Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BACK-ROPE, n. The messenger- or warp-rope in a fleet of herring nets (I.Sc. 1975).Ork. 1929 Marw.:
Back . . . a rope from which nets are hung — also called back-rope.wm.Sc. 1800 J. Girvin Acct. Herring Fishery 41: 
If in deep water (which is generally the case before the herrings set into the lochs) both trains [of nets] are tied together by the back-rope.