A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1556, 1608-1660
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(Soupill,) Soupell, n. Also: sowpill, souple, supple. [Late ME swepyl, swipylle (a1450). Also in the later Sc. and north. Eng. dials.] The part of a flail that strikes the grain in threshing. Also, a piece of wood intended for this purpose. Also in fig. context. — 1556 Haddington B. Rec. (Robb) 29 Oct.
That na wandis, sowpills, … & siklyk geir, pay na thing, bot alanerly custume — 1637 E. Loth. Antiq. Soc. II 140.
Unlawes Patrik Nicolsone in Eistmanis in 40 s. for cutting and transporting of tua soupellis furth of the laird's wode 1660 Nicolson Diurnals 25 July.
He had cuttit 2 supples of oak and did goe to the place where he had hyd one and brought it out —fig. 1608 A. Melvill in Calderwood VI 744.
In the which demonstratiouns, the midd couple will never hold fast the souple to the handstaffe, notwithstanding the hoodstaill of wrested Scripture, and threedbare fathers feeble in their loyneis
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"Soupill n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/soupill_n>
