Obs. [? a. F. botte bundle.]
1. ? A bundle, pack.
1598. W. Phillips, Linschoten’s Trav. Ind. (1864), 224. Coming to the things which the elephants are to draw, they bind the But or Packe with a rope that he may feel the weight thereof.
1705. Lond. Gaz., No. 4109/4. A But, cont. 75 Pieces of English Dyed Linen, making 1500 Yards.
2. dial. ‘A hassock. Devon’ (Halliwell). Hence butt-woman (see quots.).
1862. Marg. Goodman, Exper. Eng. Sister of Mercy, 25. The pew-opener, or ‘butt-woman,’ as females following the occupation are termed in Devonshire.
1878. Free & Open Ch. Advoc., 1 June (D.). A buttwoman is one who cleans the church, and … assists the verger or pew-opener in shewing persons into seats…. In the west of England butt is an old word for hassock.
