A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1400, 1499-1586
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Belly, Bally, n. Also: ballye, baly, bayly; bellie, belley, bely. [ME. bali, baly (e.m.E. bally) and bely, belly (e.m.E. bellie, bellye), OE. bæliᵹ, beliᵹ, varr. of bælᵹ, belᵹ bag.] The belly (of men or animals).(a) a1400 Legends of the Saints xii. 280 (his balful bayly byrste in twa). a1500 Henr. Orph. 180 (a grisely gripe his bally throu can bore). c1520-c1535 Nisbet II. 186 marg. (Paull callis the bally thar Gode). 1572 Inverness B. Rec. I. 211 (in the guttis and ballye).(b) c1515 Asloan MS I. 214/10 (his belly raif). 1513 Doug. ii. i. 72 (the braid belly schudderit); iii. viii. 143 (Ethna abufe his belly set). 1562-3 Winȝet I. 30/17 (to the seruice of our belliis). 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 187 (ay quhill thair belleis ryue). 1575 Reg. Privy C. II. 464 (drawin swordis haldin to thair belleis). a1570-86 Maitland Folio MS clxxviii. 124 (a buist to mak thair bellie round).fig. 1558-66 Knox II. 166 (wolves, theaves, murtheraris, and idillbelleis). 1568 Pref. Lyndesay 8 (idil bellyis, dum doggis). 1563-1570 Buch. Wr. 24 (promotioun of ydill belleis to benefices).
b. Blak Belly, the name of a fiend.Cf. bellie basie in Rowll Cursing 260. c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxvi. 30.
Blak Belly and bawsy Broun
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"Belly n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Apr 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/belly>
