dial. variant of SILE sb.1
1762. Phil. Trans., LII. 513. A round hole … was pierced through the carved oak,… and a piece of the main soil … struck off. Ibid. (1770), LXI. 75. Upon this pillar rested a large oak soil.
1842. Gwilt, Archit., Gloss. 1033. Soils, a provincial term, chiefly … used in the north, signifying the principal rafters of a roof.
