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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1846

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†BILLE, n. A casket.Ayr. 1846 Ballads and Songs of Ayrsh. (ed. J. Paterson) (Second Series) 29:
At length he looked, and saw a bille And in it a key of golde so redd.

[Cf. Billy, n.2 Other versions of this ballad in Child and a prose story in J. Service Dr Duguid (1887) seem to take bille as meaning some kind of document, but here the word is used to indicate the casket containing the document.]

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"Bille n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bille>

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