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.

TAE, n.² Occas. in pl. taes, teaze. A Section of a deep-sea fishing line of varying length, having a specified number of hooks, gen. 100 or 120, attached (Fif. 1972).Fif. 1844 J. Jack St Monance 166:
I hae lost a bow-tow and twa teaze o' line this mornin'.Fif. 1863 St Andrews Gazette (27 June):
The boats are manned with a crew of eight fishermen, each of whom is provided with lines to the amount of twelve ties, or taes, in local parlance — a tie being 144 yards in length, and having 120 hooks attached to it. . . . A great line consists of nine ties, of the same length as the other.Sc. 1865 J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea 305:
The 50 fathom line with 100 hooks, is in Scotland termed a “taes.”