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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BELCH, BILCH, BAILCH, BELGH, n. [bɛlx, belx, bɪlx]

1. A stout person.n.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
A term applied to a very lusty person. “A bursen belch, or bilch, one who is breathless from corpulence, q[uasi] burst, like a horse that is broken-winded.”Abd.(D) 1767 R. Forbes Jnl. from London, etc. (1869) 16:
Wae worth me bat ye wou'd hae hard the peer bursen belchs whosing like a horse i' the strangle, a rigglenth e'er [sic] you came neer them.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 9:
By this time Lindy is right well shot out, . . . Nae bursen bailch, nae wandought or misgrown, But plump an' swack an' like an apple round.Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sk. Sc. Character 65:
The gutsy belgh, too, grows sae chattie Aneth your nose.

Hence bilchy, adj., stout, lusty.Lnk. 1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 11:
He's as bilchy a beast as in a' the barronry.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 219:
I could a' tell't ye a hun'er stories aboot Nanny, for I sat for oors hearkenin' tae Mrs Smith tellin' them, — a bilchy bit lassock, ye ken.

2. A person or animal of unusual size or proportions — i.e. above or below the average.Slk. 1808 Jam.:
Bilch. In Selkirks. denoting “a little, crooked, insignificant person.”Uls. 1924 (2nd ed.) W. Lutton Montiaghisms:
Belch. An animal, the body of which is large and stout in proportion to the length and size of its legs.

3. A term of disrespect for (1) a child, (2) a grown-up person.(1) Ags.(D) 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters 66:
The belch winna sleep sae lang as ane wad fell a flech without rocking.Ags. 1825 Jam.²:
Belch, Belgh. A brat, a contemptuous designation for a child.(2) Uls. 1923 J. Logan Ulster in the X-Rays (2nd ed.) vi.:
A bash in the eye is what you'll be havin', ye ould bilch ye.