Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1786-1919
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FELL, n.2
1. A hill, esp. a rocky, rather precipitous hill (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Freq. in hill names in the Border Country, e.g. Hart Fell, Capel Fell, Larriston Fells, and very common in n.Eng. dial. Combs.: †fell-bloom, the flower of the bird's foot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus (Sc. 1825 Jam.); fell-fit, the foot of a fell.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 100:
She turn'd her spinning wheel, while Colin, on The foggy fells, pursu'd his fleecy care.Slg. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XI. 371:
That range of hills which reaches from Stirling to Dumbarton, and behind that particular district of them usually denominated the Campsie Fells.Sc. 1834 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) IV. 72:
In the house at the fell-fit, where the burn is a spring.Gsw. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond Side 16:
Rich wooded hicht an' naked fell.Dmf. 1899 J. Shaw in Country Schoolm. (ed. Wallace) 369:
Soom and swoon, and seem to thaw, Owre bens and fells and far awa'.Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 13:
The angels airt the morn ower Dawyck fells.
2. A tract of hill-moor. Also in n.Eng. dial.Ayr. 1786 Burns To W. Simpson x.:
We'll sing auld Coila's plains an' fells, Her moors red-brown wi' heather bells.Rxb. 1901 W. Laidlaw Poet. & Prose 21:
[We] where the bent waves on the fells Found camps and cairns.
†3. A level piece of ground on the side or top of a hill (Per. 1825 Jam.).Ayr. 1786 Burns Now Westlin Winds ii.:
The Partridge loves the fruitful fells, The Plover loves the mountains.
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"Fell n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 8 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/fell_n2>
