▪ I. merle, n.
(mɜːl)
Also 6 mirle, meryll, 7–8 mearl(e.
[a. F. merle masc. (OF. also fem.):—L. merulus, merula blackbird or ousel (also, the sea-carp). Cf. Pr., Sp. merla, Pg. merlo, melro, It. merla, merlo; also (from Fr.) MDu., MLG., early mod.G. merle, Du. meerle.]
1. The blackbird, Turdus merula. arch.
Perhaps never in popular use, but constantly occurring in Scottish poetry from the 15th c. Drayton adopted from some Scottish poet the traditional association of ‘mavis and merle’, which he frequently repeats, and which in the 19th c. often appears in English and American poetry from imitation of Scott or Burns. As used by Caxton and perh. by Philemon Holland, the word is an independent adoption from French.
For quots. 1450, 1549, 1604, 1725, 1810, see mavis.
| 1483 Caxton Gold Leg. 146 b/2 A blacke byrde that is called a merle came on atyme to saynt benet. c 1524 Thomas of Erceld. (Lansd. MS.) 29, I harde the Meryll and the Iay. 1593 Drayton Eclogues i. 11 The jocund Mirle perch'd on the highest spray. 1612 ― Poly-olb. xiii. 62 Upon his dulcet pype the Merle doth only play. 1601 Holland Pliny ii. 382 The Thrush or Mauis..is soueraigne for the dysenterie: so is the Merle or black-bird. 1617 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems xxi. 100 Heir Mearle and Mavis sing melodious layes. 1684 E. Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. i. (ed. 15) 6 What abundance of..merles, fieldfares, ousles. 1736 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. ii, Merula,..a mearle, a blackbird. 1791 Burns Lam. Mary ii, The merle, in his noontide bow'r, Makes woodland echoes ring. 1863 Longfellow Wayside Inn i. Birds of Killingw. 2 It was the season, when through all the land The merle and mavis..building sing Those lovely lyrics. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 64 My old heart Goes pit-a-pat to hear it; like the merle That sees a gled o'erhead. |
¶ 2. Used to render L. merula, the sea-carp.
| 1745 tr. Columella's Husb. viii. xvi, A rocky sea nourishes fishes of its own name,..as the merle, the sea-thrush, and the sea-bream. |
¶ 3. Used for: The merlin, Falco æsalon.
| 1838 Longfellow Drift-Wood Prose Wks. 1886 I. 382 He can no longer fly his hawks and merles in the open country. |
▪ II. merle, a.
(mɜːl)
[f. dial. mirlet, mirly speckled.]
Of a dog, especially a collie: having blue-grey fur speckled or streaked with black. Also as n., a dog coloured in this way. Cf. marled ppl. a.2, mirled ppl. a.
| 1905 C. H. Wheeler in J. Watson Dog Bk. v. 351 The remainder of the litter [of collies] were blue merles. 1936 A. W. Meyer Dogs 262 Merle—Bluish-gray with some black, as seen in certain collies. 1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Brit. xviii. 193 The eyes [of collies] are medium in size, almond in shape, and coloured brown except in merle dogs when they are ‘wall’ (a blue-and-white or china shade). Ibid. 463 Merle.—The term applied to a blue-grey mixture flecked or streaked with black, uncommon except in working sheepdogs. 1968 J. F. Gordon Beagle Guide 240 Merle, bluish-grey color marbled with black, seen in working sheepdogs. 1971 F. Hamilton World Encycl. Dogs 67 (caption) Blue merles provide an extra challenge for Collie breeders, because of the difficulty of producing correct markings and a good color. Silva Gale from Shiel was not only a lovely merle but certainly lost no points in head. |
▪ III. merle
obs. f. marl; var. medle Obs., medlar.