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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

BIRK, v.2 To move energetically, or restlessly.Ayr. 1790 A. Tait Poems and Songs 39:
Away they birk, The Patron places a' sic beasts Into the kirk.Ayr. 1836 C. Lockhart Poems on Various Subjects 14:
I followed him, to Turfy's he did birk, We gat a room there seated like a kirk.Dmf. 1920 J. L. Waugh Heroes in Homespun (1921) 127:
He used to watch me gaun birkin' through the hoose mutterin' what I wad dae wi' them.

[See etym. note to Birk,n.3]

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