A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1688
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(Rummilling,) Rumlin(g, vbl. n. Also: rumil-, rummyll-, rumbl(e)-, rombl- and -yng; rwmleng, -eynn. [ME and e.m.E. rumblynge, romblyng (Chaucer), rumbelynge (c1471), rumbling (1584); Rum(m)ill v.]
1. The action or fact of rumbling, in sense 1 of Rum(m)ill v.; a rumbling noise.(1) c1500 Rowll Cursing 264 (M).
That it beis harde in middill erde Thair rumling and thair grit rerde 1513 Doug. viii vii 115.
Ane coif … That makis rumlyng [Ruddim. rumbling] as quha dyd thunder heir 1533 Bell. Livy I 69/7.
Than was herd the huge rummylling and sound of brokin housis & wallis in all partis thareof a1561 Norvell Meroure 5.
The one [cloud] betokneth grace, the other pane, With fyreflaughtis, rumbling and sterilitie 1590 Burel Pilgr. i 103.
The storme … with rumlings oragius 1596–7 Misc. Spald. C. I 95.
Thair was sic ane fearfull rwmleynn in thi hows that William … belewit the hows … suld hef fallin and smorit him 1596–7 Ib. 100.
That ewill spreit vaniest away withe ane rwmleng(2) 1540 Lynd. Sat. 4346 (B).
Scho hes sic rumling in hir wame(3) 1581-1623 James VI Poems I 241/366.
Of gunnis the rumling 1596 Dalr. II 295/17.
This force shortlie laid to, and with this sound, rumiling [pr. rinniling] and rattiling, finalie with the gret gunis, al daschet, dung and shaikne
2. Tumult, commotion, disturbance. Cf. Rum(m)ill v. 2. 1570-3 Bann. Trans. 489.
He heiris ane greit noys … , whidder it was of speiche, of grayning or rumbling, I can not tell 1606 S. Leith Rec. 4/1.
Alexander Hendersone … cuming throche the kirke ȝairde … hard ane rumlin in the kirke c1610 Melville Mem. 400.
Ther reilling, ther rombling with halbertis, the clakking of ther colueringis and pistolles [etc.] 1669 Corshill Baron Ct. 86.
He heard ane rumbleing and dinn betwixt them, but for stroakes he saw none 1685 Sinclair Satan's Inv. World 192.
He … was carried to the grave and covered with earth. Notwithstanding all this, he made such a rumbling and tumbling in it that the very earth was raised 1688 Reg. Privy C. 3 Ser. XIII 326.
He hard ane great rumbling at his door, and immediatlie thereafter the door being broken to peices [etc.]
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"Rummilling vbl. n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rummilling_vbl_n>
