John Jamieson

“ This festival is chiefly celebrated by the cow-herds, who assemble by scores in the fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milk and eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of cakes baked for the occasion, and having small lumps in the form of nipples, raised all over the surface. The cake seems to have been an offering to some Deity in the days of Druidism.—In Ireland, Beltein is celebrated on the 21st June, at the time of the solstice. There, as they make fires on the tops of hills, every member of the family is made to pass through the fire ”

“ BLAWN COD, a split cod, half-dried, Ang.; so denominated, perhaps, because exposed for some time to the wind.
BLAWORT, s. The Blue bottle; Centaurea cyanus, Linn., S. Witch-bells, also Thumbles, S. B.
Neill.
From bla, livid, q. v. and wort, an herb.
BLAZE, s. The name given to allum ore, S.
BLE, BLIE, s. Complexion, colour.
Gawan and Gol.
This word is common in O. E. A. S. bleoh, blio, color.
To BLEACH down, or along, v. n. To fall flat to the ground. Bleach is also used to denote a fall of this description, Loth.
Perhaps from Isl. blak-a, verberare; as denoting the effect of a violent blow. ”

“ COCKANDY, s. The Puffin, Alca arctica, Linn. S. Tommy-noddy, Orkn.
Sibbald.
COCKERDEHOY. To ride cockerdehoy, to sit on the shoulders of another, in imitation of riding on horseback, S. B.
Fr. coquardeau, a proud fool.
COCKERNONNY, s. The gathering of a young woman's hair, when it is wrapt up in a band or fillet, commonly called a snood, S.
Ramsay.
Teut. koker, a case, and nonne, a nun, q. such a sheath for fixing the hair as the nuns were wont to use.
COCKERSUM, adj. Unsteady in position, threatening to fall or tumble over, S.
Fr. coquarde, a cap, worn proudly on the one side. ”

“ Those who are much addicted to superstition will neither borrow nor lend on any of these days; lest the articles borrowed should be employed for the purposes of witchcraft, against the lenders. Some of the vulgar imagine, that these days received their designation from the conduct of the Israelites in borrowing the property of the Egyptians. ”

“ BOD, s. A person of small size, a term generally applied, somewhat contemptuously, to one who is dwarfish, although of full age, S.
To BODE, v. a. To proffer, often as implying the idea of some degree of constraint. "He did na merely offer, but he boded it on me;" S.
BODEN, part. pa. Preferred.
BODE, BOD, s. An offer made in order to a bargain, a proffer, S.
Ramsay.
Germ. bot, id. from biet-en, to offer. Isl. bud, a proffer, from bioth-a, offerre, exhibere, praebere. ”

“ O. Fr. bouge, boulge, faucille, serpe; Roquefort.
BUFE, s. Beef, S. B.
Fr. boeuf, id. Isl. bufe, cattle; from bu, an ox.
To BUFF, v. n. To emit a dull sound, as a bladder filled with wind does, S.
Chr. Kirk.
It played buff, S. It made no impression.
Belg. boff-en, to puff up the cheeks with wind; Fr. bouff-er, id.
To BUFF, v. a. To buff corn, to give grain half thrashing, S.
"The best of him is buft," a phrase commonly used to denote that one's natural strength is much gone, S.
Alem. buff-en, pulsare. ”

“ Germ. blae-en, to swell.
BLAIN, s. A blank, a vacancy.
A blain in a field, a place where the grain has not sprung, Loth.
Probably a metaph. use of the preceding word.
BLAIR, s. That part of flax which is afterwards used in manufacture, properly after it has been steeped, and laid out for being dried; for it is subsequently called lint, S. This in E. is denominated harle.
Sw. blaer, hards of flax; but rather from Isl. blaer, aura, because it is thus exposed to the drought.
To BLAIR, v. n. To become dry by exposure to the drought, Ang.
BLAIRIN, s. The ground appropriated for drying flax, Ang. ”

“ BY-HAND, adv. Over, S.
V. Hand.
BY-LYAR, s. A neutral.
Knox.
From the v. To lie by, E.
BIAS, a word used as a mark of the superlative degree; bias bonny, very handsome; bias hungry, very hungry, Aberd.
BIB, s. A term used to denote the stomach, Ang., borrowed, perhaps, from the use of that small piece of linen, thus denominated, which covers the breast or stomach of a child.
BYBILL, s. A large writing, a scroll so extensive that it may be compared to a book.
Detection Q. Mary.
The word occurs in a similar sense in O. E. As used by Chaucer, Tyrwhitt justly renders it "any great book." ”

“ To BEJAN, v. a. When a new shearer comes to a harvest-field, he is initiated by being lifted by the arms and legs, and struck down on a stone on his buttocks; Fife. This custom has probably had its origin in some of our universities. It is sometimes called horsing.
BEIK, s. A hive of bees.
V. Byke.
To BEIK, BEKE, BEEK, v. a.
1. To bask, S.
Barbour.
2. To warm, to communicate heat to.
Ramsay.
3. It is often used in a neuter sense, S.
Ywaine.
Belg. baeker-en is used in the same sense; baeker-en een kindt, to warm a child. We say, To beik in the sun; so, Belg. baekeren in de sonne. ”

