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: 1400-1610, 1672-1690
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Rumpill, -le, n.1 Also: rompil, -le; ruimpill. [Late ME and e.m.E. rumpe (Prompt. Parv.), rompe (1530), prob. of Scand. origin, and -ill. Also in 18th c. north. Eng. dial.]
1. A tail. a. Of an animal. b. Of a fish. c. Of a satyr, devil, etc. d. Applied to persons having, or supposed to have, tails.a. 14.. Acts I 27/2.
And … his punde … dee for hungyr the burges … gif it be horse or othir beste … sall nocht fla it bot hald it and tak of it the hede and the rompil(b) 1602 Kirkcudbr. B. Rec. I 430.
Gif ony fleschour … cut the ruimpill fra ony mairt quhilk is to be sauld the samin to be escheit(c) 1672 Melrose Reg. Rec. II 292.
Ane … black staige … with tua neive longe of haire in the taill under the rumpleb. a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 125.
He that dang Sanct Augustyne with ane rumple [of a skate] Thy fowll front had 1531 Bell. Boece II 98.
Otheris alliegis thay dang him [sc. Augustine] with skait rumpillisc. c1500 Rowll Cursing 119 (M).
Vtheris deuilis … sum with rumpillis lyk ane skayit c1500 Ib. 211.
Thir forsaid dewillis … haue lang talis on thair heilis And rumpillis hingand on thair talis c1590 J. Stewart 226 §107.
Lecherie … Vith ane lang rumple bucklit till hir taill 1591 Criminal Trials I ii 246.
The Dewill … with ane lang rumpill; cled in ane blak tatie goune(b) c1610 Melville Mem. 172.
Sa schone as they saw the sattires waging ther tailes or romplesd. ?a1501 Aberd. Reg. Sasines I 774 marg.
Inglis Rumpill a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 351.
Thy fore fader … broght Inglise rumplis in
e. The hind-quarters of an animal. Also attrib. in rumpill pece, a piece of rump steak. 1609 Peebles B. Rec. I 359.
That nane haif merkis one the rumpillis of bestiallis bot onlie ane cros merk on the spaldattrib. 1688 Edinb. B. Rec. XI 275.
The foresey and rumple peeces [sc. of beef: 2 s. 4 d.]
2. Applied to the posterior of a human being; the buttocks. a1568 Scott ii 148.
Thocht I had rycht nocht bot a rok To gar ȝour rumpill reik Behynd c1690 Bk. Pasquils 182.
Restore him to lash rumples, not to rule A nation with a rod that sway'd a school
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"Rumpill n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rumpill_n_1>
