Now Sc. and north. dial. Also 1 spelcean, 5 spelkyn, spelke. [OE. spelcan (also spilcan), = WFlem. spelken (Du. spalken), OIcel. spelkja, Norw. spjelka, Sw. spjälka (MSw. spiälca), f. spelc, etc.: see prec.] trans. To fasten with a spelk; esp. to bind or join (a broken limb, bone, etc.) by means of splints.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 6. ʓif scancan forade synd,… hu mon spelcean scyle.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 468/1. Spelte [v.r. spelke, spelkyn] broke bonys or oþer þyngys.
1637. Rutherford, Lett. (1881), ciii. 199. Many broken legs since Adam’s day hath He spelked.
c. 1700. Kennett, MS. Lansdowne 1033 (Halliw.). To spelk in Yorkshire, to set a broken bone.
1802. Sibbald, Chron. S. P., Gloss.
1828–. in north. dial. and Sc. glossaries (Yks., Lancs., Shetland).
1889. W. Westall, Birch Dene, II. ix. 140. The doctor bound up and spelked his maimed fingers.
Hence Spelking vbl. sb.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 468/1. Spellynge [v.r. spelkynge], broke bonys or oþer thyngys, fissulatus.
