A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1506, 1560-1575, 1637
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0]
Ruf(e)-tre, Ruif-tre, n. Also: roof- and -tree, -trie. [Late ME and e.m.E. roof (or ruff) tree (Prompt. Parv.), roffetre (c1475); Ruf(e n.1] A horizontal pole running along and supporting the top ridge of a roof, tent, etc.; the main beam of a roof. Also fig. 1506 Treasurer's Accounts III 188.
For mending of the ruf tree of the said pailȝoun, ij s. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages 448.
The ruif tre of all this haill maissoun c1575 Balfour Pract. 588.
Gif thair be ony baik-house … that has not betwix the rufe-trie of the house and the fornax auchtene fute of heicht [etc.] — c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace (1570) vii 449.
Quhen brandis fell of rufe treis thame amang c1475 Ib. v 209.
Ane greit rufe tre he had into his handfig. c1500 Makculloch MS v 34.
Quhen thow art ded & laid in layme [ed. bayme] And thi ribbis ar thi ruf tre a1568 Bannatyne MS 77a/49.
All joy in erd thow sall nocht compt ane peis Quhen that the ruiftre lyis vpoun thy neis — 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 525.
The roof-tree of the fair temple of my Lord Jesus is fallen
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Ruf-tre n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 21 Jun 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rufe_tre>