“ BURDOWYS, s. Men who fought with clubs.
Barbour.
Burdare, (Matt. Paris) , is to fight with clubs, after the manner of clowns, qui, he says, Anglis Burdons.
BUREDELY, adv. Forcibly, vigorously.
V. Burdly.
Sir Gawan and Sir Gal.
BUREIL, BURAL, adj. Vulgar, rustic.
Wallace.
Chaucer borel, id.; L. B. burell-us, a species of coarse cloth; Teut. buer, a peasant.
BURG of ice, a whale-fisher's phrase for a field of ice floating in the sea, S., most probably from its resemblance of a castle.
BURGENS, s. pl. Burgesses.
Wyntown.
Lat. burgens-es. ”

“ Those who are at a wedding, especially the younger part of the company, who are conducting the bride from her own house to the bridegroom's, often set off, at full speed, for the latter. This is called, riding the bruse. He who first reaches the house is said to win the bruse.
Burns.
2. Metaph., to strive, to contend in whatever way.
R. Galloway.
This means nothing more than riding for the brose, broth or kail, the prize of spice-broth allotted in some places to the victor.
To BRUS, BRUSCH, v. a. To force open, to press up.
Wyntown.
Sicamb. bruys-en, premere, strepere. ”

“ BOUGARS, s. pl. Cross spars, forming part of the roof of a cottage, used instead of laths, on which wattling or twigs are placed, and above these divots, and then the straw or thatch, S.
Chr. Kirk.
Lincolns. bulkar, a beam; Dan. biaelke, pl. bielcker, beams. Su. G. bialke, a small rafter, tigillum, in Westro-Goth. is written bolkur.
BOUK, BUIK, s.
1. The trunk of the body, as distinguished from the head or extremity, S.
A bouk of tauch, all the tallow taken out of an ox or cow, S.
Germ. bauch von talge, id.
A bouk-louse, one that has been bred about the body.
Teut. beuck, truncus corporis. ”

“ To HUSTLE, v. n. To emit such a sound as an infant does when highly pleased, Ang.
Isl. hwisl-a, in aurum susurrare.
HUT, An overgrown and indolent person, Ang.
Hut, Hand-hut, s. A small stack built in the field, S.
HUT, s. A square basket, formerly used in Galloway for carrying out dung to the field, of which the bottom opened to let the contents fall out.
HUTHER, s. A wetting mist, S. B.
It's hutherin, it rains slightly, ibid.
Isl. hiufrar, parum pluit; hiufr, pluvia tenuis.
HUTHERIN, s.
1. A young heifer, Ang. Loth. ”

“ Su. G. borgen, suretyship. Ihre derives Su. G. and Isl. borg-a, to become surety, from berg-a, a periculo tueri, to protect from danger. The idea is certainly most natural: For what is suretyship, but warranting the safety of any person or thing?
To BORCH, v. a. To give a pledge or security for, to bail.
Wallace.
To BORROW, BORW, v. a.
1. To give security for; applied to property.
Wyntown.
2. To become surety for; applied to a person.
Baron Courts.
Su. G. borg-a, id.
To BORROW one, to urge one to drink, Ang.
When one pledges another in company, he engages to drink after him ”

“ A. S. aechir, an ear of corn, aecer, Su. G. aakar, corn, and spira, the projection of any thing that is long and slender. Gr. ακρος, summus, and σπειρα, spira.
ACHERSPIRE, s. The germination of malt at that end of the grain from which the stalk grows, S.
ACHIL, adj. Noble.
V. Athil.
To ACRES, ACRESCE, v. n.
1. To increase, to gather strength.
Burel.
2. Used us a law term in S. to denote that one species of right, or claim, flows from, and naturally falls to be added to, its principal.
Fr. accroist-re, Lat. accrescere, id. ”

“ This verb, it would seem, has been formed from the noun, q. v., or has a common origin with Isl. bael-a, used to denote the act of causing cattle to lie down.
BEILDY, adj. Affording shelter.
Ramsay.
BEILD, adj. Bold.
Houlate.
A. S. beald, id. A. S. Alem. belde, audacia.
BEILL, s. Perhaps, sorrow, care, q. baill.
Bannatyne Poems.
BEIN, s. Bone, Ang.
One is said to be aw frae the bein, all from the bone, when proud, elevated, or highly pleased; in allusion, as would seem, to the fleshy parts rising from the bone, when the body is swollen.
BEIN, BEYNE, adj. Beinlier. ”

“ JIFFIE, s. A moment, Loth. Jiffin, S. A.
Gl. Sibb.
JIMP, s. Thin slips of leather, put between the outer and inner soles of a shoe, S.
Isl. skaemt-a, brevem reddere; so short as to be of no proper use.
To JIMP, v. n. To leap, S.
JYMP, s. A quirk.
V. Gymp, s.
JIMP, adj.
1. Neat, slender, S.
Minstrelsy Border.
2. Scanty, S.
V. Gymp, adj.
JIMPS, s. pl. A kind of easy stays, S. Jumps, E.
Jimpey, s. The same with Jimps.
Pop. Ball.
JINGLE, s. The smooth water at the back of a stone in a river, Ang.
To JINK, v. n. To elude a person who is trying to lay hold of one, S. jenk, S. B.
Burns. ”

