Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MAT, n. Also matt. Sc. usages:
1. A thick woollen bedcover (m. and s.Sc. 1962). Also bedmat, id.Sc. 1823 M. & M. Corbett Petticoat Tails I. 326:
I want out the white mat for Mrs Caldwell's bed.Rnf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 151:
In Renfrewshire a mat meant a thick woollen covering for the bed, generally wrought into a pattern.Edb. 1957 Edb. Ev. News (29 Oct.) 1:
Alhambra Bedspreads. Britain's Best Bedmat.
2. A sack made of matting used as a container for flax.Crm. 1761 W. MacGill Old Ross-shire (1909) 200:
In 1761 a ship for Portsoy with 93 matts of flax is driven on the beach at Inver.Abd. 1776 Aberdeen Jnl. (20 May):
There is to be sold by public Roup, . . . Twenty Matts of Flax.
