Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

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

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

Roun-trie, Rowan-tree, n. Also: rowne-, rouan-; raun-, rauen- and -tre; Rantre. [Roun n.² and trie.] The mountain ash; a branch or twig of this.Freq. used as a charm by practitioners of both white and black magic.Also as a place name element.(1) 1597 James VI Dæmonol. (S.T.S.) 8/13.
Charmes … for healing of forspoken goodes, for preseruing them from euill eyes, by knitting roun-trees, or [etc.] … to the haire or tailes of the goodes 1607 Crim. Trials II 536.
Nyne pickillis of salt and nyne peces of rowne-trie 1612 Ritchie Ch. S. Baldred 110.
The said Crystin gave her ane piece of rou'n tre … and bad hir keep it continuallie in hir pow 1618 Trial Isobel Inch 9.
Quhat was hir meaning to haive a pickill woll and piece of rowan tree and sundrie culours of threid in her purs 1630 Dundonald Par. Rec. 306.
Margaret M^cTeir … ordained for charmeing one of her owne kye and sewing rountrie in her taile to mak her repentance 1663 Dalyell Darker Superst. 139.
Raven tree 1682 Urie Baron Ct. 96.
The laird and balȝie ordained the heall tennentis … to set and plant … rountrie 1685 Sinclair Satan's Inv. World 127.
It is likewise a sort of charm, which many witches have prescrived namely to cut the rouan-tree between the two beltane days 16.. Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. III 4.
Some bourtrees, birks, rauntrees do grow, but when they become so big as to be usefull for boats, the inhabitants make pins of them(2) 1584 Acts III 335/1.
William Carmichaell of Rowntriecorce Ib. 336/1.
Rountrecors