Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Raw, Rau, adj. Also: rawe. [ME (c1315) and e.m.E. raw(e, rau, north. ME also ra(e (c1400), early ME ravȝ (c1290), OE hréaw, OTeut. *hrawa-z, Fris. rä, rê, OHG râu, rô, MDu. raeu, rou, ro, Du. rauw, ON hrá-r.]

1. Of foodstuffs: Uncooked. c1420 Wynt. i 686.
Folk thare oysis tyll et All rawe [W. raw] fysch that thai ma get Ib. iii 831.
Bot he gert all rawe be lewyde The twa handys and the hewide c1500 Makc. MS xiv 2.
Eit na raw meit 1513 Doug. iii ix 83.
Raw lumpys of flesch and blude blandyt with wyne 15.. King Berdok 38.
Thay … proppit gunis with bulettis of raw daich 1549 Compl. 59/2.
Rau 1596 Elgin Rec. II 45.
Scho … pat the samyn in a pane mixit thair with aquavytie, raw hony and seithet thame altogidder 1596 Dalr. I 100/8.
Thay saw the Scottis eit rawe salmonte, new drawen out of the flude, but athir bred or salte a1605 Montg. Sonn. xxv 4.
Rau rid herring reistit in the reik 1607 Crim. Trials II 524.proverb. a1598 Ferg. Prov. MS No. 706.
He hes eaten raw kaes he is ay clavering

b. Of food that has been consumed: Un-, or ill-, digested. 1456 Hay II 126/8.
Quhen it [sc. the stomach] ressavis mare na it was wont to, that remaynis in the stomak undegest and rawe

c. Of grain: In a natural, undried state.Appar. only Sc. 1520–1 Dundee B. Ct. I p. 10b (2 Jan.).
Or that the said quhit worth raw that the skath cum on the said Jhon 1561–2 Inverness Rec. I 75.
Tha hald the first kyll full of malt that beys weyll dreyit and kepis it with the nixt that beys raw and mixts tham togydder 1631 Monteith Stewartry Ct. 9 March.
[They] alledgit that the corne of the said schilling was raw and not weill dryit sua that it wald not grind

2. a. Of yarn, textile materials (esp. silk), etc.: Unworked, unprocessed.Also transf. 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. 426.
Raw silk brechamis ouir thair halsis hingis 1581 Acts III 240/2.
That the raw and vnwrocht silkis to be brocht hame be him salbe custome frie 1581 Edinb. Test. IX 106b.
Ane pund of raw silk price xl s. a1605 Montg. Flyt. 430 (T).
Be vertew of thir wordis & of this raw ȝarne And thryse thre and threttie knottis on ane blew threed 1586 Treas. Acc. MS 59b.
Raw silk to naill doun the covering and fas the same harnessing 1688 Reg. Privy C. 3 Ser. XIII 247.
You did come to the same hous with a peice rau pledden, and did offer it in pand for some moneytransf. 15.. Lichtoun Dreme 68 (M).
He had ane clak … Off ganand grayth of gud raw [B. gray] girdill feit

b. Of cloth: Unfulled. 1514 Wigtown B. Ct. fol. 35a.
Ane raw veb in Downe Thomsoun haund 1517 Selkirk B. Ct. (ed.) 40.
He rasavit a certane of quhit rawclath 1518 Ib. 48.
xi ellis of raw clath 1522 Dundee B. Ct. I fol. 112 (21 Nov.).
A stik of quhit of xxxvij ellis of raw clath alleggit gevyn hym to drif 1525 Wigtown B. Ct. fol. 180b.
Rav 1561 Reg. Privy C. I 175. 1569 Canongate Ct. Bk. 106.
Raw quhyte 1585 Perth B. Ct. 30 July.
Sex elnis of raw quhite claith left … to the said Marioun 1586 St. A. Test. II 62.
Fyve elnis of bred blew claith, … fourtene elnis raw blew 1586 Edinb. Test. XV 84.
Four elnes of grene kendelle in raw clayth, price of the elne x s. 1623 Ib. LII 119.
Aucht pair of walkit blankettis, … sex pair of raw blankettis 1625 Justiciary Cases I 31.
This raw claith can nocht be put in wark … till first it be wett and how sone it is wett it draweth so far in that tuentie fyve elnes of raw unwett claithe will nocht equill tuentie elnes of watt claithe 1684 Greyfriars Interments 719.
11 els of raw cloth

3. Of persons: Immature, lacking in experience, unsophisticated.Also, transf., applied to a person's thoughts. c1590 Fowler I 26/28.
A chyldish boy and youngling raw 1675 Accompt of a Dispute Betwixt the Students of Divinity and Quakers at Aberdene 133.
Many of them, although most conceity, yet are very rawtransf. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 308.
Christ hath another sea-compass which He saileth by, than my short and raw thoughts

b. Used by Fowler to render It. crudo raw, harsh, etc. Cf. Rawmowit adj. — c1590 Fowler I 101/117.
And looke how raw and how seueir he bloodye was and fearse Ib. 106/57.
A man both ferse and raw