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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAUL(D), Bawl, Bald, adj. [bɑld I.Sc., sn.Sc., Per.; bɑ:l Cai., Abd. + bɑld; bǫl(d) wm.Sc.; bǫld Lth.; bɒld Peb., bɒ:l sm.Sc., s.Sc. + bɑld; bɑul Ant. The vowel may be of medium or full length.]

1. Courageous, audacious, fiery-tempered, energetic in performance, as bold in St.Eng. Gen.Sc.Ork. 1854 D. Vedder Poems (1878) 15:
The mornings e'e saw mirth an' glee I' the hoary feudal tower O' bauld Sir Alan Mortimer.Cai. 1932 “Caithness Forum” in John o' Groat Jnl. (22 Jan.):
A widna lek til be so bawl as til ask fat they wir daen New Year's nicht.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood v.:
My faither was a bauld man, but he wadna have stirred a fit over his ain doorstep on the night o' Rood-Mass for a king's ransom.m.Sc. 1976 Walter Perrie A Lamentation for the Children (1977) 10:
When The Strike wis oan in twenty-six the baul Tam (aye up tae his tricks) ... Per. 1869 Songs of Lady Nairne (ed. C. Rogers) 41:
Lane, on the winding Earn, there stands An unco tow'r, sae stern an' auld, . . . Ance refuge o' the Wallace bauld.w.Lth. 1724 Hamilton of Bangour Poems, Braes of Yarrow (ed. 1850) 9:
O'er rashly bald, a stronger arm Thou met'st, and fell on the Braes of Yarrow.Lnk. 1893 T. Stewart Among the Miners 111:
What though it's rough, or frail, or aul', It hauds a gem, a spirit baul'.Gall. 1929 Gallovidian, Bauldy at the Toll Bar Shop 84:
The verra thocht o' beer aye mak's me feel soople an' bawl.

2. Strong, stormy; of things.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxix.:
The brandy hadna been ower bauld for your brain, Major Galbraith.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 81:
When the win's grow cauld, when the burns grow bauld.

3. Strong, in good health.w.Dmf. 1894 J. Shaw in Trans. Dmf. Gall. Antiq. Soc. 143:
“Are you bauld?” signifies “Are you in good health? Are you strong?”

4. Of a fire: burning fiercely, hot, also fig. of a burning thirst (Sc. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 12, a bauld drouth).