlyne was procreate be commyxtioun of ane incubie and ane gentill woman
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"Incubus n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/incubus>
