From: b.scott@csuohio.edu   
      
   On Thu, 10 Sep 2015 09:22:34 -0400, William Vetter   
    wrote   
   in in   
   rec.arts.sf.composition:   
      
   > Would you use "stoup" in a manuscript?   
      
   > It is supposed to be a Scottish word that would mean   
   > patron or perhaps subsidizer.   
      
   The Dictionary of the Scots Language isn’t aware of such a   
   word.  From the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up   
   to 1700) it has:   
      
       'a vessel for holding, chiefly, liquids; a cask,   
      bucket, pitcher or the like; a vessel containing liquid   
      for drinking; a drinking vessel; a tankard, cup,   
      flagon', the latter meaning being the one with which   
      I’m familiar; and   
      
       'a post or pillar, usu. of wood, chiefly used   
      to support something, also as a barrier, etc.' (and some   
      related senses).   
      
   From the Scottish National Dictionary (1700-) it has:   
      
      ,  'a wooden post, pillar or prop,   
      e.g. a chair or table leg, a bed- or gate-post, etc.; a   
      pillar of coal left in mining to support the roof of   
      the working' (and some related senses); and   
      
      ,  'a wooden pail or bucket, gen.   
      used for carrying water from a well, and usu. narrower   
      at the mouth than at the bottom to prevent spilling;   
      'a smaller-sized vessel for holding liquor, sometimes   
      also used as a drinking-vessel, acc. to its size, which   
      varied considerably, a mug, flagon, tankard, decanter'.   
      
   [...]   
      
   Brian   
   --   
   It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their   
   holes to root for sandtatties.  The waves whispered   
   rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,   
   haggisss.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)