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.
Quotation dates: 1802
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LETTER TREE, n.comb. Variant form of Eng. lighter tree, the bar of wood in a mill which raises or lowers the spindle of the millstone, the bridge-tree. Cf. lifting-tree s.v. Lift 1. (c).Abd. 1802 A. Jervise Epitaphs (1875) II. 47:
Haper and Little Happer Crubs and Letter Trees.
