Forms: α. 1 láferce, láw-, láu(w)erce, lǽwerce, láuricæ, -e, 3–4 laverke, 5 laveroc, -k(ke, (lavercok, lawrok), 6 laverok(e, lavorocke, Sc. laferok, 7 laveracke, lavroc, levero(c)k, -ucke, 9 dial. lair-, layrock, 5– chiefly Sc. lav(e)rock, lav’rock. β. 4–7 larke, 4– lark. [OE. láferce, older lǽwerce, láuricæ, wk. fem., corresponding to Du. leeuwerik, OHG. lêrahha (MHG. and mod.G. lerche), ON. lǽvirke (masc.), MSw. lǣrikia (Sw. lärka, Da. lerke); not found in Goth.
The ulterior etymology is unknown: some of the OE. forms, and the ON. lǽvirke (only in the Edda Gloss., and perh. from Eng.) lend themselves to the interpretation ‘treason-worker’ (OE. lǽw, ON. lǽ, treason; cf. ON. illvirke worker of ill); but, apart from the fact that nothing is known in folklore to account for such a designation, the Teut. forms generally seem to point to some such OTeut. type as ‘laiwirakjôn-.]
1. A name used generally for any bird of the family Alaudidæ, but usually signifying, when used without a prefix, the SKYLARK (Alauda arvensis). The lark has a sandy-brown plumage, and remarkably long hind-claws (cf. LARKSPUR).
α. c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), 71/2. Laudae, laurice.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 131/28. Alauda lauerce.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 67/455. A gret hep of lauerkene opon þe churche a-liȝhte.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xi. 40. Ich wold ich were a threstelcok, A bountyng other a lavercok, Swete bryd!
a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 662. Ther mighte men see many flokkes Of turtles and laverokkes.
c. 1420. Liber Cocorum (1862), 36. Other smalle bryddes … As osel, smityng, laveroc gray, Pertryk, werkock.
1438. Bk. Alexander Gt. (Bannatyne), 12. It semis thay sparhalkis war And we lawrokis that durst bot dar.
a. 1650. Eger & Grine, 922, in Furnivall, Percy Folio, I. 383. The throstlecocke, the Nightingale, the laueracke, & the wild woodhall.
1725. Ramsay, Gentle Sheph., II. iv. Hark how the lav’rocks chant aboon our heads.
a. 1810. Tannahill, Winter wi’ his cloudy brow, Poems (1846), 112. Now lavrocks sing to hail the spring, And nature all is cheery.
1837. R. Nicoll, Poems (1842), 77. Where laverocks lilting sing Is the place that I love best.
1897. Outing (U. S.), XXIX. 595/1. A colony of tuneful lavrocks darted their almost perpendicular flight above our heads.
β. a. 1366[?]. Chaucer, Rom. Rose, 915. With fynche, with lark, and with archaungelle.
c. 1380. Sir Ferumb., 1498. On þe morwe wan it was day, & þe larke by-gan to synge, þys messegers come in god aray.
c. 1450. Holland, Howlat, 714. The blyth Lark that begynnis.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., III. i. 158. Did euer Rauen sing so like a Larke?
1620. Venner, Via Recta, iii. 63. Larkes are of a delicate taste in eating.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 10. An hawk … perceives a lark at a distance which neither men nor dogs could spy.
1828. Wordsw., Morn. Exerc., iv. Ne’er could Fancy bend the buoyant Lark To melancholy service.
1876. Smiles, Sc. Natur., xiii. (ed. 4), 260. You could now hear the … bright carol of the Lark.
b. With allusion to the lark’s habits; e.g., its early song, and the height it attains in contrast with the low position of its nest.
1580. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 229. Goe to bed with the Lambe, and rise with the Larke.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 56. Stir with the Larke to morrow, gentle Norfolk. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., II. iii. 94. With your Theame, I could O’re-mount the Larke.
1607. Dekker, Westw. Hoe, Wks. 1873, II. 295. We … must be vp with the lark.
1798. Coleridge, Anc. Mar., V. xv. Sometimes a dropping from the sky I heard the Lavrock sing.
1822. B. W. Procter, Lysander & Ione, i. Be constant … As larks are to the morn or bats to eve.
1826. J. Wilson, Noct. Ambr., Wks. 1855, I. 131. Nae lively lilting awa like a rising laverock.
1865. Waugh, Lanc. Songs, 26. Though we livin’ o’ th’ floor same as layrocks We’n go up like layrocks to sing.
c. Proverbs.
c. 1530. R. Hilles, Common-Pl. Bk. (1858), 140. And hevyn fell we shall have meny larkys.
1546. J. Heywood, Prov. (1867), 9. A leg of a larke Is better than is the body of a kyght. Ibid., 20. Louers liue by loue, ye as larkes liue by leekes.
