Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1749-1808, 1881-1891
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TREEN, adj. Also treean, treein, trein (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Wooden, made of wood. Arch. Now only dial. in Eng.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 211:
Luggie, quegh, or truncher treein.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
A treein leg, a wooden leg.Sc. 1881 Chambers's Jnl. (28 May):
A huge wooden platter known in Scotland as a "treen truncher."
Comb. trein mare, an instrument of punishment formerly used in the army, the wooden horse (Sc. 1808 Jam.); also = Stang, n.2, 1. (2).Bnff. 1749 Annals Banff (S.C.) I. 129:
2 dales for mending Treen-mare for the soldiers.Cai. 1891 D. Stephen Gleanings 25:
When I was a young man in Thurso that's the sort of thing they put the men on that were bad to their wives, and they ca'd it the treean mare.
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"Treen adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/treen>
