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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.

BIRSLE, BIRSEL, BIRSTLE, v.¹ and n. Also birssle, brizzle. [′bɪ̢̈rs(ə)l, ′bʌrs(ə)l]

1. v. To broil on the fire; to scorch: to warm thoroughly, to toast. Gen.Sc. Also ppl.adj.Sc. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage (1826) I. xxv.:
Ye gang aw skiltin' about the streets half naked, an' than ye maun sit an' birsle yoursels afore the fire at hame.Sc. 1991 William Wolfe in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 65:
Syne frae deep inby the deid volcano
A swippert lowe birsles the bydan nicht an
Skreichs an eldricht weird ower the warld. Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 27:
Yon whuf o birsilt flesh that A'm
that pairtial til, wul fair gang roun
ma hert an serr me weill aneuch!Sh.(D) 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 11:
Dat's no true, or doo's birsled dem i' da aimers.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 61:
Sae she brizzled the mulls on de co'ls.Abd. 1931 D. Campbell Uncle Andie 31:
Kennack. — Sassage an' stovies aye gie me the hairt-burn. Dooglie. — Haud at them, than, an' birstle oot yer hairt a'thegither.Abd. 1991 David Ogston in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 117:
... the days gaed bleezin by
In simmer heat that birsled skin
An powkit doon intae the marra o ye. Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 54:
A pauchle o bleck steered aside me. "Ma?" said ma loonie. His face wis that birssled, I cudna makk oot far his een war. His hauns war swalled like puddens, sypin pus.Ags. 1824 Literary Olio (10 Jan.) 11 /1:
Bid him come ben And birsle his hands at the low.m.Sc. 1932 Matt Marshall in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills (1982) 10:
Or the bracken birstled yellow wi the sun?
O the moon abune the lochan.Lth. 1868 Ellis E.E.P. V. 724:
Birsle yer taes at the ingle.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 83:
Now whan the Dog-day heats begin To birsel and to peel the skin.

ppl.adjs. birselt, birsled, birs(t)let, scorched, warmed, toasted, and birslin(g), scorching, completely dry. Gen.Sc. [′bɪ̢̈rsəlt, ′bɪ̢̈rslɪn]Mry.¹ 1925:
A birstlet haddy; birslet taties.Bnff. 1866 W. Gregor D.Bnff. 11:
Will the corn lead the day? Oo, i, it's jist birslin'.Ib.:
The claise are birslin' (or birslin'-dry). Gang an' wattir thim.Ags. 1883 J. Kennedy Poems (1899) 154:
An' scowder'd bannocks, birselt brown, An' tatties i' the skin.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 31:
An' the sun-birsled street, giein' pain to the feet, Is a' that we ken o' the simmer.Fif. 1908 Colville 122:
The fir-cones . . . turned out their recesses to the birsling sun.Edb. 1917 T. W. Paterson Wyse-Sayin's o' Solomon xxi. 19:
Better hae yer dwallin on a bare, birslet knowe-heid, Than in-ower wi' ony fykie an' yaffin wumman.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 43:
He took me a flowff i' the haffet with his loof, and stottit awa like a birsled pea!

2. n.

(1) Specially used of that part of a potato which has become brown and hard, after being boiled, through contact with the side of the pot.Lnk.³ 1934:
The bairns fecht for the birsles o' the tattie pot.

(2) A thorough warming.Bnff. 1866 W. Gregor D.Bnff. 11:
The bairn's caul'; sit doon afore the fire, and gee't a gueede birsle.

(3) fig. A reproach, gibe.Sc. 1819 J. Rennie St Patrick II. x. 191:
Ye wad . . . haud him up in snysts an' birsles till the maw o' him's as fu' as a cout amang clover.