An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language - Electric Scotland

COR [490] COR
Clement, the Knight of Ross, appeared then,
With a brave company of gallant men,
Took in the house of Nairn with that brave core,
The Suthrou captain slew and many more.
Hamilton's Wallc.ce, p. 340.
IN CORE, iii company, together, Aberd.
The lave in core poor Robie blam'd,
An's niither was a witch
They swore that .
night.
-Dukes, and geese, and hens, in core
Rais'd their discordant voices.
D. Anderson's Poems, p. 81, 84.
Isl. kor, Teut. koor, chorus.
CORE, s. Heart. To break one's core, to
break one's heart, Fife.
CORF, s. 1. A basket used for carrying coals
from the pit, Loth.
2. It must have been anciently used in a general
sense.
"Ane corf full of apillis, contenand viij**
apillis." Aberd. Reg. A. 1543, V. 18.
& tene
3. Basket-work in silver.
"Item, twa round tablettis of gold within ane corf
of silver wyre. Item, the said corf, ane agatt maid lyk
ane clamschell, set in silver, and ane round beid of
garneit." Inventories, A. 1542, p. 62, 63.
Belg. korf, Germ, korb, Isl. koerf, Dan. kurf, Su.-G.
korg ; Lat. corb-is, id.
CORF, s.
" A temporary building, a shed,"
Lord Hailes.
And with that wird intill a cor/he crap,
Fra hair weddir, and frostis, him to hap.
JBannatyne Poems, p. 114.
Sibb. gives the same sense, deriving it
q. cour-hof,
from Com: But it rather signifies a hole, a hiding-
place ; A.-S. critft, a vault, or hollow place under
ground ; which is the natural description of the covert
to which a Fox would betake himself. Teut. krofte,
Icrufte ; Sw. Dan. kraft, id. a cave ; Ital. grotta ; Hisp.
grata ; Fr. grotte ; which all seem allied to Gr.
upvirTTj, id.
Perhaps it most nearly approaches to Isl. korbae,
tuguriolum ; Verel. Ind.
CORF-HOUSE, CORFE-HOUSE, s. A house or
shed erected for the purpose of
curing sal-
mon, and for keeping the nets in, during the
close season, S. B.
" To be Let,
The salmon-fishings in the river Awe,
near Oban, in Argyleshire, with the coif-houses,
shades, &c. belonging thereto." Edin. Even. Courant,
April 21, 1804.
' ' He sells to the complainers his right of salmon-
fishing with liberty to build two sheals or two corfehouxes,
in the most convenient places near the said
fishings, so as the same may be spread, dried, and
built, without prejudice to any lea ground belonging to
him." State, Leslie of Powis, v. Fraser of Fraserfield,
p. 18.
" As for his rentis in Murray, quhilk for the maist
pairt consistis in the fischingis of Spey, the haill worlds
and corfehoussis, and haill materiallis thairof wer barbarouslie
brante and destroyit be the rebellis," &c.
Acts Cha. II. 1649, Ed. 1814, VI. 396.
It has been supposed that it is from wharf, q. corr.
of wJiarf-homes. But the term may denote houses for
curing fish ; perhaps from Belg. korv-en, because the
fish are cut up and cured in these houses. Isl. krif,
krauf, kriufa, excentero, to gut an animal, Su.-G.
kraefwa, kropp, ingluvies.
Corff-house, however, is used as synon. with Sheal,
both signifying a hut or cottage.
Et cum privilegio siccandi et expandendi retia, et
aedificandi duas casas (Anglice, two shids, or two corffhouses)
in locis maxime idoneis, &c. Precept from
Chancery, A. 1782. State, Fraser of Fraserfield, &c.,
p. 307. V. CORF.
CORFT, part. pa. A term applied to fish
that have been cured.
Corft fish are fish
boiled with salt and water, S. B.
In this sense, I suppose, are we to understand the
"Ane thousand corfkeyling in peyll."
following words ;
Aberd. Reg. A. 1541, V. 17 ; i.e., large cod-fishes
piled up. V. KEELIXG.
To CORIE, v. a. To curry leather. V. the s.
GORIER, s. A currier.
" Supplicacione presented be Edward Spencer carter,
craving libertie to buy hydis,
and vent the same being
coried." Acts Cha. I., Ed. 1814, Vol. V., 276.
Fr. corroy-er, courroy-er, to curry ; whence courroyeur,
a currier.
CORK, s. 1. An overseer, a steward ; a cant
term, Upp. Lanarks.
2. A name given by operative weavers to the
agents of manufacturers, Clydes.
Most probably from their being generally light, or
in a commercial sense, without substance, given to airy
speculations, and floating on the surface of trade.
Hence, To kick the cork, to ask money from the agent
of a manufacturer, ib.
3. The same term is applied by journeymen
tailors to their masters, Loth.
[Cork is quite a common cant term for master or employer
in West of S.]
CORKY, adj. "Airy, brisk;" Sir John
Sinclair, p. 100, S. It seems nearly correspondent
to E. volatile.
Sic corkie gowks in rhymin' strains
Maun now-a-days gae craze their brains,
Wha nor wi' havins, mense, nor conscience,
Maun deave the watT wi' printin' nonsense.
A. Scott's Poems, 1811, p. 57.
CORKY-HEADIT, adj. Light-headed, giddy,
Roxb.
CORKY-NODDLE, s. A light-headed person ;
or one whose wisdom floats on the surface,
Roxb.
CORKES,
s. The ancient name for the
Lichen omphalodes, now in S. called Cud-
bear, q. v.
Its name in E. is cork, Lightfoot, p. 818 ; and it is
singular that both this and our old designation should
evidently indicate the same origin ; Gael, corcar being
the name of Lichen tartareus, ibid., p. 812. Shaw
gives corcuir as signifying, "purple, a red dye."
CORKIE, s. The largest kind of pin,
a bod-
kin-pin, Fife ; Corking-pin, E.