Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
ROVIE, n. A soft slipper made from roughly-spun jute (Ags. 1968). [′rovi]Ags. 1962 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 2:
Many children and adults wore as house-shoes “rovies”, crocheted from jute.Dundee 1978:
She wis up the Luff [Liff] Road in her rovies afore they kent where she wis. [of a senile old person 'escaping' from her daughter's home] Dundee 1986 David A. MacMurchie I Remember Another Princes Street! 53:
At work, they wore white spotted red kerchiefs over their heads and slippers on their feet. 'Rovies ' or 'huggers', that is, crocheted slippers made from loosely twisted jute yarn, were worn in jute mills. Dundee 1991:
I niver heard o rovies till Ah came tae Dundee [1947]. They used tae mak them oot the jute ye ken. Dundee 1993 Evening Telegraph Sep :
Baby rovies [heading] I read with interest the letter about rovies (slippers). We sell woollen ones for babies at the Brittle Bone Society Charity Shop at 112 City Road, Dundee. I was taught to do them by my mum who was a spinner in the jute mills.
