A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1400-1499, 1567-1609, 1678
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Dustifute, -fit, n. Also: dustefute, dustifoot. [f. Dusty a., Fute n.] a. A travelling merchant; a pedlar; a vagabond. b. transf. Death. c. In allusive use (1567) and as a personal name or nickname (1585). 14.. Acts I. 361/1.
Extraneus mercator … non habens certam mansionem infra vicecomitatum sed vagans, qui vocatur piepowdrous, hoc est anglice, dustifute 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 212.
For Dustifit, and bob at euin, Do sa incres, Hes dreuin sum of thame to tein, For all thair mes 1570 Satirical Poems xxii. 56.
At thy last funerall, Quhen Dustifit to dance sall furth thé call 1585 Edinb. B. Rec. IV. 417.
[The council] ordanis the said persouns to caus Dustefute slay all the swyne, dogs and cats, quhaireuir he may apprehend the sam 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 134.
Burgesses, merchands, and dustifutes (cremars) quhen they passe forth of the foure portes of their burghs, in exercing … their merchandice 1678 Mackenzie Laws & C. ii. ii. § 3.
He is said to be a vagabond, who has no certain dwelling, … these our law calls Dustifoots, and such are our Ægyptians
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"Dustifute n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/dustifute>
