Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†RAT-RHYME, n., v. Also -rythm; ratt-, rot(t)-, -r(h)ime, rattrum.
I. n. A nonsensical rigmarole, a tedious repetition (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis, 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 145; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.). Also in n.Eng. dial. Also reduced form rat, rote, mechanical repetition.Sc. 1727 Six Saints (Fleming 1901) I. 352:
I was 18 times examined, and only three times about that unhappy man's death, with all the rest of the rat-rythm of questions.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 66:
With a lang Rat-rhime of Cant.Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 61:
Their converse vague unmeanin' chat, Nae frae the heart, but gabb'd by rat.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian viii.:
“I cannot use a prayer like a rat-rhyme”, answered the honest clergyman.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 404:
Rattrum — A confused mass of words, the language of a rattle-scull, as it flows from them the words “in dizzens and raws”.Sc. 1887 Jam.:
Ratt-rime. Originally, a rhyme or piece of poetry used in charming and killing rats. These rhymes were the merest doggerel, and hence the secondary meaning of the term.
II. v. To repeat in a mechanical, meaningless manner (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 145).
III. adv. Mechanically, by rote (Ib.).
[O.Sc. rat-rane, 1513, ratt rime, from 1553, doggerel. The first element is obscure. It is not impossible that the word is a variant of rote. The vowels a and o tend to interchange between r and t. See R, letter.]