1589. Greene, Menaphon (Arb.), 48. Men … die for loue, when larkes die with leekes.
1711. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 153. 3/2. When the Sky falls, we shall catch Larks.
d. With some defining prefix, or qualifying adjective, denoting some member of the genus or family, as Crested Lark, Horned Lark, Red Lark, Shore-lark; also SKYLARK, WOODLARK.
1766. Pennant, Zool. (1768), II. 239. Red-lark. Ibid. (1784–5), Arct. Zool. (1792), II. 84. Shore Lark … Alauda alpestris.
1837. Gould, Birds Europe, III. 165. Crested Lark, Alauda cristata.
1894. R. B. Sharpe, Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896), 80. The Horned Larks are principally northern birds, occurring throughout the greater part of North America … more than one form of Horned Lark is found in the higher ranges of the Himalayas. Ibid., 89. The Wood-Lark … agrees with the Crested Lark,… in having the first primary quill well developed.
2. Applied with defining prefix to birds resembling the lark, but not belonging to the Alaudidæ; e.g., to certain buntings and pipits. Also TITLARK.
1766. Pennant, Zool. (1768), II. 238. It is larger than the tit-lark.
1848. Zoologist, VI. 2290. The meadow pipet is the ‘twit lark.’ Ibid. (1849), VII. 2354. The tree pipet is the ‘tree-lark.’
1862. Wood, Nat. Hist., II. 484. The Lapland Bunting, Snow Bunting…. In some places it is called the … White Lark.
1893. Newton, Dict. Birds, 512. The Mud-Lark, Rock-Lark, Titlark, and Tree-Lark are Pipits. The Grasshopper-Lark is one of the aquatic Warblers, while the Meadow-Lark of America … is an Icterus. Sand-Lark and Sea-Lark are … names often given to some of the smaller members of the Limicolæ.
1894. R. B. Sharpe, Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896), 70. From the curious ‘scribbling’ on the eggs the Yellow Bunting … is in many places known as the ‘Writing Lark.’
3. attrib. and Comb., as lark-song, -catcher; lark-awakened, -footed adjs.; also lark-like adj.; lark-call (see quot.); † lark’s-claw, the wild larkspur; lark-finch, -sparrow, a bird of the western U.S., Chondestes grammacus; † lark-fish (= L. alauda) a name given to certain species of Blenny; lark’s-foot = LARKSPUR; lark’s-head Naut., a form of bend (Knight, Dict. Mech.); lavrock-height (nonce-wd.), the height that the lark rises to; lark-silver, an annual payment due to the Crown from tenants of the Honour of Clare; lark’s toes = LARKSPUR; lark-worm, a kind of tape-worm (see quot.). Also LARK(’S)-HEEL.
1835. Edin. Rev., LX. 324. The tell-tale smoke of *lark-awakened cottages.
1791. E. Darwin, Bot. Gard., I. Notes 89. There is a whistle, termed a *lark-call, which consists of a hollow cylinder of tin-plate, closed at both ends.
1881. E. B. Michell, in Macm. Mag., XLV. 42/2. A *lark-catcher will catch and slaughter ignominiously in a single night more skylarks than a falconer can hope to catch with one hawk in a year.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, II. xv. 165. The wilde [Lark’s spur] is called … in English … *Larckes Claw.
1776–96. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 494. Larks-claw.
1831. A. Wilson & Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith., IV. 126. Fringilla grammaca—*Lark Finch.
1898. Burroughs’ Riverby, Index, Lark finch or lark sparrow, Chondestes grammacus.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. a 6 b. Fishes … smooth, as the *Larkfish cristate and not cristate.
1573. Tusser, Husb., xliii. (1878), 96. Herbes, branches, and flowers, for windowes and pots,… *Larkes foot.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 510. This Experiment of severall Colours, comming up from one seed, would be tried also in Larkes-Fott.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts (1658), 253. The Epithets of a swift running courser are these, winged or wing-bearing, *Lark-footed.
1785. Burns, Halloween, xxvi. Poor Lizzie’s heart maist lap the hool; Near *lav’rock height she jumpit.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., V. 20. Pleasure, *Lark-like, nests upon the Ground.
1894. R. B. Sharpe, Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. (1896), 79. The Meadow-Pipit having a Lark-like hind claw.
1635. J. Layer, in N. & Q, 9th Ser. V. (1900), 376/1. The lete is of Clare, of fee, and ye townsmen paid … 3s. per annum for *larkesilver, but what the meaning of it is, I know not. Ibid., W. M. Palmer (1900). The term ‘larksilver’ first occurs in the reign of Richard II. The Court Leet at Meldreth has not been held for centuries, but the ‘larksilver’ [etc.] are still paid by the parish constable to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests.
1880. G. Meredith, Tragic Com. (1881), 193. He … had within the month received her *lark-song of her betrothal.
1597. *Larkes Toes [see LARK-HEEL 1].
1863. Wood, Nat. Hist., III. 713. *Lark-worm, Tænia platycephala.
