† unsel, a. and n. Sc. and north. Obs.
Also 6 vnsall, -sale, -sell, 7 ouncel.
[var. of unsele a.]
1. adj. Unlucky, wretched; wicked.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xv. 40 Gais furth, I send ȝou, I ȝou tel, as lammys amang wolfis vnsel. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiv. 79 Off Sathanis senȝie syne sic ane vnsall menȝie..was nevir hard nor sene. a 1583 Montgomerie Flyting 87 (Tullib. MS.), Arpit angrie Ettercoip, and auld vnsell aip. a 1614 J. Melvill Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 49, I haiff dreamed an unsell dream. |
b. As adv. Wickedly, vilely.
| a 1583 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 622 (Tullib. MS.), He was ane fals schismatik, notorlie namit; Baith hurdome, & homeceid, vnsell he vsit. |
2. n. A vile or worthless person; a wretch.
kittie unsel (Sc.): see kitty1 1.
| 155. Lyndesay Play 2038 (Bann. MS.), Quhat sayis thow, cairle, art thow Gud Counsale? Swyth, pass the hence, vnhappy vnsale. a 1583 Montgomerie Flyting 282 There ane elf on ane ape ane vnsell begat. 1677 Nicolson in Trans. Royal Soc. Lit. IX. 321 Unsell, wretched fellow. 1691 Ray N. Co. Words (ed. 2) 150 Unsel, Nomen..opprobriosum. 1825 Jamieson s.v., In Dumfries-shire, Scoury unsell is a contemptuous designation applied to a child, by one who is in bad humour. 1894 Northumb. Gloss. 757. |
b. The Evil One. rare.
| c 1669 Garbutt One Come from Dead (1675) 27 He is right the Devils Child, the Ouncels Elfe. Ibid. 26. |