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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

RIT, v., n. Also ritt; ret; and rut (see etym. note). Also freq. form rittle (Ork. 1929 Marw.).

I. v. 1. To scratch, score or groove (Lth., s.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., Cai., Edb. 1968). Also in n.Eng. dial. Deriv. ritty, apt to score or scratch.Lth. 1822 Farmer's Mag. (Feb.) 87:
The weight o' the pleugh and the plowman thegither, gard the heel make a deep rit in the till.Lth., s.Sc., 1825 Jam.:
Dinna rit the table wi' that nail.Peb. 1838 W. Welsh Poems 19:
Forgie me neighbours wham I've sticket, Or sair yer sides hae scor'd an' rittet.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A ritty skeelie.

2. To mark with a shallow trench or furrow as a guide in ploughing, draining, peat-cutting, etc. (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Uls. 1953 Traynor; I.Sc., Cai., Gall. 1968). Also in Eng. dial. Combs. ritting-knife, an implement for slitting the top turf before peat-cutting (Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1968); rittin-spade, rutting-, a double-handled spade used for making the first cuts in draining (Cai., w., sm. and s.Sc. 1968); deriv. rutter, id. (Watson), a marker on a drill-plough, which cuts the line of the next drill (Arg., Kcb. 1968), hence rutter-mark, the mark or cut made by this (Id.). Vbl.n. ruttin, the trench thus made (Arg.¹ 1947).Sc. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Pl. xxix.:
The work is to proceed in this manner, always rutting the through band rows of turf in both ends.Sc. 1808 Farmer's Mag. (June) 150:
A raising spade, 18 or 20 inches wide, by 18 inches deep, also in the form of a triangle, but rather sharper at the point than the rutting spade.Lth., Slk. 1825 Jam.:
You had better rit the hail length of the ditch before ye begin. An ye will rit the fale, I'll tak them up.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 374, 503:
With the common spade then cut, or, as it is technically termed, rut the line of hedge-bed behind the cord. . . . The upper rough turf is rutted in a perpendicular direction.Rxb. 1913 J. Byers Hamely Musings 37:
And fain would I take your advice And throw aside the rutter.Sc. 1931 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 421:
She came back, and with the great rutting spade lifted out a sod and replaced it lightly, leaving the rutter as a mark.m.Sc. 1966 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 255:
The rutter is an outsize sort of spade used for cleaning out ditches.

3. (1) To slit open, to tear (Cai.⁹ 1939).Sh. 1892 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 104:
Just as he rits up da fish, oot flees a kittywake.Sh. 1900 Shetland News (27 Oct.):
Sibbie begun ta rit up da muckle invalop wi' a hair preen.

(2) Specif. To make a slit or narrow incision, in ear-marking a sheep (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; Sh., Slk. 1968). Also in n.Eng. dial.Ork. 1827 Old-Lore Misc. I. v. 164:
Margt. Gunny, Nurquoy, rit in both lugs.Kcb. 1880 J. H. Maxwell Sheep-Marks 24:
Back halved on near ear; Ritted on far.

4. To thrust (a sword or dagger) through someone; to stab and rip (Cai.⁹ 1939; Sh. 1968); of cattle: to gore.Sc. 1808 Young Johnstone in Child Ballads (1886) II. 295:
And he ritted it through his dear ladie, And wounded her sae sair.Sh. 1951 Sh. Folk Book II. 2:
I herd de kye gulbrølin juist as if dey wir rittin' een anidder.

II. n. 1. A scratch, score, or groove (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 423; Lth., s.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1904 E.D.D.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., Cai., Per., Kcb. 1968); a scratch on wood to guide the saw. Also fig.Clc. 1709 Masterton Papers (S.H.S.) 483:
John Gibson in Alloa dyd 20 Sepr. of a rit in his finger and infected the whole arm.Sc. 1822 Scott Pirate xv.:
Ye scart the land with a bit thing ye ca' a pleugh — ye might as weel give it a ritt with the teeth of a redding-kame.Ayr. 1879 J. White Jottings 227:
Ye're noo, my lad, fair i' the rit; Keep oot o' skaith and stick to wit.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (23 April):
He can see the “rit or scord” we are told that night produced.

2. The shallow preliminary guiding furrow made by a ploughman in marking off his ridge (Cai. 1968). Also in comb. rit-fure, id. (Cai. 1904 E.D.D., Cai. 1968); a shallow trench or furrow designed to provide surface drainage in a ploughed field by following the natural slopes (Ib.); a cut made through turf as a demarcation line for future work (Cai. 1968).Lnl. 1767 Session Papers, Provost of Linlithgow v. Elphinston (25 Sept.) 17:
The water-run becoming steeper here, the ritt made with this water becomes strong.Sc. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. Pl. xxix.:
A long rut . . . is made with the spade along each side, . . . so as to form the cut of the turf slanting outward.Cai. 1928:
He pat up his rits straicht.

3. A sheep-mark, being a slit or narrow incision in the ear, occas. in the nostrils (Sh. 1813 Old-Lore Misc. IV. i. 4, 1914 Angus Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Sh., sm.Sc. 1968, rit, rut).Sh. 1900 Shetland News (8 Dec.):
On the right ear two rits, and a bit out before.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. 110:
In addition to these ear marks “rits” were often made in the edge of the nostrils.Sh. 1956 Shetland Times (9 Nov.):
A rit before and behind left ear.