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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

THEEK, v., n. Also theeck, thei(c)k, thiek, theak; thick; misprint threik (Sc. 1706 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 435); thig (Per. 1830 in Atholl MSS.; Sc. 1879 P. H. Waddell Isaiah v. 6). [θik; em.Sc. (a) θek. See P.L.D. § 88.]

I. v. †1. To roof (a building) in gen., to cover (a roof) with any appropriate material (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 147:
He that Theiks his House with Turds.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) I. 257:
For a' the houses Was theekit wi blue stane.Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 6:
It's firmly built frae fit to head, An' neatly thicket o'er wi' lead.

2. Specif.: to cover a roof with a thatch of straw, heather or rushes (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai), sim. of covering a hay-, corn- or peat-stack. Gen.Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial. Ppl.adj. theekit.Sc. 1702 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 303:
He is likewise to theick the hous on his oune charges, I laying timber, thack and divot and wattles to his hand.Sc. 1733 W. Thomson Orpheus Caled. i. 3:
They bigg'd a Bower on yon Burn-brae, And theek'd it o'er wi' rashes.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 137:
Frae the big stack, weel winnow't on the hill, Wi' divets theekit frae the weet and drift.Ayr. 1785 Burns 3rd Ep. to J. Lapraik vii.:
A' the vittel in the yard, An' theekit right.Per. 1835 R. Nicoll Poems 172:
Yon heather-theekit hames war' blithe.Abd. 1873 P. Buchan Inglismill 41:
In a wee thieket hoosie, far doon i' the glen.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 234:
The last farmer wudna aloo them aither strae or rashes tae theek them wi.Lnk. 1923 G. Rae Lowland Hills 27:
The aixtrae sheaf that willna' staun Aft maks the theekit stack to fa'.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 21:
Theekeet yins an sklaitteet yins.Bwk. 1947 W. L. Ferguson Makar's Medley 59:
Her hoosie 'twas weel harl't and theekit.

Hence (1) theeker, thicker, a thatcher (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1905 E.D.D.). Gen.Sc., obsol.; (2) theekin, the action of thatching, a covering of thatch (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Gen.Sc.), also attrib. as in theekin spurtle, the pronged instrument for packing thatch on a roof (Ayr. 1930). See Spurtle.(1) Dmf. 1706 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. (1887) 60:
To a Theaker for putin on the Thak.Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Traditions 67:
John being an excellent theeker.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 132:
Robin Rigging the theeker.(2) Bte. 1705 Rothesay T. C. Rec. (1935) II. 571:
Theiking strae for theiking ther part of the manss.Bwk. 1709 Household Bk. Lady G. Baillie (S.H.S.) lxiv.:
For hather and thicking of the church.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality vii.:
A fireside and theeking ower our heads.Sc. 1829 G. Robertson Recollections 79:
The theekin of straw and thin turfs was laid so closely as to make the whole water-tight.Knr. c.1860 H. Haliburton Horace (1926) 236:
An' noo's the time, wi' clean wheat strae, To mend the theekin' o' the hoose.Gall. 1882 J. Douglas Bk. Gall. 99:
The men that did that wark carried a theeckan-spurtle in the ae haun and a whinger in the ither.Slk. 1894 J. Bathgate Aunt Janet's Legacy 75:
It's just the theekin' blawn off.

3. Transf.: to cover as with thatch, to protect with any thick covering, as hair, clothes, etc., to cover. Also fig. Ppl.adj. theekit, covered with hair (Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.; Sh., ne., em.Sc.(a), wm., sm.Sc., Rxb. 1972); dressed, clad (Id.). Comb. Weel-theekit, fig., well-to-do, affluent (Lnk. 1972).Sc. 1781 Weekly Mag. (15 March) 306:
Wi' jockey coats our bodies theekit.Sc. 1802 Scott Minstrelsy II. 360:
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair We'll theek our nest when it grows bare.Dmf. 1805 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 784:
An' billie sangster o' Auld Reekie, May Heaven wi' ilka blessin' theik ye.Slk. 1827 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) xvii.:
Bread for the belly and theeking for the back.Ags. 1867 G. W. Donald Poems 22:
Theekit wi, hair like the birse o' a soo.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 96:
Noo bare as polished chuckie-stane My ance weel-theekit croun.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Lilac Sunbonnet xxxvii.:
Noo we'll theek ye, an' feed ye!Dmf. 1920 D. J. Bell-Irving Tally-Ho 90:
Shiverin' in front o' a big fire like an ill theekit whalp.ne.Sc. 1979 Alastair Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 64:
And haar theeks the sea...
I hae the sea's instability and showdin;
my centre is a swither, an unsiccar shakky foond.

4. To beat with a stick, sc. as a thatcher beats down thatch (Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.). Vbl.n. theikin, a thrashing (Id.). But the usage is poss. orig. due to a confusion of Thack, v.² with Thack, v.¹

II. n. 1. Thatch (Ayr. 1910; wm., sm.Sc. 1972).Dmf. 1873 A. C. Gibson Folk Speech Cmb. 123:
A hame to me was Lockerbie when half its roofs were theek.Edb. 1915 J. Fergus The Sodger 29:
Nae coothy cots wi' white-wash'd wa's weel Cover'd in wi' theek.

Combs.: (1) theek house, a thatched house; (2) theek-wye, a wisp of straw for thatching. See Thack, n., 3.(16) and Wass.(1) Sc. 1897 Scots Mag. (March) 277:
As canty and crouse and bien-like as the lowly theek hoosies of old.(2) Abd. 1952 Buchan Observer (23 Sept.):
If the thack sheaves, or theek-wyes, have to be drawn by hand.

2. Transf. any thick covering of foliage, hair, etc. (Ags., Per. 1972).Sc. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods 80:
Beeches an' aiks entwine their theek.Ags. 1915 V. Jacob Songs 4:
The glen an' its theek o' fairns.Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 56:
His tousled pow had naething But a theik o' Nature's rig.