Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1832-1955
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‡FILK, pron. Also fulk (Ags. 1921 D. H. Edwards Fisher Folks 216). n.Sc. variants of Whilk, which (Cai.8 1934; ne.Sc. 1951). Mostly interrog. The reduced forms fill, ful(l) and comb. forms filken, -in, are also found. In 1935 quot. used erron. = while. Cf. Fill, conj., 2.Bch. 1832 W. Scott Poems 146:
An' though I war, it might be ill, . . . For ony body just to tell Filk was the lad.Bch. 1842 Blackwood's Mag. (March) 301:
"Filk muckle lang Sanny Fite?" "Muckle lang gleyed Sanny Fite," shouted the stranger.Ags. 1882 Brechin Advertiser (12 Dec.):
But it's nae maitter fill o' them it wis.Kcd. 1912 W. MacGillivray Drainie 54:
If I were leukin' oot for a wife agen masel', I dinna ken full o' them I would grip tö- Mary or Kate.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 67:
She geddert oxterfu's o' the seggs an' heddir, filk she beevied ahint the door.Abd.15 1928:
Filken een wis't? The filk said ye?Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick ii.:
Noo than, ale or fusky? Ful o' the twa are ye for?
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"Filk pron.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/filk>
