▪ I. ˈsheeling, ˈshilling, vbl. n.
Forms: α. see sheel v. β. 6 shillinge, 6–7 schilling, 6, 8–9 shilling, 8–9 shillen, 9 shillin.
[f. sheel v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of sheel v.
| α 1583–4 Burgh Rec. Edin. (1882) IV. 320 That thai diligentlie awaitt vpoun the scheilling of the quheitt pertening to the said nichtbouris of the baxteris. 1606 in Sel. Rec. Kirk Sess. etc. Aberd. (1846) 198 The haill millers..to absteine from millinge, grindinge or scheilinge on the Sabboth day in tymes cumminge. 1801 Farmer's Mag. Apr. 214 It [common barley] produced nearly 21 pecks and a half..of common barley-flour,..4 lb. of husks from the shealing, and [etc.]. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 350 The protuberances of the rootlets and woolly ends should not have been rubbed off by any process, such as sheeling. |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 446/2 Schyllynge, of notys. 1906 Woodruffe-Peacock Ideal Thoroughbred Stud 14 ‘The dry shilling so prevalent in the spring months, which is so serious a throw-back to both plant and animal growth. |
2. The grain removed from the husk, also the husks of oats, wheat, etc.
| α 1597 in Spalding Club Misc. (1841) I. 173 And than the said mylne..grund efter hir auld forme, and made gude meill and scheiling. 1667 Rec. Baron Crt. Stitchill (S.H.S.) 46 It is..ordained that the owner of the corne mak their awn sheilling in all tyme cuming. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller of Deanhaugh x. 177 Rank an' station! bran an' sheelings! exclaimed the miller. 1902 Ardrossan Herald 31 Jan. 2/3 The multure is a quantity of grain, sometimes in kind, as wheat, oats, pease, and sometimes manufactured as flour, meal, sheeling. |
| β 1508 Dunbar Flyting 147 Thow and thy quene, as gredy gleddis, ȝe gang With polkis to mylne, and beggis baith meill and schilling. Ibid. 243 Chitterlilling, ruch rilling, lik schilling in the milhouse. 1546 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 7/2 Cum una firlota de lie thirl beir et una firlota de lie ring schilling. 1690 J. Mackenzie Siege London Derry 39/1 There was Oats, Shilling, and Malt in Town, which could not be used for want of Mills. 1681 O. Heywood Diaries (1881) II. 286 A stroke of shilling standing on the table. 1729 P. Walkden Diary (1866) 85 Sent son Thomas towards Preston with a load of shilling to sell. 1795 Statist. Acc. Scot. XV. 117 Shillen, i.e. shealing, or hulter corn, is measured by the tacksman of the mill, and is paid, not in shealing, but in meal. 1910 G. Henderson Norse Infl. Celtic Scot. v. 117 In Lowland Scots shillin, unhusked grain. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
sheeling cylinder,
sheeling groats,
sheeling machine,
sheeling time, etc.;
sheeling-hill, a hill or eminence where grain was winnowed by the wind, so
sheeling-mound;
sheeling-seeds, the husks of corn,
esp. oats, also the grain that has been freed from the husk;
sheeling-stone (see
quot. 1880).
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 351 The first process which wheat undergoes in grinding is in being put through the *sheeling cylinder. |
| 1585–6 Shuttleworths Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 91 A peke of *shillynge grotes. |
| 1597 in Spalding Club Misc. (1841) I. 174 The *schilling hill of the Mylne of Fedderet. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, Instead of..waiting patiently for whatever dispensation of wind Providence was pleased to send upon the sheeling-hill. 1840 J. Hodgson Hist. Northumbld. ii. III. 118 note, A shilling-hill, as a place to deet or winnow the groats of oats from the husks that had been shilled off them, before machinery was invented for the purpose, was not an uncommon appendage to a mill. |
| 1911 E. Beveridge North Uist i. 11 At a *shieling-mound close to the southern base of Marrival is Tobar Chuithairidh. |
| 1715 Pennecuik Wks. (1815) 87 (E.D.D.) The husks or *shilling seeds are again separated by the farmers. a 1867 W. Anderson in Mod. Sc. Poets Ser. ii. (1881) 238 A cushion stuff't wi' sheelin' seeds. |
| 1563 in Rates Exeter Canal in Archæologia XXVIIII. 18 For everye boate loadinge with beare, *shillingstones, lyme, wood, cole [etc.] iiij.d. 1880 Antrim & Down Gloss., Shilling stones, the pair of stones in a corn mill which are used for taking the husks off oats. |
| 1895 Sir H. Maxwell Dk. of Britain xix. 281 It is his custom to go frequently up during the *sheiling⁓time. |
▪ II. † ˈsheeling, ppl. a. Obs. rare—1.
[f. sheel v. + -ing2.] That is in process of peeling off.
| 1708 tr. Cowley's Plants i. C.'s Wks. III. 288 All thy shealing Scabs rub off again. |