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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BOUCHT, BOUGHT, BUCHT, BUGHT, n.¹ and v.¹ Cf. Bought, n.¹ and v. [buxt, bʌxt, bʌuxt]

1. n.

(1) A bend of any kind, a fold; a knot; a coil of rope; a creek or bay in a river.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
“The bought of a blanket,” that part of a blanket where it is doubled. Where the sea forms a sort of bay, it is said to have a bought.Sc. 1899–1901 A Lassie Lives by Yonder Burn in R. Ford Vagab. Songs, etc. (1901) 26:
I'll ben the spence and dress a wee, Wi' knots and bughts sae gaudy.Rnf. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond Side 44:
I've fish't this bank baith up an' doun, Yon bucht I've whuppit roun' an' roun'.Ayr. 1914 (per Rnf.³); (also Bnff.² 1935):
The farm-workers speak about putting a “bucht” or twist on a rope.

(2) A length of fishing line, 40–50 fathoms (perhaps gauged by the number of coils).Sh. 1801 G. Goudie Diary of Rev. J. Mill (1889) 121–122:
As peace is made with Denmark, will prove a great blessing to this countrey, whence we have dales [deal planks], boats, Bughts etc. they can't be without.Sh. 1931 J. Nicolson Shet. Incidents and Tales 53:
Each sixaern [six-oared Norway skiff] was furnished with a “fleet” of lines, variably termed “tows” and “buchts,” and equalling 50 fathoms.

Comb.: boucht-knot, “a running knot; one that can easily be loosed, in consequence of the cord being doubled” (Sc. 1808 Jam.).

2. v. To bend in any way, to turn over, double.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Boucht, bought, to fold down.

Hence bouchting-blanket, boughting blankit, “a small blanket, spread across a feather bed, the ends being pushed in under the bed at both sides” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Ags. 1712 A. Jervise Land of the Lindsays, App. (1853) 341:
A boughting (cradle) blankit, a bolster.