▪ I. firth1 Chiefly north. Obs. or arch.
(fɜːθ)
Forms: 4 firþe, fyrþe, 4–6 fyrth, 6– firth.
[Metathesis of frith n.2]
A synonym of frith n.2 in some of its senses: A deer-forest, hunting-ground; a piece of ground covered with brushwood with a few trees; a coppice, small wood. In poetry frequent in alliterative phrases, firth and fell, firth and field, firth and fold: see frith n.2
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Blasius 77 Þane send he ma knychtis..To hwnt in [to] þat sammyne fyrth. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1708 We have foundene in ȝone firthe..ffifty thosandez of folke of ferse mene of armez. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. xiii. 52 Ane Lande..Of Fyrth, and Felde. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 682 Fyne foullis in Fyrth. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. Prol. 162 Quhen frostis days ourfret bayth fyrth and fauld. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 593 The fox that rynnis in the firth. 1581 Savile Agric. (1622) 192 The firths and the thickets he proued the first in his owne person. 1794 Burns A Vision (1st version) 17 Looking over firth and fauld, Her horn the pale-fac'd Cynthia rear'd. |
▪ II. firth2
(fɜːθ)
Also 5 fyrth. See also frith n.3
[app. a. ON. fiǫrðr: see fiord.
Firth or frith was originally a Sc. word, introduced into English literary use c 1600.]
An arm of the sea; an estuary of a river.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xx. 108 Þai..of fors, as wynd þame movyd, Come in þe Fyrth. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. vi. 123 The ile of Cecill devidit hes allhaile, Ane narrow fyrth flowis..Betuix thai costis. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 9 So hapnit tham..to wend Out throw ane firth endlang ane cragie cost. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 43 In many firths and armes of the sea. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. lxxxiv. 215 Glad may our souls be that are safe over the firth. 1774 Nicholls Corr. w. Gray (1843) 175 The Castle, from whose summit the Firth of Forth is seen for many miles. 1839 W. Chambers Tour Holland 31/1 A neck of sea..possessing all the appearance of a navigable firth. 1865 Geikie Scen. & Geol. Scot. 125 The sea runs inland in long narrow firths. |