“ AFFERIS, EFFEIRS, v. impers.
1. Becomes, belongs to, is proper or expedient; frequently used in our laws.
Barbour.
2. It sometimes signifies what is proportional to, S.
Acts Counc.
O. Fr. affer-ir, appartenir, Lat. affero.
AFF-HAND, adj. Plain, honest, blunt, given to free speaking. S. affin-hand, Ang.
AFF-HAND, adv. Without premeditation, S.
Ramsay.
AFFLUFF, AFFLOOF, adv.
1. Without book, off hand.
To repeat aff lufe, to deliver merely from memory, without having a book or notes, S.
2. Extempore, without premeditation, S.
Ramsay.
From S. aff off, and lufe, the palm of the hand. ”

“ A building erected for the preservation of grain; Caithn.
Pennant.
4. Metaph. an association or collective body; S.
Lyndsay.
To skail the byke, metaph. to disperse an assembly of whatever kind; S.
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; q. something prepared or built. There seems to be no reason to doubt that the word, as used in sense 2, is the same with that denoting a habitation. For what is a byke or bee-bike, but a building or habitation of bees? ”

“ Force, impetuosity; often as denoting the violence of the wind, S. Vir, virr, Aberd.
Douglas.
O. E. bire, byre, birre. The term, especially as used in the second sense, seems nearly allied to Isl. byre (tempestas) , Su. G. boer, the wind; which seem to acknowledge byr-ia, boer-ia, surgere, as their root.
To BEIR, BERE, v. s. To roar, to make a noise.
Wallace.
Teut. baeren, beren, is expl. by Kilian; Fremere, sublatè et ferociter clamare more ursorum. The learned writer seems thus to view it as a derivative from baere, bere, a bear. ”

“ A company, a body of men, often used for corps.
Hamilton.
CORF, s. A basket used for carrying coals from the pit, Loth.
Belg. korf, Isl. koerf, Lat. corb-is, id.
CORF, s. A temporary building, a shed.
Bannatyne Poems.
A. S. cruft, a vault, Teut. krofte, a cave.
Corf-House, s. A house, shed, erected for the purpose of curing salmon, and for keeping the nets in, S. B.
Courant.
CORFT, part. pa. Corft fish are fish boiled with salt and water, S. B.
CORKY, adj. Airy, brisk.
Sir J. Sinclair.
CORMUNDUM. To cry Cormundum, to confess a fault.
Kennedy.
In allusion to one of the Penitential Psalms. ”

“ Bill-siller, S., is analogous to Teut. bolle-gheld, merces pro admissura tauri.
To BULLER, v. n.
1. To emit such a sound as water does, when rushing violently into any cavity, or forced back again, S.
Douglas.
Su. G. bullr-a, tumultuari, strepitum edere.
2. To make a noise with the throat, as one does when gargling it with any liquid, S. guller, synon.
Bellenden.
3. To make any rattling noise; as when stones are rolled downhill, or when a quantity of stones falls together, S. B.
4. To bellow, to roar as a bull or cow does, S.; also pron. bollar, Ang.
Isl. baul-a, mugire, baul mugitus. ”

“ Loth. Border.
V. Blob.
BLEIRIE, adj. A term applied to weak liquor, which has little or no strength; as bleirie ale, Fife.
BLEIRING, part. pa. Bleiring Bats.
Polwart.
This seems to be the botts, a disease in horses. Bleiring may express the effect of pain in making the patient to cry out; Teut. blaer-en, boare, mugire.
BLEIRIS, s. pl. Something that prevents distinctness of vision.
Philotus.
This is the same with blear, s. only used in the pl. Ihre mentions E. blear-eyed, as allied to Su. G. blir-a, plir-a, oculis semiclausis videre. ”

“ To Rap aff a thing, to do it expeditiously, Loth.
To Rap forth, or out, v. a. To throw out forcibly.
Douglas.
Rape, adv. Hastily.
Montgomerie.
RAPEGYRNE, s. The name anciently given to the little figure made of the last handful of grain cut on the harvest field, now called the Maiden.
Fordun.
Su. G. rep-a, to reap; and gerna, greedily; Isl. girn-a, cupere; q. what is reaped with great eagerness. ”

“ A. S. blaec-an, denigrare. Isl. blek, liquor tinctorius.
To BLECK, v. a. To puzzle, to reduce to a nonplus, in an examination or disputation, S.
Germ. black-en, plack-en, vexare, exagitare.
To BLEEZE, v. n.
1. To become a little sour. Milk is said to bleeze, or to be bleezed, when it is turned, but not congealed, S.; blink, synon.
From Germ. blaes-en, to blow; or, blitz-en, fulgurare; heat, especially when accompanied by lightning, more generally producing this effect. ”