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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

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.

BUIST, Büest, n.¹ Also böst, baist. [bust Sc.; bøst I.Sc., sn.Sc.; b(j)ust ne.Sc., but Abd. + buʃt; byst m.Sc.; best Fif.]

1. “A box or chest” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); “a small box” (Ork. 1845 Stat. Acc.² XV. 95; Ork., Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.: Abd.², Ags.¹ 1937, obs.).Sh. 1888 Edmonston and Saxby Home of a Naturalist 39:
The “Büest” . . . was an oval box, prettily carved and stitched (as it were) together by withes. . . . In it our mother kept her baby-gear.Abd. 1900 A. F. Moir in Scots Mag. (March 1934) 440:
Few houses were without the “buist,” an open box containing a very varied collection of tools.Mearns 1822 G. Menzies Poems (1854) 136:
O' a' the various kinds o' sorrow Within the buist o' famed Pandora.Hdg. 1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 26:
An' frae the willow buist did scatter A tate o' meal upo' the water.

Combs.: (1) meal-baist, a meal-chest (Fif. 1957); (2) Norrowa böst, a small carved box for trinkets, etc., made in Norway; (3) tar-buist, “the box in which the tar [for branding sheep] is kept” (Sc. 1825 Jam.², s.v. buistin'-iron).(2)Sh. 1964 Sh. Folk Book IV. 7: 
The "kyist-lids" made convenient shelves for accomodating domestic and culinary articles when not in use, such as the "bakin-weight" and "bottle", "denner-troch," "Norrowa böst".

†2. “A coffin; nearly antiquated, but still sometimes used by tradesmen” (Lth. 1808 Jam.).

Hence buist-maker, “a coffin-maker; a term now nearly obsolete” (Ib.).

3. fig. A strong, coarse person or animal.Ags. 1930 “A Kennedy” Orra Boughs xxiv.:
It's hard to be the first o' a breed o' buists and trallops that ever had a thocht tae clink against anither.Lnk. 1825 Jam.²:
He's a buist of a fallow, He is a gross man; That's a buist of a horse, a strong-bodied horse.