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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BROD, Broad, n.¹, v.¹ [brɔd, brod]

I. n.

1. A board. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1709 Abd. Burgh Records (1872) 338:
The said day, the counsell appoynted the haill mortificationes to be extended on broads.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 6:
He gied a lang sook on the kinnelt baccy, wi yon dry hoast on the oot-braith efter't, syne rammed the tings o the fork inno the heid o the bale cowpit doon onno the brods o the cairt.Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 43:
Richt on time. An here's a braw wally place for practisin. This loan'll be our brods. Thir haw busses our chyngin chaumer, an we'll dae it the wey we'll dae it fornenst the Duke. Fif. 1894 J. W. M'Laren Tibbie and Tam 12:
Thae were confronted at ilka turn by birkies wi' broads afore and ahint them, whilk announced in airm-lang letters that the renowned Tibbie MacCrowdie wad ascend — weather permitting or no'.Edb. 1915 J. Fergus The Sodger, etc. (1916) 28:
An' syne the brods aneath my feet Creak like the greetin' o' a wean.Rxb. 1868 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 33/2:
It's as fit to be yokit i' the cart as ever ye was to be inside the brods o' a poopit.

2. The table used for meals (Bnff.², Lnk.³ 1936).Sc.(E) 1926 “H. M'Diarmid” Penny Wheep 58:
S'ud ye ha'e to gi'e His supper to God What like fare 'Ud ye set on the brod?Rnf. 1792 A. Wilson Watty and Meg iv. in Poems (1816):
Owre a broad' wi' bannocks heapet, Cheese, and stoups, and glasses stood.

3. A shutter (Ags.¹ 1936, obs.).Ags. 1704 Dundee Pres. Records (22 May):
Two bands for the broads and two lozens of ye glass.

Comb.: wundow brod, winnock-, idem.Hdg. 1876 J. Teenan Song and Satire 34:
I've twa bits o' wud like wee wundow brods For keepin' thegether my books.Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems (1791) 226:
An' Nature's winnock-brods are closin' Across the lift.

4. The board (cover) of a book. Mostly used in pl. Gen.Sc.Abd.⁴ 1929:
Tak' care o' the brods o' that beuk, lassie.Fif. 1711 D. Beveridge Culross (1885) II. 68:
Which book is marked in gilded letters on the broads or covert thereof.Lth. 1831–1841 “J. Strathesk” More Bits from Blinkbonny (1885) 226:
She kens a' that's in that book frae brod to brod.

5. A board used in a game, esp. the draughtboard or Dambrod, and the Tod and Lamb Board (see Tod). Gen.Sc.Fif. 1895 “G. Setoun” Sunshine and Haar (1898) ix. vi.:
There's the brod an' men, an' here's the table.

6. (1) A church collection-plate. Known to Bnff.², Abd.¹⁹, Ags.¹ (obs.), Slg.³, Fif.¹ 1936.Bnff. 1723 in Trans. Bnffsh. Field Club (1891) 31:
Ane box and brod for collections and for keeping the poors' money.Fif. 1894 J. Menzies Our Town 71:
They passed inside at once, not neglecting on the way to drop their contribution into the “brod” or collection plate.

(2) Extended to mean the money from the church collection which is given to the poor of the parish (Bnff.² 1936).Abd.(D) 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xvi.:
They wud thraten to fill a destrick wi' peer fowk — the brod cud never keep the tae half o' them.

7. A committee or council (Bnff.², Fif.¹⁰ 1936).Sh.(D) 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 2:
Da Eddication Scotlan' Ack, Schule Brods, an' compulsary rules!Abd.(D) 1926 P. Giles in Abd. Univ. Review (March) 111:
You young chiels 'at hiv been fesn up aneth the Skweel Brod count b' the nummer of the 'ears.Ags.(D) 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) xv.:
We're genna be like the Skule Brod efter this, Bawbie.

8. The lid of a pot.Bnff. 1850 Bnffsh. Jnl. (9 April):
Gin for a pottie ye mak a brod.Ags. 1912 A. Reid Forfar Worthies, etc. x.:
Then, these very weavers would have on their brots, which they would no more think of calling a brat than they would of calling their brod, or pot-lid, a brad.

9. “A piece of wood covered with sandpaper used for sharpening a scythe” (Mry.¹ 1925).Bnff. 1882 W. M. Philip K. MacIntosh's Scholars vii.:
The sturdy ploughmen . . . gave them [the scythes] a few finishing strokes of the “brod.”

10. Combs.: †(1) broadhead (see quot.); (2) wattir brod, the board on which the water vessels stood.(1) Per. 1763 Ochtertyre House Booke of Accomps (ed. Colville 1907) 248:
2 small broadheads. [Broadheads seems to be for boardheads (Colville (ed.)).](2) Sh.(D) 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 112:
“Here's da fool,” I said, an' I laid him apo' da wattir brod wi' his neck hingin' oot ower.

11. Phr.: brods and bauk, the platform of a weighing machine. See Bauk,¹ Phrases (2).Sc. 1746 Caled. Mercury (28 July):
Several Triangles, Balks, Broads and Half-hundred Weights, &c. to be rouped within the Coal-market at the Foot of Marlin's Wynd.

12. A playing card, gen. in pl. Ayr. 1960:
Get out the brods, boys.

II. v.

1. To cover with a lid.Sh. 1898 Shet. News (19 March) (E.D.D. Suppl.):
Broddin' da kettle, an' settin her doon at Bawby Green's side.Sh.(D) 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 157:
Yonder is dy supper brodid i' da kettle at da fire.

2. To split into layers. Cf. Boord, v., and Bort, v.Mearns³ 1923:
An old man, over 80, who was born and bred and has lived practically all his life in this county, spoke of the stone of a certain quarry near Fettercairn as broddin gey easy.