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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SHAIF, n. Also shafe (Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 28), shaef (Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 58; Ork. 1951 R. Rendall Ork. Variants 16), shef(f) (Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 120, 1921 Swatches o' Hamespun 16); shave (Inv. 1924 I. F. Grant Old Highl. Farm 161; Ags. 1970), shaev (Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 41), sheave (Kcd. 1844 W. Jamie Muse of Mearns 92). Pl. shaifs (Abd. 1920 G. P. Dunbar Peat Reek 36); sheafs (Ayr. 1862 J. Baxter The Kirn 44). See F, 4.; sha(i)ves (Bte. 1721 Session Bk. Rothesay (15 Nov.); Ags. 1769 Arbirlot Session Rec. MS. Accts. (4 Dec.); Sh. 1928 Manson's Almanac 187; Abd. 1933 J. H. Smythe Blethers 10), shaeves (Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains and Hilly 164).

Sc. forms of Eng. sheaf. Also fig. wm.Sc. 1988 Scotsman 3 Sept 4:
I was telling some teenagers about how it used to be, ... and the stacks going up and being thatched, and the mice moving in, and barn owl and weasel hunting them, and how the threshing mills travelled around and how the terriers stood by to chop any rat hiding in the base of shafes.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 76:
A peetie tes thare's nane o thaim tak tent
o whit the haill shaif o his screivins meant,

Sc. usages:

In combs. and phrs.: 1. a bun' shafe, fig., one engaged to be married (Abd. 1923 Swatches o' Hamespun 86). Cf. Seck, n.; 2. shafe-laft, the loft in a barn in which the sheaves are stacked before being put through the threshing-mill (Ork., n.Sc., Kcb. 1970); 3. shafe lint, flax made up in bundles; 4. sheave-wisp, a wisp of straw put in to line a boot for warmth, prob. a corrupted form of shee-wisp s.v. Shae, n., 1. Combs. (12); 5. to pit on the sheaf, to add the finishing touch, to crown the occasion. Cf. Heid, n., 4. (16); 6. to take the sheaf frae the mare, to put off or postpone a journey (Sc. 1787 J. Elphinston Propriety II. 123). [ʃef]2. Abd. 1961 Abd. Press & Jnl. (5 Aug.):
We went at it again until the shafe-laft was empty, and the strae-en' biggit up almost to the couples.3. Ayr. 1783 Burns Chronicle (1935) 83:
Fourteen bundles of shafe lint . . . Wheat straw in thack shaves.4. ne.Sc. c.1840 Knip Knap in Child Ballads (1956) V. 213:
She's taen the sheave-wisps out o her sheen.5. Sc. 1715 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 72:
A Kebbuck syn that 'maist cou'd creep Its lane pat on the Sheaf, In Stous that Day.6. Sc. 1824 Cornhill Mag. (Sept. 1932) 271:
I was carried by a pony of Charles' who by the way was to ha' gane wi' us, but he “Tuick the Sheaf frae the mare” again, somehow, and it was just as well, for he coudna hae dune as we did.