Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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.
BOUK, Book, Bu'k, n.3 Also buik (Sc. 1867 N. Macleod Starling (1881) xviii.). Bulk, size, quantity. Gen.Sc. [buk Sc., but Abd. + bjuk]Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 35:
Saxty Pounds Scots Is nae deaf Nits: In little Bouk Lie great Bank-Notes.Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage II. x.:
Ane canna ca' their head their ain in't; for ye canna lift the bouk o' a prin, but they're a' upon ye.Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 122:
Gude gear gangs into little bouk.Ork. 1929 Marw.:
“There's no great b[ook] wi' him noo,” i.e. he has grown thin.Abd.4 1929:
The bouk o' a bee's blaider, the smallest particle.Dmf. 1925 W. A. Scott Vern. of Mid-Nithsdale in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 19:
Man, I wadna gie ye the bu'k o' my thoom.
Phr. to bear bouk, to look big (important).Lnk. 1798 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 108:
But he'll hae naething in his [pack] but . . . some auld breeks . . . maukin skins, ony thing that fills the bag and bears bouk.
