▪ I. † waith, n.1 Sc. and north. Obs.
Forms: [? 1 wáð], 3–5 waith, wayth, 3–6 waithe, 4 wath, 5 wathe, 8 veth.
[a. ON. veið-r fem., hunting, fishing, catch of game or fish = OE. wáð fem., hunting (also wandering), OHG. weida (MHG., mod.G. weide) hunting, fishing, food, pasture (also wandering, roaming):—OTeut. *waiþō, *waiþi-z, f. root *wai- perh. cogn. with L. vēnārī to hunt. It is possible that the OE. form wáð may have coalesced with the Scandinavian word.]
1. The action or practice of hunting or fishing; chiefly, unlawful taking of game; also, the right to hunt game.
| [a 1000 Boeth. Metr. xxvii. 13 Deað..eᵹeslic hunta, a bið on waðe.] c 1400 Awntyrs Arth. xxxiv, We arene here in the wode, walkande one our wathe. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. iii. 235 For in his waith son eftyr þat Thre hundyr foxis qwyk he gat. Ibid. 533 Qwhar þat he trawalit mony day In waithe [v.r. weyth], in ware and in bargan. 15.. Murning Maiden 94 in Maitl. Folio MS. (S.T.S.) I. 362 Ȝour deir may walk quhair euir þai will, I win my meit with na sic waithe. 1707 [see vert n.1 2]. |
2. Game for or obtained by hunting; spoil of the chase; also gen. spoil, booty.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 3522, 3524 Esau went for till hunt,..Bot þat dai wayth [Fairf. waiþe, Gött., Trin. gamen] þan gatt he noght, For haf man neuer sa gode graith It es noght ilk dai, dai o waith. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1381 Here is wayth fayrest Þat I seȝ þis seuen ȝere in sesoun of wynter. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3233 That I ne wiste no waye whedire that I scholde, ffore woluez, and whilde swynne, and wykkyde bestez; walkede in that wasternne, wathes to seche. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2350 Till mydday and more myght we not fynde, ffor to wyn as for waithe in þat wode brode. c 1460 Towneley Myst. iii. 486 Noe. I will cast out also Dowfys oone or two: Go youre way, go, God send you som wathe! c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 386 Waith suld be delt, in all place, with fre hart. c 1480 Henryson Two Mice 7 The vther wynnit Uponland..Quhylis in the corne, and vther mennis skaith, As outlawis dois and leuis on thair waith. |
▪ II. † waith, n.2 Sc. (chiefly Orkney and Shetland). Obs.
[? Altered form of waif n.]
= waif n.
| 1478 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 281 Terras dominiorum de Orknay et Zetland..unacum le Wrak, Wattell, Waithe et Hasewaith, et cum consimilibus proficuis [etc.]. 1615 Acts Sherifs Orkney §15 in Edin. Antiq. Mag. (1849) 8 No person..sal hyde nor conseall any kynd of thift,..injurie, robrie, nor opressioun in wraik or waith. [1897 D. J. Robertson in Longm. Mag. Feb. 333 Through the heaped mysteries of waith and wrack, When the long wave from the long beach draws back.] |
b. attrib. or adj. (Cf. waif a.)
| 1671 Shetland Docum. in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot. (1892) XXVI. 194 To..secure all wrack and waith goods. |
| fig. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. Prol. 68 Virgilis sawis..aucht nocht be hald wagabound nor waith. |
▪ III. † waith, n.3 Sc. Obs.
Also 8 weath.
[? a. ON. váð = OE. wǽd weed n.2]
? Cloth, clothes: chiefly in phrase claith and waith (see quot. 1825).
| 1603 Philotus xi. (Bannatyne Club), Philotus is..Ane ground-riche man and full of graith: He wantis na jewels claith nor waith. 1768 Ross Helenore i. 48 Bannocks and kebbocks knit intil a claith She had laid by, an' row'd up in her waith. Ibid. ii. 74 The worth o't twice, in claith or weath ye's get. Ibid. ii. 75 Your claith an' waith will never tell wi' me. 1825 Jamieson s.v., Claith nor waith seems to have been a Prov. expression; perhaps q. ‘neither cloth in the piece, nor cloth made into garments’. |
▪ IV. † waith, a. Obs.
Also 5 ? waithe, 7 weath.
Of a horse: See quot. 1710.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. i. 1035 Sa waiche [? read waithe] and woid þan ar þa hors þat [etc.]. 1662 in Pitcairn Crim. Trials III. 613 The Devill will be with hir and ws all lyk a weath-horse efter mearis. 1710 Ruddiman Gloss. to Douglas's Virg. s.v., Scot. they say, a waith horse, i.e. a horse that wanders in pursuit of mares. a 1828 Blancheflour & Jellyflorice xviii. in P. Buchan Ballads (1828) I. 128 Ye'll take out yon wild waith steed, And bring him to the green. |