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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Tele, Teil(l, v. Also: teile, teyl(l, teall, teel(e, till, tyll-, tile. [ME and e.m.E. tilian (c1175), teliȝen (c1200), til(l)en (a1225), til(e, tille, tell (all Cursor M.), tele(n (c1400), telle(n (a1400-50), OE tilian to strive.] tr. To cultivate (land), chiefly with reference to ploughing. Also absol.(a) a1400 Leg. S. xxv 128.
A housband … Telyt his land one Sownday c1460 Thewis Wysmen 57.
Thai do bot opnis the erde newly As lawboureris dois, teland thar land 1484 Acta Aud. *142/2.
To preif that … Walter has sawin the … land ther twa ȝeris bigain & that he telit the samyn 1497–8 Acta Conc. II 123.
Of vj score of bollis of aitis that he micht haf sawin upone the sammyn landis erit and telit be him 1513 Doug. vi xiv 96.
Thou thi ryggis telys forto saw 1519 Reg. Panmure II 291.
To tele and inhabite the samyn [moor] 1529 Glasgow Dioc. Reg. I 94.
The said Jhon … to brouk ane ryg of croft land, gydit and telit be the said Mareoun 1533 Bell. Livy I 97/19.
Nor ȝit the boundis liand vtowth the toun telit or brokin to ony produccioun of cornes 1557–8 E. Loth. Antiq. Soc. VII 53.
Breid and aill to xvi plewchtis teland ane part of Glaidismure to the hird … xv sh. viii d. 1568 Inverness Rec. I 163.
Hes brokin and telit the marchis [etc.] 1568 Reg. Privy C. I 619.
The said Williames plewchis beand teland and laubourand the … land(b) a1400 Leg. S. xxvii 986.
Teile 1423 Charter (Reg. H.) C.O. No. 37.
Full power … to labor teill manur & occupy … the landis of West Lochtrysk c1510 Prester John 311.
Tha men hes na wawpynis bot thai teyll the erd 1513 Doug. vii xiii 40.
Thai that with scharp cultyr teil and scheir Of Rutuly the hilly knollis hie 1549 Prot. Bk. Sir A. Gaw 3.
[Two acres of land] plenist with seid and cattell to teyl thaim wyth 1577 Glasgow B. Rec. I 65.
Niniane Schaw sall, witht ressonabill hors, teill ane aiker of lang … and newtrall man be pleuman 1577–8 Glasgow Chart. II 559.
Devydit in aikeris that thai maye be teillit and extend fra the northt to the southt 1580 Edinb. Test. VIII 64b.
He sall leid hir muk, teill, harrow hir land for the payment ȝeirlie 1580 Reg. Privy C. III 278.
Johnne and Alexander … came to the ground of the saidis landis, quhair the said Williames pleuch wes gangand, and turnit doun the land quhilk wes alreddy teillit 1595 Duncan App. Etym.
Offringo, to teile land the secund time 1621 Black Bk. Taymouth 372.
He raif up sum sauch and haisseill to teill land 1638 Henderson Serm. 202.
The land must be first teiled & dressed before the seed be cast into it 1640 Acts V (1817) 325/1.
Hes teilled the said rowme and sawine and harrowed the samene 1660 Melrose Reg. Rec. I 297.
That James Eilleis sould teile the dale, and harrow it(c) a1699 Skene Agric. MS (ed.) 67.
Vhen they sowe the wheit the land is muckitt then anes tealled then sowen then harrowed a1699 Skene Agric. MS (ed.) 67.
When they sowe the beir the land is thrice tealled, first when they have sowne their wheit seede [etc.] … and then [they] mucks it verie weill the third tyme they teall it then after the seed is sown they harrow it(d) 1535 Selkirk B. Ct. (ed.) 158.
The hors … vas reft fra Quhyntyne … quhen he vas telland Andro Gledstanes land 1615 Aberd. B. Rec. II 326.
Aberdeines landis to be altogidder tellit and labourit be the tennentis of the said hospitall landis 1615 Aberd. B. Rec. II 326.
Finding the commoun lonying … to be altogidder tellit(e) 1535 Milne Rental Perth Hosp. 468.
Tyllit c1575 Balfour Pract. 536.
That the labouraris … sall till and manure the ȝeird in the samin places and townis in the quhilk they wer the ȝeir bygane … fiftene dayis befoir Candlemas thay sall begin … to teill [Acts I 67/2, eyr; L. arare] and saw the ground 1631 Morison Dict. Decis. 8034.]
[That … she had tilled a part of the lands wherein he was infeft 1684 Symson Descr. Galloway 74.
One halfe of their arable land is only till'd yearly, the other halfe … lying lee(f) 1596 Dalr. I 32/3.
[In Carrick] thay tile [L. sulcant] the ground with horses 1596 Dalr. I 97 marg.
The Scottis bordirers to tile the land … abhoris 1596 Dalr. II 344/21.
Tyleabsol. c1420 Wynt. i 546.
Teyllys [W., E. tillis] 1427 Acts II 13/2.
That … ilk man telande with a pleuch of viij oxin sal saw … ilk ȝere a ferlot of quhete [etc.] 1509 Reg. Privy S. I 285/1.
With power to tele and saw nochtwithstanding the actis … of the forest 1513 Doug. vii xiii 37.
The Lybicanys … Quhilk telys on thy bankis, Tybyr flude 1529 J. Ben Descr. Orchad. 31.
They teill not whill the spring of the ȝeir and as they teill so they saw ther aittes 1533 Bell. Livy I 5/1.
Ane largeare feild til ere Than all my pleuch mycht teill in to ane ȝere 1539 Antiq. Aberd. & B. II 359.
Molestit … Alexander Hay in bruiking of the saidis landis … and in this yeir has ryven out teilit and sawin cornis upon the samen quhilk war not ryven out of befor 1572 Sat. P. xxxiii 371.
Leirne ȝour bairns to saw and teill 1573 Davidson in Sat. P. xlii 728.
Till labour ane of thame onlie, … quhilk to teill his beistis miche gane 1584-9 Maxwall Commonpl. Bk. 17b.
Fra the awld oxe the ȝowng learnes to teill 1595 Duncan App. Etym.
Aro, to teele 1596 Dalr. I 293/1.
Behaldeng in the neist feild how the pluche teilet 1678 Mackenzie Laws & C. i xxxi 4 (1678) 312.
And therefore goods that had once tilled, though in October, seem not poindable, for then labouring is as necessar as in the spring 1684 Law Memor. 6.
Teeling 1692 Peebles B. Rec. II 139.
Incaice they teill any more then the saids ten bolls oats and bear sawing [etc.]

