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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BRAGGE, BRAIG, BRAUGE, v. and n. Sc. forms of St.Eng. brag. Now rare. The Eng. form is illustrated only where the meaning is peculiar to Sc. [brɑg, breg]

1. v.

(1) To challenge, to defy. Given in N.E.D. as obs. except dial.Sc. 1724–1727 W. Hamilton in Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1733) 206:
His boots they were made of the jag, When he went to the weapon-shaw, Upon the green nane durst him brag, The feind a ane amang them a'.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) xxii.:
So, after carhailing him, we bragged him to a race full gallop for better than a mile to the toll.Ayr. 1786 Burns Auld Farmer's Salutation vi.:
Kyle Stewart I could bragged wide, For sic a pair.

dd.(2) “To beat or overcome in a fight” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).Sc. 1866 T. Carlyle in Morning Star (4 April) 5/4:
He has great disciplined armies; he can brag anybody you like in your cities here.

(3) “To reproach, to upbraid. To boast and brag one, to threaten or sharply reprove one” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1706 Bonny Heck in J. Watson Choice Collection (1869) i. 70:
But now, good Sirs, this day is lost, The best Dog in the East-Nook Coast: For never ane durst Brag nor Boast me, for their Neck.n.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Ye need na brag me with her; you need not upbraid me by comparing my conduct to hers.Abd.(D) 1785 R. Forbes Ulysses' Answer in Sc. Poems 19:
The fates forbade your farrer march, An' sair they did you brag.Ags. 1815 W. Gardiner Poems and Songs, chiefly in Sc. Dial. 37:
Sic tearin' an swearin' An lugger-headed jaw, They bragg'd him an' snagg'd him, For wak'nin' o' them a'.Per. 1766 A. Nicol Poems 25:
For which he may brag me, and ca' me unjust.Edb. 1822 Caled. Mag. & Review I. 349:
Gude be thankit Kate's no alive now to brauge an' fin' faut.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 221:
They had neither minister nor magistrate, nor yet a burley-bailie to brag them wi' his tolbooth.

(4) “To dispute vociferously” (Mearns 1914 T.S.D.C. I., braig).

2. n.

(1) A challenge.Sc. a.1714 First Earl of Cromartie in Earls of Crm. (ed. Fraser 1876) II. 485:
The nixt morneing Foulls marched by, nevir getting the least nottice of Hector, but supossing him about Kinnellan to owin his bragge [redeem his challenge].Edb. 1909 Colville 128:
All enjoyed giving each other . . . challenges to difficult feats — the “brags” of Edinburgh and the “coosie” of Arbroath.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems and Songs 28:
Tho' bauld the brag and bauld the threat, We neither trembl'd nor look'd blate.

(2) The first or highest place or honour.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 149:
They span as for a premium, busked as for a brag.

Phr.: to bear the brag, to carry off the highest honour.Sc. 1724–1727 W. Hamilton in Ramsay T. T. Misc. (1733) 206:
Willy was a wanton wag, The blythest lad that e'er I saw, At bridals still he bore the brag, An carried ay the gree awa.