Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
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.

BEUL(D), BUIL, Bool. n. and v. [bøl(d)]

1. n. A place of shelter for animals; a stall.Ork. 1845 R. Scarth in Stat. Acc.² 95 Note:
Buil, one of the divisions or stalls of a stable.Ork. 1910 J.T.S.L. in Old-Lore Misc., Ork., Sh., etc. III. ii. 75:
Horse dealers . . . built their peat stacks in circles for the purpose of being used as . . . “beulds” in which to drive the horses when one or more had to be caught for delivery to the purchasers.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Ork. Par., Gtoss. (1922):
Beul, a place to lie down or rest [in].Ork. 1929 Marw.:
The horse wad no let him enter the b[uil]. Every b[uil] was bedded thick wi' strae.Ork. 1995 Orcadian (19 Jan.)  26:
I do not know how modern calves are reared on farms in the winter-time, and our calves were not reared for veal; but until the time came when they could go out to grass, our calves were tied by the neck in stalls or buils. Only the newest calf had a loose-box.

2. v. “To drive cattle, etc., to their stalls, or to a comfortable place outside in the fields or hills where they may have shelter during the night” (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Sh. 1771 Kirk Session Rec. Walls & Sandness (1 June):
The said sow with 2 Gryses was Bool'd in Furdail about Dimset. Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 105:
Gin I could grip an' forsal Tangy, An' beuld him i' the yaird o' Hangy.Ork. c.1912 J. Omond Orkney 80 Years Ago 6:
In Sanday the people beuld or shut up the fairies in a lee place and so got rid of them for a while.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Ork. Par. (1922) 2:
The meadow . . . where the flocks of geese . . . were beulded every night during the summer months.

Comb.: beulding pin. (See quot.)Ork. c.1912 J. Omond Orkney 80 Years Ago 7:
Each toon [i.e. township] had a beulding pin — a piece of wood like a stake with a string fastened through a hole in the end of it to hang it up by. It was passed from house to house and in whatever house the pin was the people were expected to attend to the beulding that night.