An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language in which the words are explained in their different senses, authorized by the names of the writers by whom they are used, or the titles of the works in which they occur, and deduced from their originals

Isl. _biik-ar_ denotes a hive, alvear; and Teut. _bie-bock_, _bie-buyck_, apiarium, alvearium, Kilian. The Isl. word is probably from Su. G. _bygg-a_, to build, part. pa. _bygdt...

2. The part. _bleezed_ signifies the state of one on whom intoxicating liquor begins to operate, S. It especially denotes the change produced in the expression of the countenanc...

I am informed, however, that the pronunciation of the term in some places in the west of S. is _bullwaver_; and that it is primarily applied to a _bull_ when going after the cow...

A. Bor. _boke_, _bowk_, to nauseate, to be ready to vomit; _booac_, to reach, to keck, ibid. Perhaps from A. S. _bealc-an_, eructare. It however has greater resemblance of _puke...

Fr. _brichet_, id. Perhaps we have the origin of the word in Isl. _briosk_, Sw. _brusk_, gristle. The word in E. denotes "the breast of an animal." It bears this sense also in S...

1. To wrench, to distort, to put out of shape; as "_to bauchle shoon_," to wear shoes in so slovenly a way as to let them fall down in the heels, S.

BUN, BUNN. _s._ A sweet cake or loaf, generally one of that kind which is used at the new year, baked with fruit and spiceries; sometimes for this reason called a _sweetie-scone...

2. A ring of plaited grass or straw, through which a lappet of a woman's gown, or fold of a man's coat is clandestinely thrust, in order to excite ridicule, Ang.

CAT and CLAY, the materials of which a mud-wall is constructed, in many parts of S. Straw and clay are well wrought together, and being formed into pretty large rolls, are laid...

_To_ ~ride the stang~. He who beats his wife, is sometimes set astride on a long pole, which is borne on the shoulders of others. In this manner he is carried about from place t...

WIG, WYG, _s._ Apparently, a wall. A thing is said to _gang frae wyg to waw_, when it is moved backwards and forwards from the one wall of a house to the other, S. B.

Words, of Goth. origin, whether S or E., beginning with _ch_, sounded hard, are to be traced to those in the Germ. or Northern languages that have _k_, and in A. S. _c_, which h...

BAIRNS-PART _of_ ~Gear~, that part of a father's personal estate to which his children are entitled to succeed, and of which he cannot deprive them by any testament, or other gr...

CROISHTARICH, _s._ The fire-cross, or signal of war; a stake of wood, the one end dipped in blood, and the other burnt, (as an emblem of fire and sword,) which was conveyed with...

1. A sort of bridle, often used by country people in riding. Instead of leather, it has on each side a piece of wood joined to a halter, to which a bit is sometimes added; but m...

~Weddir-glim~, _s._ Clear sky near the horizon; spoken of objects seen in the twilight or dusk; as, _between him and the weddir-glim_, or _weather-gleam_, i. e. between him and...

3. _To sneck_ with lime, to make indentations in a wall, filling the blanks with lime; or, in building, to insert a small quantity between the stones in the outer side, S.

2. _To take instrument_ or _instruments_, to throw down money to the clerk of a court, as claiming the benefit of a deed, or as confirming a protest against it; used improperly, S.

SWOON, _s._ Corn is _in the swoon_, when, although the strength of the seed is exhausted, the plant has not fairly struck root, S. B. In this state, the blade appears sickly and...

SLAINES, SLAYANS. _Letters of Slaines_, letters subscribed, in case of slaughter, by the wife or executors of one who had been _slain_, acknowledging that satisfaction had been...

TROTCOSIE, _s._ A piece of woollen cloth, which covers the back part of the neck and shoulders, with straps across the crown of the head, and buttoned from the chin downwards on...

~Kirk the gussie~, a play in which a large ball, called the _gussie_, is beat with clubs into a hole, one party opposing another. When the ball is lodged, the _gussie_ is said t...

