Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BRIG STANE, Briggsten, Brig-steen, n. Also brigstone.

1. A stepping-stone.Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 34:
The' wur nee brig than, bit only brig-steens lyan' a piece f'ae aen anither.

2. Gen. in pl.: “the flat stones or flags laid before the door of a house, or along the house-wall as pavement” (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928) s.v. brigg:
As auld as de briggstens.Ork. 1772 P. Fea MS. Diary (30 Nov.):
Got the brigs clean'd.Ork. c.1912 J. Omond Ork. 80 Years Ago 14:
The close was laid with flagstones or stepping stones in a careless, rough manner . . . a farmer one dark night . . . warned his friend by remarking “Boy, if thoo misses the brig stanes thou'll get a filthy plash.”Ork. 1987 George Mackay Brown The Golden Bird (1989) 120:
As Maisie stood there, the zinc bucket she used for the milking of her own cow, toppled on to the brig-stones between barn and byre and trundled along like a madly clanging bell, until it lay in the ferns, muted and trembling. Ork. 1995 Orcadian 28 Dec 13:
When I opened the door at seven, it was hazing along the brigstones, and as the sky brightened we saw curls and streamers of it in every hollow.