shieln.

Brit.

/ʃiːl/, U.S.

/ʃil/, Scottish English

/ʃil/

Forms: α. Middle English sciale, shale, Middle English–1500s schele, Middle English–1500s scheill, Middle English, 1600s schell(e, 1500s shele, shile, 1600s sheale, sheel(l, 1600s–1800s sheal, 1800s shill, ( scheul, schule), 1700s– shiel; β. 1500s–1600s scheild, 1600s sheyld, sheald, 1700s–1800s shield.

Etymology: Northern Middle English shāle, schēle, of obscure origin.Probably connected in some way with the synonymous Old Norse skále weak masculine (whence scale n.⁴). The formal equivalent of this in Old Northumbrian would be *scéla (= West Saxon *sceala ), which would yield Middle English schēle and the later forms. The 13th cent. form shāle may be an adoption of the Old Norse form with substitution of initial /ʃ/ for /sk/, or it may be an alteration of the native word through association with the Old Norse form. The β forms arose from confusion with shield n.

Scottish and northern.

1. A temporary building, usually of boards; a shepherd's summer hut; a shanty, shed, shieling n.The ‘shiels’ in quots. 1291¹ at α. and 1291² at α. are those from which the town of Shields is named. The place is called ‘the shiles by Tinmouth castle’ in Bulleyn Bk. Simples (1562) 75 b.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > hut or hovel > [noun] > herdsman's, shepherd's, etc.

shiel1291

tilt1612

shepherd's hut1663

chalet1784

shanty1824

stock-hut1827

kiln-hole1828

hok1930

α.

1291 in W. S. Gibson Hist. Monastery Tynemouth (1846) II. App. 68 Non fuerunt ibi nisi tres sciales tantum.

1291 in W. S. Gibson Hist. Monastery Tynemouth (1846) II. App. 70 Ante prædictum tempus..non fuerunt ibi nisi prædict' tres shales.

a1400–50 Wars Alex. 4049 Þar þai schewid him in schurrys to schellis & to caues.

1502 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1585, 257/1 To big scheillis and lawis on the hauchis of the saidis landis..for resaweing of the fisch.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. iii. ix. 282 To bring his govne fra þe somer schele quhare he duelt.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. v. i. 142 To mak wynter schelis to defend þame fra wynter stormys.

1637–50 J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (Wodrow Soc.) 433 What to doe have the ministring spirits of the Lord with things done in such a contemptible and stinking sheell?

a1722 in W. Macfarlane Geogr. Coll. Scotl. (1907) II. 36 They..ther live grassing their cattle in litle houses which they build upon ther coming and throwes doun when they come away called sheels.

a1759 W. Collins in Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. (1788) 1 ii. 68 Whether, sitting in the shepherd's shiel, Thou hear'st some sounding tale of war's alarms.

1845 New Statist. Acct. Scotl. II. 159 [Berwick] An alarm is instantly given to the men at the shiel or house where the fishermen lodge.

β. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 36/2 Coats, Sheapards Shealds, or Hovells.1726 P. Walker Life A. Peden (1827) 63 He preached in a Shield or Sheep-house, in a desert Place.1823 J. Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1858) II. 9 The floors of a great many shields or circular huts; which had been in it, were rudely paved.1857 Act 20 & 21 Victoria c. cxlviii. §47 To remove from every Fishery, Fishing Shield, and Fishing Ground..all Boats, Oars [etc.].

2. A small house, cottage, hovel.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [noun] > small house > small ( and humble) house

cotc893

cotlif1001

cotea1034

cratchc1325

shiel1338

cottagec1405

cot-housec1550

cell1577

shiel-house1804

1338 in J. T. Fowler Extracts Acct. Rolls Abbey of Durham (1898) I. 201 Item, idem Elem. [osinarius] adquisivit illam schele in Rokehop que aliquando fuit Roberti de Brandon pro 8li.

1557 Burgh Rec. Peebles (1872) 239 Takkand to erd our scheillis and housis.

1605 W. Camden Remaines i. 102 Sheal, A cottage, or shelter.

1616 Aberdeen Reg. (1848) II. 339 And the third voult to be bot ane schell athort the haill hous for the jaylouris duelling.

1728 A. Ramsay Robert Richy & Sandy 127 Come to my shiel, there let's forget our care.

1792 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 629 The craik amang the claver hay, The pairtrick whirrin o'er the ley, The swallow jinkin round my shiel, Amuse me at my spinnin wheel.

1838 J. Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1858) II. 379 In the churches they were better sheltered than in their own shiels.

1884 Queen Victoria More Leaves 62 We stopped at a very picturesque place, surrounded by woods and hills and little shiels.

in extended use.a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Two Mice l. 199 in Poems (1981) 11 It was ane semple wane..Ane sillie scheill vnder ane erdfast stane.

†3. A piece of pasture ground having a shepherd's hut upon it; a summer pasturage. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > pasture > summer pasture

shiel1532

shieling1568

summering1605

shiel-town1606

setterc1772

summer lease1794

1532 Ld. Dacre in State Papers Henry VIII (1836) IV. 608 The common brute and voice was to have made a roode upon the Debatable grounde and Liddisdale men, nowe being at the sheles frome their winter houses.

1620 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 781/2 Lie insches et shealis super dicta aqua.

1715 A. Pennecuik Geogr., Hist. Descr. Tweeddale 18 Then follows a little Shiel called the Frosthol.

1762 R. Forbes Jrnls. Episcopal Visitations (1886) 144 This place, called the Sheals of Dalquhirn, belongs to Macpherson of Breakachie.

1843 Hardy in Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 2 59 (note) A shiel or shieling is a shepherd's summer hut, as well as a summer pasturage for flocks.

1857 A. Jeffrey Hist. Roxburghshire I. 269 The schules or scheuls, afterwards written Shiels were applied to describe mountain pasture with the huts of the herdsmen.

Compounds

† shiel-house n. = sense 2. shiel-town n. = sense 3.

ΘΚΠ