A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1456-1687
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Rew, n.2 Also: reu; rue, rhue. [ME and e.m.E. ruwe (Wyclif), rewe (a1400), rue (c1400), F. rue, earlier rude (12th c. and late 11th c. in Larousse), L. rūta. Cf. OE rúde.] Rue, the evergreen shrub. In the Dunb. quot. with punning allusion to Rew,n.3 b. As a commodity, chiefly or only for medicinal use; also, oile (of) rew. Also attrib.(1) c1550 Rolland Court of Venus i 172.
Ane bus of rew he bair a1568 Bannatyne MS 266b/20.
And quhen the taid eitis nothing bot the rew Scho quhome I luve sall steidfast be & trew 1570 Satirical Poems xv 25.
Cum, nettillis, thornie breiris, & rew, With all foull filthie weid a1606 Dioscoridis Annot. 155.
Ruta, Anglice rew, Scotiæ concessa a1663 Pappity Stampoy 46.
Rhue and time grows both in ane garden(2) c1500-c1512 Dunb. (O.U.P.) 25/10.
In to ȝour garthe … ȝit leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew(3) 1687 Lauder Notices Affairs II 814.
As Knights of St. Androis, and the Thristle and Rueb. 1456 Hay II 142/13.
A spice callit reu barbaris, the quhilk is the propre hele of the liver 1568 Skeyne Descr. Pest 28.
With … oile of rew 1637 Edinburgh Testaments LVIII 243.
Certane rew and cuit towbacco — 1590 Edinburgh Testaments XXI 311b.
Tua pund … oyll rew at x s. the pundattrib. a1595 Misc. Spald. C. II xxx.
Tak rue levis and bray thame [in] wynager
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"Rew n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rew_n_2>
