Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1701-1737, 1788-1831, 1887-1949
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SPIRLING, n. Also sparlan, sparlin(g), sperling, spirlin(e); ¶spirnling. [′spɪrlɪn]
1. The smelt, Osmerus eperlanus (Fif. 1710 R. Sibbald Hist. Fife (1803) 125; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Per., Ayr. 1971). Also in n.Eng. dial. Also attrib.Per. 1701 Atholl MSS. (16 July):
At the Sperling and Salmon fishing at Inchshira.Gall. 1731 Session Bk. Penninghame (1933) II. 163:
Some people in Newton Stewart and Barbuchanie had gone out to the spirling fishing.Slg. 1788 R. Galloway Poems 73:
The sparlin, That in no river seems to rise, But hard by Stirling.m.Lth. 1808 Scots Mag. (March) 168:
Smelts, or Spirlings, appeared, for the first time this season, on the stalls of the fish-market.Sc. 1823 Lockhart Reg. Dalton III. 119:
Mair o' the Finnan haddock, or the sperling.Sc. 1887 Scottish Leader (22 Sept.) 4:
Salmon illegally caught in the spirling nets. The interdict would not interfere with spirling fishing.Sc. 1949 Banffshire Jnl. (18 Jan.):
A seine net or other instrument for the capture of sea fish other than herring, sprats, sparlings and shell fish.
2. A sprat (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis). Also used contemptuously of a person; a very young child.Per. 1737 Ochtertyre Ho. Bk. (S.H.S.) 4:
For 300 spirlines . . . 6d.Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce II. iii.:
Francie Frisel, spitefu' sparlan!Sc. 1831 Literary Omnibus (26 Nov.) 23:
I just thocht I micht row up the puir spirlin in an auld clout.
3. A young herring (Fif., Lth. 1911). Also U.S.
4. A burn trout (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 434, spirnling).Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 13:
Belyve, a hern, wi' plout an' splatter, Wi', in its neb, a sonsy spirlin.
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"Spirling n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 16 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/spirling>
