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 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BULL, n.⁶ As Eng. bull, the male of the bovine breed, used in various combs. peculiar to Sc. and freq. indicating something large or clumsy of its kind: 1. bull-adder, see 3 below; 2. bull-beef, in phr. as prood as bull-beef, very proud, conceited (Bnff.², Abd.¹⁹, Ags.¹ 1937); 3. bull-edder, -ether, -adder, “the dragonfly” (Ags.¹, Arg.¹ 1937); 4. bullfit, a martin, a swift (Dmf. 1825 Jam.²; 1894 J. Shaw in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 144); 5. bullflinch, the bullfinch, Pyrrhula europæa (Ayr.⁴ 1928); †6. bullfrench, “the bullfinch” (Lnk. 1825 Jam.²); 7. bull-gowan, the globe-flower, Trollius europaeus (Rnf. c.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) B. 160); 8. bull-gress, -gerss, -grass, “the brome grass, Bromus mollis, etc.” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); known to Abd.⁹ 1937; 9. bull-head, -heid, “a kind of firebrick with a rounded end” (ne.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); 10. bull-neck, “an onion that does not form a bulb but grows somewhat like a leek” (Cai. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.; Abd.² 1937); 11. bull-of (o')-the-bog, “one of the various names given to the bittern,” Botaurus stellaris (Liddesdale 1825 Jam.²; Rxb. 1885 Swainson Brit. Birds 146; 1923 Watson W.-B.); 12. bull-reel, “a reel danced by men only” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); known to Abd.²² 1937; 13. bull sandeel,“the weever fish,” Trachinus (Ayr.⁴ 1928); 14. bulls-bags, “the tuberous Orchis, Orchis morio, and mascula, Linn. It receives its name from the resemblance of the two tubercles of the root to the testes” (Mearns, Ags. 1825 Jam.²; Ags.² 1937); 15. bull-seg(g), †(1) “a bull that has been gelt at full age, a foul thick-necked ox, having the appearance of a bull” (w.Rxb., e.Slk. 1802 J. Sibbald Gloss.; 1923 Watson W.-B.); known to Abd.² 1937. Given in N.E.D. as dial. See also Segg; (2)

(a) “the great Cat-tail or Reed-mace, Typha latifolia, Linn.” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., Mry. 1839 G. Gordon Flora of Mry. 26, Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); (b) “Orchis mascula and O. Morio” (Sc. 1825 Jam.², -seg; n.Sc. 1886 Britten and Holland Eng. Plant-Names 74); 15. bull-snout, -snoot, “the dog-grass,” Agropyrum caninum (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); 16. bull-staig, “a castrated bull” (Sc. 1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 726).2. Ags. 1886 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends (1887) xii.:
Bein' as prood as bull-beef o' the confidence displayed in him by his maister.7. Abd. 1886 Britten and Holland Eng. Plant-Names 72–73:
In Aberdeensh. it [bull-grass] is applied to B[romus] mollis when growing in hayfields and overtopping other grasses.Rxb. 1876 in Hardwicke's Science-Gossip 39:
Likewise “bull-grass” may be either or all of the following: Bromus mollis, B. racemosus, or B. commutatus.10. Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. (1817) i.:
The deep cry of the bog-blitter, or bull-of-the-bog.11. Sc. 1847 J. Grant Romance of War IV. xv.:
A bull-reel generally concluded their orgies, or the sword-dance, performed on the dining-tables.Rxb.(D) 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes an Knowes 5:
A was stannin on bluiddy Ancrum Muir. Nae cannie daffin bull-reel splore that fearfih fecht.

15. Borders 1933 A.W.S. in Border Mag. (Nov.) 172: An' mony a dub we strode across; Owre heather an' nub-berrie leaves, An' great bull-snoots that stan' like sheaves.