Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAWSANT, Bawsened, Bawsand, Bawsent, Bawsont, Bausent, Bausined, Bassened, Baisoned, Bastened, Bauson, Basined, adj. Having a blaze, a white spot or streak on the face, brindled; gen. used of animals, but applied also to men. [′bɑ:sən(d), ′bǫ:sən(d) Sc.; ′be:sənd sm.Sc.; ′bɒ:sənd s.Sc.; ′bɑstənd Cai. Final t is also heard for d.]Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shep. ii. i.:
Ye sald your Crummock, an' her bassen'd quey. Sc. 1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 115:
The stirk that stands i' the tether, And our bra' basin'd yade.Sc. 1824 R. K. Douglas Poems and Songs 111:
I've a hadden yont the law . . . A bassened yad and owsen twa.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 36–37:
Ilk kirn and fair, Clippin' and spainin', was a cheerier place For ae sicht o' his [the drover's] honest bawsened face.m.Sc. 1979 Tom Scott in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 89:
And that wad be a petie, wad it no,
for he's [the badger is] easy tamed, and wi his bawsont face
and eident, rootlin weys, he's entertainin
(tho treacherous and never to be trustit).Hdg. 1801 R. Gall Poems and Songs (1819) 31:
Till he wad fetch some neighbours roun', Wha wad their best assistance gie In seeking for the bawsand quey.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake, etc. 54:
For lassie bit cats, like their betters, ye ken, Are unco taen-on wi' the crack o' the men, An' jist for a blink o' a tam's bawsent face Wad let slip, owre the heid o't, a moose in the chase.Ayr. 1789 D. Sillar Poems 118:
Your bausent Cout, your Quey, an' rigget Cow, Right bein will keep a thrifty wife an' you.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 99:
Wad tap the hallan wi' his hazle kent, And, speer gin they had seen his bawsant ram.Kcb. 1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders xxxi.:
I ken the breed by the bonny baisoned face o' him.Slk. a.1835 J. Hogg Tales, etc. (1837) III. 12:
When I lookit again, there was a fine, plump, bausined roe-deer lying, an' the blude streamin' frae her side.

Comb.: bauson-faced, bastened-faced, with same meaning.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxviii.:
Ye might try it on the bauson-faced year-auld quey.Cai.¹ c.1920:
Bastened-faced, said of a horse with white shield in face.