A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2000 (DOST Vol. VIII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
S(c)hit(t, n. Also: schet; s(c)heitt(e, shite. [ME schit- (a1250), schyt (1387), OE scitte diarrhoea.]
1. a. Excrement from the bowels; a turd. b. Diarrhoea.a. a1585 Polwart Flyt. 761 (T).
Fonnd flytter, scheitt [H. shite] schytter, baccoun bytter, befyld! a1600 T. Maitland in Watson's Coll. ii 54.
Ill shapen shit 1618 Trial Isobel Inch 14.
Ye brocht with you under your plaides … the thing that ye callit to me ane pharisie, quhilk was blak dyn cullourit, lyk unto ane aip or ane schittb. c1500 Makc. MS xiii 18.
Hoc lientarium, schet
2. Applied, dyslogistically or in contempt, to a person.See also Schitten ppl. adj.a1508 Kennedy Flyt. 496 (B).
Ane crabbit skabbit evil faicit messane tyk Ane schitt a1605 Montg. Flyt. 79 (T).
Schort mischappin schit [H. schitt] that schuip sick ane swnȝie Ib. 385.
The weird sisteris saw the schaip of that schit [: fit; H. sheitte] 1675 Kingarth Par. Rec. 103.
He had basely slanderd him calling shit, thief, beast
3. attrib. or comb. In shitt bairn, ? a child unable to control its bowel movements.1650 Maxwell Mem. I 358.
Shitt bairnes cured by her salve
