Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1726-1935
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TROUBLE, n., v. Also trub(b)le; tribble (Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Jphnny Gibb v., Per. 1896 I. Maclaren Kate Carnegie 5, Uls. 1897 A. McIlroy When Lint was in the Bell v.; Mry. 1908 J. Mackinnon Braefoot Sk. 67; Bnff. 1939 J. M. Caie Hills and Sea 23; ne.Sc., em.Sc.(a), Slk. 1973), trible (Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 43, 1879 G. MacDonald Sir Gibbie xxix.). Hence triblesome, troublesome (Abd. 1909 J. Tennant Jeannie Jaffray 62). Sc. forms and usages. [trʌbl; ne.Sc. + ‡trɪbl]
I. n. 1. Sickness, disease, a specific ailment or disorder. Gen.Sc. Rare in Eng. and gen. preceded by the organ affected as in lung trouble, stomach trouble, etc. Sc. 1726 R. Wodrow Corresp. (1843) III. 267:
Riding agrees much with my trouble which I am not altogether free of.Sc. 1798 Monthly Mag. II. 436:
He is much distressed with an inward trouble.Lth. 1842 Children in Mines Report (2) 457:
I do not always change mysel, as I'm o'er fatigued. We have had much trouble.Per. 1894 I. Maclaren Brier Bush 30:
The mysterious "tribble" that needed the Perth doctor.Gsw. 1895 A. G. Murdoch Readings I. 98:
The trouble maun be swat oot o' ye, guidman, at ony cost.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 85:
Daein' a' ae man cud dee t' fecht the tribble.Abd. 1935 J. Milne Gangrel's Flute 62:
He's clever, for he'll scan ye, An' straucht aff diagnose Yer tribble.
Comb. death-trouble, a fatal or terminal illness. Rnf. 1873 D. Gilmour Pen' Folk 39:
Till his death-trouble William Dickson enjoyed unbroken health.
2. A dislocation or interruption in the strata in a mine, quarry, etc., a fault (m.Sc. 1973). Also in n.Eng. mining usage.Ayr. 1776 Session Papers, Fergusson v. Earl of Cassillis (14 Oct.) Proof 60:
A large dike, or trouble of confused metal.Sc. 1809 Wernerian Soc. Memoirs I. 501:
Deranged with (what is termed by miners) troubles, viz. dikes, slips and hitches.m.Lth. 1837 Trans. Highl. Soc. 61:
Masses of broken limestone and spar, by the quarriers termed trouble, renders the operations expensive.Ayr. 1925 Econ. Geol. Ayr. Coalfields II. 60:
A belt of disturbance which is known to the mining community as the 'Red Trouble '.
II. v. Ppl.adj. troubled, of a coal seam: broken or disturbed by faults. See I. 2.Ayr. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 VII. 14:
The whole coal becomes very much troubled, and turns into what they call humph, a black useless substance.Rnf. 1920 Mem. Geol. Survey Scot. 41:
The ground here is much "troubled" and broken up by faults.
