Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CATRAIL, n. The name of an earthwork of uncertain date and extent in S.W. Rxb., conjectured by some to be a boundary between Britons and Angles in the 7th c. A.D. The word is sometimes extended to other unconnected structures in the s.Sc. area.s.Sc. 1726 A. Gordon Itinerarium 101:
A Boundary of Separation, consisting of a large Ditch, with a Rampart of Stone and Earth on each side, extending 22 Miles in Length, from the Solway Firth, towards the Firth of Edinburgh; called by some the Catrail, by others the Picts-Work-Ditch. Rxb. 1864 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 37:
The conclusion they arrived at was, that no such work as the catrail crossed Selkirkshire. Rxb. 1923 P.S.A.S. LVIII. 42:
The true Catrail, situated in the county of Roxburgh and extending from Robert's Linn to the Hoscote Burn. Dmf. 1927 J. Mothersole Roman Scot. 212:
The name of “catrail” for an earthwork is often used locally in places where it does not really belong. s.Sc. 1956 Hist. Monum. Comm. Rxb. II. 479:
A great deal has already been written about the Catrail, but a large part of it is quite inaccurate. The Catrail is a linear earthwork, consisting of a ditch and bank of quite modest dimensions.