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.
†BEEN-HOOK, n. (See quots.) Obs. in Marwick's time (1929). [′bin-høk]Ork. 1842 Stat.Acc.2 95 Note:
Part of the rent paid by a cottar for his land is work all harvest; but besides his own labour, he must bring out his wife three days, for which she receives nothing but her food. All the women on a farm are called out at the same time. They work together and are called been-hooks, and the days on which they work been-hook days.Ork. 1866 Edm. Gl.:
Been-hook, the harvest-work a tenant was compelled to give his landlord in part payment of his rent.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
Been-hook, a cottar (or his wife) who was under an obligation to some farmer to go and help in the harvest field when called upon. Each large farm had so many “been-hooks.”
