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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.

ROSET, n., adj., v. Also rozad (Cai. 1904 E.D.D.), rozet, rozit; rosset, rossit, rosit; rosert, ¶reset (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.). [′rozət]

I. n. 1. Resin, esp. the resinous composition rubbed on the bow of a fiddle or on a shoemaker's thread, rosin (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc. Also attrib. Also in Uls. and n.Eng. dial.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 187:
The canty cobler quats his sta', His Rozet an' his Lingans.Ayr. 1786 Burns To a Louse v.:
O for some rank, mercurial rozet.Per. 1802 S. Kerr Poems 42:
Put a' your strings in unison, And rub your bow we roset weel.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch vii.:
I was visibly convinced of the smell of burnt roset.Bnff. 1856 J. Collie Poems 72:
Ane o' them was a souter gude, As e'er put rozet on a thread.Hdg. 1886 J. P. Reid Facts & Fancies 125:
They uncap their lyart pows, An' rub some rozit on their bows.Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 106:
The roset pat is hotterin' on the fire.wm.Sc. 1936 C. W. Thomson School Humour 16:
Shoemaker's rozet worked into the palm was supposed to mitigate the severity of “loofies” from the strap.Abd. 1958 Abd. Press & Jnl. (10 Oct.):
It could scarcely be said that we ate the roset off the larch trees, but we chewed it.Ags. 1960 Forfar Dispatch (25 Aug.):
A kind o roset which exudes fae trees.m.Sc. 1987 William Montgomerie in Joy Hendry Chapman 46 9:
Oh Saint Crispin!
what are we in thy sicht
but a set o easie-osie ulie-mooed bodies!
leather tae yark an leather tae bark
leather in o the hole an leather oot o the hole
inseam awls an ootseam awls
heel awls an peggin awls
bags o birse balls o roset
an batter i the neuk o the stool
Amen! Sth. 1996 Gordon Stewart in Timothy Neat The Summer Walkers: Travelling People and Pearl-Fishers in the Highlands of Scotland 95:
The tools we had were the stake, a mallet, a compass, the ratch-stick - which was used instead of a rule - the hammer, a rising hammer, and the switcher, a piece of wood to beat the metal on, that was. And you needed solder sticks, a soldering bolt, and roset which is like resin, used with the solder. Abd. 2000 Sheena Blackhall The Singing Bird 16:
Pine branches raxx their rosit eaves,
Wechty wi cones an preen-prick leaves.

Comb. roset-en(d), the thread, orig. the end only, treated with resin, used for sewing leather. Gen.Sc. Also attrib. See En, n., 3.Dmf. 1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun 19:
Sae. here and there, a rozit-end Held on their locks!Ayr. 1834 Carrick Anthol. (Finlayson 1925) 201:
Davidson, a souter bright, As e'er drew roset-en' wi' might.Ags. 1867 E. Johnston Poems 123:
Her manie he swore by his rosit-end-thread He wad ne'er sew a shae sic a limmer to feed.Mry. 1897 J. MacKinnon Braefoot Sk. 54:
“Rosit en's” to “wup” my fishing-wand.Cai. 1904 E.D.D.:
Roset-end, the part next the bristle which is cut off and reserved for small jobs.Bnff. 1911 Banffshire Jnl. (26 Dec.) 7:
As gluey as a rosit-en'.

2. Deriv. rosety, ros(s)etty, ros(s)ity, rozetty, rozity, of the nature of resin, full of or covered with resin (Sc. 1880 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Gen.Sc.Per. 1831 Perthshire Advert. (14 April):
One sturdy son of Crispin declares no man shall ever call him poor again, for he had his Lordship's saft hand in his “rozetty fist”.Fif. 1894 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxvi.:
The tooth cud be easily pu'd oot by means o' a rosety string kinched roon' the root o't.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 19:
Ging ye awa' oot an' fetch the rosetty cloggie tae the hack-stock.Abd. 2000 Sheena Blackhall The Singing Bird 35:
Nae aix rings shairp on the bark o a splittin log,
Nae lauchin bairns teet oot frae a rosity pine,
Nae fusslin faither dells in the girse-choked yaird -
The human tenantry flitted awa langsyne.

Combs.: (1) rosetty-dock, a nickname for a Shoemaker (Abd.⁴ 1928). See Dock, n.¹; (2) rosetty-en(d), (i) a shoemaker's thread (ne. and m.Sc. 1968). See also roset-en(d) above; (ii) a nickname for a shoemaker (Abd. 1912 G. Greig Mains's Wooin 9; Kcb. 1968); (3) rosetty-fingered, liable to steal, light-fingered (Per. 1968). Cf. tarry-fingered s.v. Tarry; (4) rosetty-fingers, one having thieving propensities (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); (5) rosetty ruits, fir-roots used as fuel (Mry. 1930; Ags., Per. 1968); (6) rosetty sticks, fire-lighters (Cld. 1880 Jam.).(2) Fif. 1895 G. Setoun Sunshine and Haar 299:
It's no a thread, it's a rosety end.Lnk. 1948 J. G. Johnston Come fish with me 58:
The correct way to wax silk is that used through the ages by the cobblers when waxing their “rossity ends”.Mry. 1963 Abd. Press and Jnl. (5 March):
As a loon he was a regular scrounger of “rossity en's” from the village “souter”.(5) Ags. 1889 Barrie W. in Thrums xvi.:
The old man, of lungs that shook Thrums by night, who went from door to door selling firewood, had a way of shoving doors rudely open and crying — “Ony rozetty roots?”.

II. adj. Resinous (Sh., Cai., Abd., Per. 1968).ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 16:
As fiercely as a rozet log On winter hearth did flare.

III. v. To rub with resin, esp. the bow of a fiddle. Gen.Sc.Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 34:
Fidlers, your pins in temper fix, And roset weel your fiddle-sticks.Slk. 1827 Hogg Tales (1874) 315:
Such a forenoon of cutting and sewing, and puffing, and roseting.Mry. 1865 W. Tester Poems 161:
Kick ower yer wheel, an' roset weel Yer fiddle bow — gey slack again.Abd. 1922 G. P. Dunbar Doric 37:
The fiddlers twined the fiddle-pins, an' rositit the bows.Bnff. 1957 Banffshire Jnl. (8 Oct.):
The bowes wid be rossitet an' they were ready at last.