Rail
Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html
RAIL, sb.1 Obs. Sc. Yks. Amer. Also written rale n.Yks.; rayle Amer.; and in forms railie, railly Sc.
- An upper garment worn by women, a woman's jacket. Sc. A sort of large petticoat, usually made of camlet, worn over the ordinary dress by ladies, when riding on horseback, and with straps over the shoulders, Francisque-Michel Lang. (1882) 77; A kind of half-shift, consisting of breast and sleeves, made of finer linen than that daily worn, and put on over the ordinary shift, when the person went to Kirk on Sundays, or on any other occasion of being dressed. To wear a rail was considered as a mark of wealth formerly, Grose (1790) MS. add. (C.); Now I'm grown a gentleman, my wife she wears a railie, Chambers Pop. Rhymes (ed. 1870) 155; Does she wear a habit or a railly? Scott Bride of Lam. (1819) xii. Per. Perchance ye will cut my rail from me above the rail, as ye have done to others, Lawson Bk. of Per. (1847) 167. Slk. She was dressed in a plain white rail, Hogg Tales (1838) 103, ed. 1866. n.Yks. Eliz. Robinson for stealing... two rales (2d), Quarter Sess. Rec. (July 1623) in N. R. Rec. Soc. III. 172. [Amer. Immoderate great rayles, Legal Act (1634) in N. & Q. (1856) 2nd S. i. 311.]
- The upper portion of an infant's nightdress. Ayr. (Jam.) [1. OE. hrægel, hrægl, a garment, dress, robe [B.T.).]
RAIL, sb.2 w.Cy. Dev. Also in forms real, re'el, reul, roil n.Dev.; roul Dev.1; rowl w.Cy. n.Dev. A country wake or ‘revel,’ the anniversary of the dedication of a church. See Revel. w.Cy. Grose (1790) Suppl. Dev. Nathan Hogg Poet. Lett. (ed. 1858) 1st S. Gl.; Gent. Mag. (1793) 1084; Dev.1 Well but, Bet, wot'n go up to Church Town to rail an zee the wraxlin? 9. n.Dev. Why vor ded'st roily zo upon ma up to Challacomb Rowl? Exm. Scold. (1746) 1. 2; Laist Re'el set her right, Rock Jim an' Nell (1867) st. 21; Grose (1790) MS. add. (M.) Hence Rail-Sunday, sb. the Sunday before the annual wake or fair. Dev.1 Well, I'll ne'er go to church again of a Rail Zinday, I'll be bound vor't, 8.
RAIL, sb.3 n.Yks.2 [rēl.] A vagrant. Cf. raggil.
RAIL, sb.4, adj. and v.1 Sc. Yks. Oxf. Brks. e.An. Also written raail Brks.1; rayle e.Yks.; and in forms rael, raul Gall.; rawel Sc.; real Gall.; reel Sc. [rēl, reəl.] 1. sb. In comp. (1) Rail-eyed, wall-eyed; (2) Rail-hurdles, hurdles made of shaved wood morticed and nailed; (3) Rail-tree, obs., a large beam in a cow-house, fixed about two feet above the heads of the cows, into which the upper ends of stakes are fixed; also used attrib.; (4) Rail-wand, the railing of a stair. (1) Dmf. (Jam.) (2) Brks.1 (3) Sc. Francisque-Michel Lang. (1882) 386. Rxb. (Jam.) Gall. The one the foot of the stake rests in, is the realtree fit, the realtree head, Mactaggart Encycl. (1824). (4) w.Sc. (Jam., s.v. Raise-an'-Wand). 2. Phr. to go off the rails, to digress or wander from the point. Per. I'll no say but I've gone off the rails a bittie, Sabbath Nights (1899) 46. 3. A long wooden memorial tablet in a churchyard. Oxf. In the churchyard [of Bix Gibwen] are several wooden memorial boards reaching the whole length of the grave. They are not uncommon in the district, and are known locally as ‘rails,’ Murray Handbk. Oxf. (1894) 5. 4. Obs. A line or row. Sc. A rail o' tackets (Jam. Suppl.); Syne the reel o' red-ral he sal rax on't, Waddell Isaiah (1879) xxxiv. 11. Abd. They... set about their heels wi' rails O' clinkin' tackets, Keith Farmer's Ha' (1774) st. 5. 5. adj. Railed, fitted with a railing. w.Sc. A guid rail stair (Jam. Suppl.). 6. v. To fit with a band, bar, or border; to enclose. Sc. (JAM.) 7. To set in a row. To rail shoon to fill the soles with rows of iron nails (JAM.). 8. To fish for mackerel, billet, or late with a baited hand-line. n.Yks.1 Using one or more artificial flies for bait. The flies are made of white feathers and are attached to a long line, which is trailed along the surface of the water by the motion of the boat in which the fisherman is seated. Nrf.1 311. 9. Obs. To improve in condition. e.Yks. Some will perswade to rayle [the gelde sheepe] a little before they goe to field, Best Rur. Econ. (1642) 84.
RAIL, v.2 and sb.5 Sc. Yks. Nrf. Dev. [rēl.] 1. v. Obs. To rail at, abuse. Per. Thou him rails where e'er thou goes, Smith Poems (1714) 35, ed. 1853. 2. To tease; to provoke to anger. Nrf. (Hall.) 3. With over: to talk over, backbite. See Roil, v.2 Dev.1 Rail'd over by they that don't care what lies they tell, 14, ed. Palmer. 4. sb. A contentious person, a defamer. n.Yks.2
RAIL, v.3 Hrf. Wil. Dor. Som. Also in form rally Dor. [rēl.] To reel, stagger; to creep, crawl about; to walk slowly or feebly. A dial. form of ‘reel.’ Hrf.1 Hrf.2 Wil.1 I be that weak I can't hardly rail about. n.Wil. (W.C.P.), Dor. (A.C.), (C.V.G.), Som. (W.F.R.)
RAIL, v.4 n.Yks.1 n.Lin.1 [rel.] To tack, sew with big stitches.
RAIL, RAILIE, see Ravel, v.2, Rail, sb.1
