A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1400-1508, 1575-1633
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Mut(e, Mote, n.1 [ME. and e.m.E. mote, moot(e, ME. mot, imot, OE. (ᵹe)mót, ON. mót.]
1. A formal meeting or assembly at a pre-arranged time and place to discuss and transact official or legal business; espec. a meeting of a corporate body or court of judicature.Common only in the vernacular versions of the ‘Auld Laws’, most freq. as a rendering of med. L. placitum.Also Hed(e)-mute n., hevyd-mute, Hevid n. b. 14.. Acts I. 10/2.
The kyngis mutis of ilk bothyn 14.. Ib. 26/2.
That in borow mutis thar is hantyd … thuertnay 14.. Ib. 35/2.
At the fyrst mute nexte eftir the feste of Sancte Mychael the aldirman and the bailȝeis sal be chosyn thruch the consaile of the gud men of the toune [etc.] 14.. Ib. 36/2.
He sal cum to the motis at the tym of undern in wyntyr and befor mydmorne in somer 14.. Ib. 55/2, 58/2, 328/2, 372/2. a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 475.
A horse marschall thou call thé at the mute [: fute] And with that craft convoy thé throu the land
2. An action or case at law, a ‘cause’ or plea.Also const. of the subject of the plea or its legal classification or with other defining term.(1) 14.. Acts I. 22/2.
Of mutis betuix a burges and a marchand 14.. Ib. 112/2.
That na chansler, chawmerlane, iustice [etc.] … sal be … manteinaris of mutis or of querellys in the Kyngis court 14.. Ib. 330/2.
Thar mutis to folow and to deffend in the furme forsaid 14.. Regiam Majestatem c. 48.
Forsuth sic mut or other also be transferryt of the court in the Kingis court c1500 Barounis Lawis 13 b.
In thar mutis wardis & domes c1575 Balfour Pract. 39. 1597 Skene Verb. S. s.v. Mote.(2) 14.. Acts I. 30/2.
That fra xv dayis til xv dayis rynnis the mutis wythin the Kyngis burgh alswele mutis of landis as of othir thyngis 14.. Ib. 111/2.
In the mut of dett sal be nemmyt the … quantite of the dett [etc.] 14.. Ib. 356/1.
That nane of thame do batale bot of the mutis that fallis to the Kingis croune 14.. Ib. 358/2.
The mut of fresch deffors 1433 Maxwell Mem. I. 163.
Or I … be herd in the plede or mut of the forsaidis landis 14.. Regiam Majestatem c. 135.
Ciuil mutis c1575 Balfour Pract. 190.
The mute and actioun concerning lawic men pertenis to the Kingis crown 1597 Skene Verb. S. s.v. Melletum. 1609 Id. Reg. Maj. i. 6, 66 b, iii b.(b) 14.. Acts I. 38/1.
Gif ony … mysdoar … has brokyn the pece of the fayr he sal be attachyt … till the motis of that ilke fayr 14.. Ib. 39/2.
b. In sing. without article: Litigation, dispute at law.Variously const. To inbring, make or mufe mute, to take legal action, to bring an action. Day of mute, = ‘day of cause’, the day appointed for the trial of a case.(1) 14.. Acts I. 389/2.
Of essonȝe of foure sisteris of mote 14.. Regiam Majestatem c. 61.
Ner the les mut may be apone that betuix [etc.] 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 13.
The order of mute or pley in court is alreadie exponed a1633 Hope Major Pract. II. 29.(2) 1400 Maxwell Mem. I. 142.
Gif it hapnis Schyr Jon … agayn this present wyrt mute tyl inbring or move 14.. Regiam Majestatem c. 92.
That for outyn warand it was nocht wont tharof to mak mut —(See also Mufe v. 2 c).(3) 14.. Acts I. 360/2.
Bot gif thai be in strife or mute 14.. Regiam Majestatem c. 48.
That speking that is in mut in the court betwix [etc.](4) c1500 Harl. MS. 4700 270 a.
Gif ony man war adiornait to ane certane day of mute and cumis nocht
c. To bide (a) mute, ? to submit to (a) trial, not to be fugitive from it; hence, ‘to stay and face the music’. c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace viii. 1529.
Wallang fled our and durst nocht bid that mute
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"Mut n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 22 Jun 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/mute_n_1>
