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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.

BANEFIRE, n. Bonfire.Ork. 1842 D. Vedder Poems 140:
Let banefires blaze on the Wardlaw height, Unyoke baith pleugh an' cart bedeen.
Crm. 1714 First Earl of Crm. in Earls of Cromartie (ed. Fraser 1876) II. 152:
Is it not lawfull for heartie people to set up banefires when they please?
Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 42:
Banefires. Bonfires; fires of joy.
Rxb. (Hawick) c.1830 J. Ballantyne Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud:
And for to mend his auld fail dykes Aw'll leave him ma auld banes; And a' the callants o' Hawick Loan Wull make banefires o' mei — Aw'm Pawkie Paiterson's auld grey yaud, Sae that's the end o' mei!
Rxb. 1888 J. A. H. Murray N.E.D.:
For the annual midsummer “banefire” or “bonfire” in the burgh of Hawick, old bones were regularly collected and stored up, down to c.1800.

[O.Sc. banefire, benfire, beanfire, etc. O.E. bān + fȳr, a fire of bones. Mid.Eng. banefyre ignis ossium (Catholicon Anglicum 1483).]

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"Banefire n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 23 Nov 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/banefire>

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