A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Tramonta(i)ne, n. [ME and e.m.E. tramountayne (14th c.), tramontain (1593), It. tramontana the north wind, the pole-star, tramontani people beyond the Alps.] a. The pole-star. b. A Highlander. —a. a1649 Drummond II 129/9.
The tramontane which thy faire course directs —b. 1691 Kirk Secr. Commonw. (1964) 232.
The Tramontaines … put bread, the Bible or a piece of iron, in womens bed … to save them from being thus stolen 1692 Kirk in Edinb. Biblio. Soc. Trans. III 259.
The low countrey Scots and … the Tramontaines or Scotish-Irish
