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.
Rig-bane, n. Also: ryg- and -bayne, -bone. [Rig n. and Bane n.1 Cf. ME and e.m.E. rygge bone (14th c.), rydge bone (1547), OE hrycgbán.] The back-bone. —c1475 Wall. ii 44.
His ryg bayne he all in sondyr draif Ib. (1570) xi 123.
This gude chiftane … On the rig [MS wan] bane in greit ire can him ta c1500-c1512 Dunb. Flyt. 180.
Thy rigbane rattillis and thy ribbis 1513 Doug. x vii 53.
At the ilk part Quhar beyn the cupplyng of the ryg bone 1608 Reg. Privy C. VIII 178.
[They gave him a stroke on his back wherewith they] clave his rig bone
