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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

RONE, n.¹ Also rhone, roan, ronn; roun; rune. Dim. ronny. [ro:n]

1. The pipe or gutter at the eaves of a roof designed to carry off rain-water (wm.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sc. 1952 Builder (20 June) 943). Gen.Sc.Gsw. 1750 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1911) 325:
For mending of the rhones to the washing house.Gsw. 1793 R. Gray Poems 49:
While houses clad with slates did dreep, And fill'd ilk ronny.Lnk. 1807 Session Papers, Waddell v. Waddell (16 Feb. 1809) 51:
A roan or spout for conveying the water from the roof of the house.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xxvii.:
To put up ronns, to kepp the rain.Slg. 1841 A. Bain Education Slg. (1965) 193:
The floor threatening to break up through dampness caused by the “want of a rune”.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 155:
Hearkening to the rain plashing doon the rouns.Rxb. 1918 Jedburgh Gaz. (8 Feb.) 2:
The ball found a place of rest for a time in the roof of the Masonic Lodge. An attempt to get at it by climbing rhones was unsuccessful.Arg. 1952 N. Mitchison Lobsters on the Agenda i.:
The starlings were nesting in the rhones again.Mry. 1967 Northern Scot (15 April) 5:
20 lengths 5 in. Cast Iron Rone.m.Sc. 1986 Mary Gladstone in Joy Hendry Chapman 46 70:
... she painted the shed and bought more hens, and even had the rones mended below the roof of the house.

Combs.: (1) roneless, not provided with a roof-gutter; (2) rone-pipe, = 1. Gen.Sc.(1) Fif. 1899 J. Colville Vernacular 47:
To shun the drip from the roneless eaves.(2) Kcb. 1904 Crockett Strong Mac xlii.:
Standing wi' his mooth open like a roan pipe in a drought.Sc. 1926 A. Muir Blue Bonnet ix.:
With a leap he caught the rone-pipe of the low workshop roof.Fif. 1931 Glasgow Herald (8 Aug.):
Like a clutter o' doos on a rone-pipe.Ork. 1996 Orcadian 11 Jan 19:
These roan pipes never stay attached; as soon as an avalanche of wet snow starts to slide down the roof, when an ice-lowsing begins, it carries the spoots along with it. Sc. 1999 Herald 9 Oct 11:
Even mundane items like rone-pipes, railings, bandstands, and toilets were made to exude a certain amount of beauty, as well as being functional. Sc. 2003 Edinburgh Evening News 10 May :
... after offering to clean rhone pipes door-to-door in her neighbourhood for about £10. ...
She gave him a cup of tea in her garden and, as they chatted, he claimed her rhones were leaking. Sc. 2003 Herald 30 Aug 3:
The sums for Manchester United v Rangers or Arsenal v Celtic would be huge. Would you pay a tenner of a Saturday morning to watch that or would you attend to that rogue rone pipe?

2. Mining: a wooden channel for conveying water (Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 55); the pipe of a boat's pump.Ork. 1747 P. Ork. A.S. XII. 48:
The pump roan of a smal boat.

3. A spout or funnel for carrying air, e.g. into the middle of a corn-stack (Rnf. a.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) R.46).wm.Sc. 1773 Sc. Farmer I. 570:
A rhone of wood could be made for the purpose, communicating with the center.