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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

VISE, n. Also vize, veize, viese, vees, veez(e). Mining: the line of fracture of a fault or hitch in a coal-seam, usu. marked by a deposit of earth, clay and mineral (Fif. 1837 Trans. Highl. Soc. 345, veeze; Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 69). [viz, vɑez]m.Lth. 1767 Session Papers, Earl of Abercorn, v. Hope Depositions 3:
The water from the level may penetrate thro' the vises of the dike.Sc. 1776 Session Papers, Sir A. Fergusson v. Earl of Cassilis (17 Oct.) 53:
By vize, the deponent understands an inflammable substance, of the nature of coal, being truly coal, earth, and other metals, mined in a broken state, which lies at the disjointing of the metals.w.Lth. 1845–7 Trans. Highl. Soc. 233:
This arises from the edges of the fracture in small slips being somewhat open, and partly filled with black coaly and sometimes argillaceous substances, which by the miners is termed the vise, and which usually forms the guide or trace by which to discover whether the coal has been thrown up or down.Sc. 1937 Econ. Geol. Cent. Coalfield I. 96:
The sill passes along the vees of a pre-existent fault from one horizon to another.