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.
BAET, BET, BEAT, n.1. A plaited bunch of dried stalks of grass or bent or straw. [bet (Jak.), Sh.4]Sh. 1899 J. Spence Sh. Folk-Lore 179:
He sits by the round fire, with a baet o' gloy [straw] . . . winding it may be simmonds [a two strand plaited rope] . . . for his maeshies [baskets].Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Bet . . . a small bundle of straw (dried straw: gloy), coarse grass (bent) or dried rushes (floss).Ork. c.1912 Jas. Omond Orkney 80 Years Ago 18:
In winter evenings each labourer was expected to wind a beat or sheaf of bent into bands.Ork. 1912 J. Firth in Old-Lore Misc., Ork., Sh., etc. V. iv. 160:
For a neighbour to come in with his baet o' bent, and wind his cord as he retailed the latest gossip or discussed the news from the toon was a common occurrence.
