Rowp
- public auction. This is what happens to the possessions of the unthrifty. It applies to all manner of property and some sales are quite specialised. An announcement in the Edinburgh Gazette of December 1700 announced, There is to be a rouping of diverse sorts of Japan Work and other things for Adorning closetts and, in 2001, the Press and Journal advertised a roup at St Fergus public hall where Wally [china] dogs and jewellery are among the many collectibles up for grabs. While the buyers might revel in the prospect of a bargain, in many instances the roup was an occasion of great suffering. Roups where often the result of poinding [pronounced ‘pinding’, seizure of a debtor’s goods], and families in debt would be rowpit oot of their home or farm. Like pairtin’ wi’ yer flesh an’ bluid It is tae see yer ain beasts roupit, writes W. D. Cocker in his Poems Scots and English (1932).