Now only Sc. Also 5–6 spyrlyng(e. [a. MLG. spirling or MDu. spierling: cf. SPARLING and SPURLING.] The smelt, Osmerus eperlanus.
c. 1425. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 641. Hic gamerus, spyrlyng.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 52/2. Broche for spyrlynge or herynge, spiculum.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xxv. 95. Quhair fische to sell is non bot spirling.
1526. Househ. Exp. Sir T. Lestrange (B.M. Add. MS. 27448), fol. 38. Item, in playce, vj d. Item, in Spyrlyngs, j d.
1655. Moufet & Bennet, Health’s Improv., xvii. 143. Sticklebacks and minoes, and spirlings, and anchovaes.
1668. Charleton, Onomast., 143. Apua,… the Spirling, Smy, or Sea-Dace.
1769. De Foe’s Tour Gt. Brit. (ed. 7), IV. 19. Trouts, Perch, Pike, Scate,… Lyths, Spirlings … are also caught on the Scottish coasts in great plenty.
1830. M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., II. 187. The Smelt or Spirling is remarkable for two qualities, the transparency of its body, and its odoriferous smell.
1870. P. H. M‘Kerlie, Lands & Owners Galloway, I. 35. This river has salmon, and that delicate fish the spirling.
attrib. 1887. Scottish Leader, 20 Sept., 4. Salmon … illegally caught in the spirling, nets. Ibid. The interdict … would not interfere with spirling fishing.
