Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TREB, n. Also †treve. An earthen mound or dyke, many examples of which are found in Ork., and are thought to date back to the Pictish period as some sort of boundary wall or settlement enclosure (Ork. 1825 Jam., 1866 Edm. Gl., 1929 Marw.). See H. Marwick in P.Ork. A.S. I. 22–3). Also in comb. treb-dyke and in place-names in the northern isles of Ork. Cf. also Gerbick, Gersty.Ork. 1952 H. Marwick Farm-Names 4:
In Sanday there are many remains of those old dykes, but there the name applied to each is The Treb, and they are so common the ‘treb-dyke' has become a generic term for them. . . . In a 1738 perambulation of the farm of Haghquoy it was stated . . . “The Treve which is a part of said balk of North Strenzie.”