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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ROUTH, n.¹, adj. Also rooth, ruth; rowth. [rʌuθ; m.Sc. + ruθ]

I. n. 1. Plenty, abundance, profusion (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc., also in n.Eng. dial. Dim. form rowthie (Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 164). Now chiefly liter.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 165:
For Rowth shall cherish Love and Love shall bring Mae Men t'improve the Soil and serve the King.Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 12:
A houndless hunter, and a gunless gunner, see ay rowth of game.Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 6:
Yet routh o' honour he has got.Ayr. 1786 Burns Scotch Drink xxi.:
Rowth o' rhyme to rave at will.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xi.:
You gentle-folks . . . that hae stouth and routh, and fire and fending.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) III. 276:
Won a' to and fill yoursells, sirs; there's routh o' mair where that came frae.Lth. 1849 M. Oliphant M. Maitland xxii.:
The fees, the which promised nae great routh for my very sel, let alane a leddy.Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 226:
We a' had rowth o' clink yestreen.Dmf. 1877 R. W. Thom Poems (1883) 14:
I' the routh o' his drucken glee.Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 146:
He that has routh o' butter may butter his bread on baith sides.Sc. 1926 H. M'Diarmid Drunk Man 54:
To a' the routh o' shoots that mak' The bygrowth o' the Earth.Bnff. 1953 Banffshire Jnl. (13 Oct.):
Routh o' allurin walks.Abd. 1967 Buchan Observer (21 Feb.) 7:
Aye the rowth the yird can yiel'.Sc. 1991 William Wolfe in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 65:
A routh o greenyerie taks ower the hill
An derns the growthe an gurly wark o thorns
But still an on, goddesses are bluidan. Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 23:
Noo he's a name. A book wis Victory's wages.
Tint generation, in a rowth o pages. Lnk. 1997 Duncan Glen From Upland Man 7:
And
new-baked scones and pancakes straucht frae the girdle.
And the scones and rowth o high-tea cakes that
gars your teeth watter. m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 7:
Fegs Chris, there's nae end tae yer teemin bairns
An in the moul there's routh o treasure yet
Mair gowden lyrics there that bide their hour
Tae soar an staucher oot o soon an sicht! m.Sc. 2000 Bruce Leeming in Alec Finlay Atoms of Delight 53:
Birlin doun
the rowth of gean blume
taigles a bummer.

Hence derivs.: (1) routhie, rowthie, -y, ruthy, adj., abundant, plentiful, well-endowed, prosperous (Sc. 1808 Jam.; n.Sc., Per., Rxb. 1968). Also in n.Eng. dial. Adv. routhily, abundantly, generously; n., routhiness, plenty, abundance, fullness (Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 154); (2) routhness, (i) fullness, plenty (Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. X. 265); (ii) liberality, generosity; (3) routhrie, abundance.(1) Ayr. 1792 Burns In Simmer ii.:
Wait a wee, and cannie wale A routhie butt, a routhie ben.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 56:
Sair yer coat it does disgrace Whan yer sae routhy, To let the poor gang frae yer house.e.Lth. 1885 S. Mucklebackit Rhymes 14:
Then wae an' want, a lang fareweel, An' routhie times come early.Rxb. 1895 J. B. Webber Rambles 169:
Sae, what wi' floor an' barley meal, They made a ruthy house.Sc. 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ iii, xxxvi.:
He darged rowthily for the up-biggin an' heal-ha'din o' ithers.Kcd. a.1914 Mearns Leader (23 June 1950):
Up, Jock, wi' the tiller — soon routhy wi' siller.Rxb. 1935 Border Mag. (March) 46:
Broun was to receive “sex pund quarterlie”, or 40s annually — not “routhy” pay for the eleven miles of hilly Dunion roadway which he had to walk each way.Abd. 2004:
We'll get a rowthie crap wi e rain an noo is heat.(2) (ii) Edb. 1825 R. Chambers Traditions II. 245:
She had at least a sort of routhness in her manner of dealing, which endeared her to all her customers.(3) Sc. 1814 C. I. Johnstone Saxon and Gael. I. ix.:
Na, na, I ne'er liket to be nippit or pinging, gie me routhrie o' a'thing.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin iv.:
They've a routhrie o' weans o' thir ain.

2. A large amount or extent (Ork. 1968).Ork. 1929 Marw.:
A long routh o' bad weather. A routh o' scab.

II. adj. Plentiful, abundant, profuse, well-endowed (s.Sc. 1825 Jam.), followed by o', in. Compar. rowther. Also adv., in abundance; rowthly, profusely, thickly.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 184:
And white and bloody puddins routh, To gar the Doctor skirl, O Drouth!Lth. 1791 R. Cumming Poems 132:
For breedin' ye got routh.Sc. 1817 Blackwood's Mag. (June) 247:
A routh aumrie and a close nieve.Ayr. 1833 Galt Eben Erskine I. iv.:
He has a hand that's ruth and ready to needful folk.Rxb. 1848 R. Davidson Poems 30:
They're rowth o' gear, but scant o' gallant hearts.Dmf. 1874 R. Wanlock Moorland Rhymes 15:
And fient an icker rowthly sawn Cam' stowlins tae the sieve.Arg. 1896 N. Munro Lost Pibroch (1935) 57:
The dogs themselves fed on buck-flesh from the mountains, so rowth the times!Abd. 1930 Abd. Univ. Rev. (July) 199:
Ye heild north, Faur granite's grey, an' fish mair routh.m.Sc. 1979 Tom Scott in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 89:
And that wad be a petie, wad it no,
for he's [the badger] easy tamed, and wi his bawsont face
and eident, rootlin weys, he's entertainin
(tho treacherous and never to be trustit).
This countrie's no that rowth o carnivores
that we wadnae miss his, kin o the skunk tho he be.