Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BOURD, n. and v. Both n. and v. now obs. in St.Eng., latest quot. in N.E.D. 1606. Arch. or poet.

1. n. “A jest” (Mry.¹ 1925).Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 3:
A sooth [true] bourd is no bourd. [Quoted in Scott Redgauntlet (1824) xi.]Ib. 202:
I'll tell the Bourd, but not the Body. [Found also in A. Hislop Proverbs (1862) and A. Cheviot Proverbs (1896).]

2. v.

(1) To jest, joke.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 186:
Wha bourds wi' thee had need be warry, And lear wi' Skill thy Thrust to parry.Sc. 1737 Ramsay Proverbs 68:
They that bourd with Cats maun count upo' Scarts. [Also given by A. Hislop Proverbs (1862) 197.]Sc. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables frae the French 21:
A merry oor or twa his neibours spent Deridin', hootin', lauchin', bourdin', a', While frae his back they poo'd the plumes awa'.

(2) “To meddle with, contend” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.Add.). N.E.D. gives this word as obs., meaning to joust, engage in a sham fight. Not known to our correspondents.Lnl. 1768 W. Wilkie Fables 122:
For, pattin wi her fit, in play, Just whar the Partan's nippers lay, He gript it fast, which made her squeel, And think she bourded wi the deil.