Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAMLING, BEMLIN, adj. Used in the sense of clumsy or careless. [′bɛ:mlɪn Sh.; ′bɑmlɪ̢n Rxb.]Sh.⁴ 1933:
Horse! du Bemlin brute! (Peat-boy's address to a pony being pulled over marshy ground.)Rxb. 1825 Jam.²:
A bamling chield, an awkwardly-made, clumsy fellow.[Also given in Watson Rxb. W.-B. 1923 for n., s.Rxb. as obsol.]