b. With fur (Fur n. a furrow) as object. 1513 Doug. vii xii 106.
The folkis clepit of Equicola, That hard furrys had telit mony a da … all enarmyt laubour thai thar land a1568 Bann. MS 156a/32.
In frost and snaw, wind and weit, The lapstar deif furris teild 1573–4 E. Loth. Antiq. Soc. VII 73.
Item … to William McClennen to teill the furris 1574 Prot. Bk. A. Gibson 14a.
Befoir thair departing of the saidis landis telit sex dowble furres 1595 Reg. Privy C. V 220.
[The laird … took … horses] and patt thame in the pleuch, and teillit sevin or aucht furis of land thairwith

c. intr. Const. out: To plough in an outward direction (from a previous line of ploughing). 1658 Melrose Reg. Rec. I 206.
[Declares] that the way was much broader at his enterie nor it is for the present, and that the pleuche schoott is out and teillis out neirer and neirer the gate

d. Const. up: To remove (something) by ploughing; to plough (something) up. 1628 Dunferm. B. Rec. II 159.
The gait usit of befoir & now tillit up 1659 Melrose Reg. Rec. I 218.
[He never struck pursuer or] teild upe [the marche-stones] 1680 Kirkcaldy B. Rec. MS 3 May.
He … fand … the old march dyk to be teiled up

e. In fig. or allusive context. 1540 Lynd. Sat. 1594 (Ch.).
I am callit Divine Correctioun … Now am I cum into this regioun, To teill the ground that hes bene lang vnsawin 1573 Davidson in Sat. P. xlii 731.
Ane bit teillit heir, ane vther thair … Quhilk he micht not keip … From wickit beistis a1601 Boyd Sonet.
Unhappie is the man for evirmare That teils the sand and sawis in the aire