PIRLIE-PIG, PURLIE-PIG, _s._ A circular earthen vessel, which has no opening save a slit at the top, no larger than to receive a halfpenny; used by children for keeping their mo...

Y consonant corresponds to A. S. _G_ before a vowel. This has generally in S. been printed Ʒ, from the resemblance of the A. S. letter to the form of the Roman Ʒ, although there...

1. A game in Scotland, in which hooked clubs are used for striking balls, stuffed very hard with feathers, from one hole to another. He who drives his ball into the hole with fe...

SOW-DAY, _s._ The name given to the 17th of December, in Sandwick, Orkney, from the custom of killing a sow, on that day, in every family that has a herd of swine.

_To cum aff at the loupin-on-stane_, S. to leave off any business in the same state as when it was begun; also, to terminate a dispute, without the slightest change of mind in e...

~Het pint~, The _hot_ beverage, which young people carry with them from house to house early in the morning of the new year; used also on the night preceding a marriage, and at...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INTRODUCTORY NOTE * * * * This dictionary is an abridged edition of the two-volume quarto * * dictionary published in 1808. Numer...

1. To clear, to put in order; as, _to red the road_, to clear the way; _to red up_ one's self, to dress; to _red up_ a house, to put it in order; _to red marches_, to fix bounda...

HUNGRY GROUND, ground, by superstition, believed to be so much under the power of enchantment, that he who passes over it would infallibly faint, if he did not use something for...

~Patsyad~, _s._ A contemptuous term for a female who has nothing new to appear in at Easter; originating from the custom which prevails among Episcopalians, of having a new dres...

1. A mud wall, in cottages, extending from the forewall backwards, as far as is necessary to shelter the inner part of the house from the air of the door, when it is opened. _Sp...

HAGGIES, _s._ A dish commonly made in a sheep's maw, of its lungs, heart and liver, minced with suet, onions, salt and pepper; or of oat-meal, mixed with the latter, without any...

MARTIN (~St~) OF BULLION'S DAY, _s._ The fourth day of July O. S., whence our peasantry form their prognostications concerning the weather; believing, that if this day be dry, t...

This letter, as occurring in the beginning of words, cannot, in many instances, be viewed as a radical. While prefixed in some Goth. dialects, it was thrown away in others; espe...

QUOTT, QUOTE, QUOITT, _s._ The portion of the goods of one deceased, appointed by law to be paid for the confirmation of his testament, or for the right of intromitting with his...

A. S. _earg_, desidiosus, iners, slothful, sluggish, _earh_ fugax, "timorous, and ready to run away for fear," Somn. Isl. _arg-ur_, reformidans; _arg-r_ piger, deses; Su. G. _ar...

1. A moveable instrument of iron, of a rectangular form, fastened to one of the jambs of a chimney, on which pots and kettles are suspended over the fire, S.

~First-fit~, _s._ The name given, in the calendar of superstition, to the person who _first_ enters a house, on any day which is particularly regarded as influencing the fate of...

AIGHINS, _s. pl._ What is owing to one, especially used as denoting demerit. When one threatens to correct a child who is in fault, it is a common expression, "I'll gie you your...

ODIN. _Promise of Odin_, a promise of marriage, or particular sort of contract, accounted very sacred by some of the inhabitants of Orkney, the contracting parties joining hands...

1. A title of honour, used among the ancient Scots, which seems to have been at first equivalent to Lat. _comes_, as denoting presidency in a county, and sometimes in a province...

WADSET, _s._ A legal deed, by which a debtor gives his heritable subjects into the hands of his creditor, that the latter may draw the rents in payment of the debt; a forensic t...

MILK, _s._ An annual holiday in a school, on which the scholars present a small gift to their master, which has at first received its designation from _milk_, as the principal p...

Many conjectures have been formed as to the origin of the name. The most probable are, that it is from Su. G. _j_ demonstrative, like A. S. _ge_, and _oel_, commessatio, q. _the...