Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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WILE, v., n. Also wyle. Sc. usages:

I. v. 1. tr. To beguile, deceive. Rare.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xiii.:
You can wile your old wives, but you never can wile me.Abd. 1930 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 378:
You say to my face that you've wiled your ain lass, You trysted yestreen!

2. To get or bring by a wile (a person or animal to or from a place), to obtain a thing from a person, coax, lure, entice (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per. 1974). Rare or obs. in Eng.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 190:
The hally Dad with Care essays To wile him frae his wanton Ways.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 178:
Thus Fortune aft a curse can gie, To wyle us far frae liberty.Dmf. 1810 R. Cromek Remains 167:
He'll wyle them [boots] aff your cloven cloots.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. vii.:
Bide ye there a wee, and I'll try to get the lamp wiled away frae them.Ayr. 1822 Galt Entail lxxiii.:
A' the time that thy father was wising and wyling to bring about a matrimony.Sc. 1824 Scots Mag. (May) 536:
When a' was in readiness, the hangman tak's haud o' Jock to wyle him on to the ladder.Abd. 1845 W. Thom Rhymes 113:
He wyled ye awa' till ye sindered frae me.Per. 1878 R. Ford Hame-Spun Lays 92:
He wil'd oor little hands to thieve.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood xxi.:
If ye've wiled a saunt doun the road to Hell.

†3. To go stealthily, to sneak. Obs. in Eng.Ayr. 1817 D. McKillop Poems 39:
Todie gies them a' a blaw, He turns — he jinks — he wyles awa.

II. n. As in Eng. Adj. wyl(l)ie (Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 26; Gall. 1832 J. Denniston Craignilder 55), in Sc. freq. used without the pejorative implications of Eng. wily: clever, sagacious, wise (Sh., Ags. 1974). Deriv. ¶wilerie, guile.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherd MS. 58:
Soon he's distinguished for a prudent lad An' commonly the wyllie soldier ca'd.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 184:
Drummond, langsyne, o' Hawthornden, The wyliest an' best o' men.Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 115:
His granny had a proverb true, (I wat a willie wife was she).Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 88:
Ye'll ken her by her swingin' gaite, Her voice a' wilerie.Abd.¹⁵ 1915:
That dog's a wylie beast.