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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

BUIT, BEET, BIT, Bute, Beut, n.¹, v.¹ Sc. forms of St.Eng. boot.

I. n. A covering for the foot. Gen.Sc.

1. Buit, Bute, Beut. [byt em.Sc.(a), sm.Sc., s.Sc.; bøt I.Sc., sn.Sc.]Sc. 1920 D. Rorie Auld Doctor 8:
When he cast his buits an' soopled his cuits Wi' a gude-gaun Gillie Callum!Sc. 1924 Edin. Evening News (24 April) 4/7:
I lay my butes upon the flaer Tae gie tired taes a stretch or twa.Sc. 1993 Herald 21 Aug 9:
Not just a pair of battered cowpuncher's buits, you understand, but fine, embossed brown leather specimens with pointed toes - the sort of stylish gear I would have sold my Buddy Holly collection for in the early sixties. Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 10:
Wha's aucht thir buits? Wha's awe thae shuin
that's sperfilt on the fluir?Ork. 1912 J. Firth in Old-Lore Misc., Ork., Sh., etc. V. iii. 113:
For his own personal comfort the farmer provided himself with straw beuts.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web v:
It's nae, it niver cud be, a creepie-crawlie scunner sprauchlin in frae anither culture, tae crush aneth the sole o yer buit.Ags.(D) 1922 J. B. Salmond Bawbee Bowden vii.:
An' I hiv a buit an' a nivfu' o' hair, but I think it's tow.em.Sc. 1988 James Robertson in Joy Hendry Chapman 52 72:
Weill, they sat an they spied, an the derk drew in, an their lang lyart bairds raxed doun tae their hochs, an on they sat, an a bit haar crap up on their sax auld buits, ... w.Dmf. 1908 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo (1912) i.:
An auld buit, wi' tackets in the sole o't, was lyin' aneath the table.

2. Bit. [bɪt em.Sc.(b), wm.Sc. + byt (obs. or obsol.)]Edb. 1870 J. Lauder Warblings, etc. 102:
A 'bawky box o' bleknin' fur my bits.Gsw. 1898 D. Willox Poems and Sketches 27:
Wiser-like if ye had bocht bits tae the weans than squander yer siller on sic trumphery as that.

3. Beet. [bit nn.Sc., mn.Sc.]ne.Sc. 1986 Peter Mowatt in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 156:
"Muckle need o't. Jimmy Tarves, dicht yer beets on the gerss afore ye gin in. Dinna haiver, jist dee't."Abd. 1924 A. M. Williams in Scots Mag. (April) 35:
Johnnie, is that yer new beets ye've on? . . . Weel, tak langer steps.

Dims.: (1) beetagie, “a small boot” (Cai.⁷ 1937); (2) beetie, idem; (3) Beetikin, q.v.(2) Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 374:
Gie the leddy yer airm, Momus. She has on thin beeties . . . an' they're nae jist the thing for gaun in a moss wi'.

4. Combs.: (1) beet-heid, “the upper of a boot” (Cai. 1911 John o' Groat Jnl. (2 June); Cai.⁷ 1937); (2) beet hose. See Boot-hose; (3) buit-mooth, the top of a boot.(3) Gsw. 1898 D. Willox Poems and Sketches 77:
The trousers barely reach ma buit-mooth, efter gieing them a' the length o' gallows I daur.

II. v. To provide with boots (Bnff.² 1937).Abd. 1933 J. H. Smythe Blethers o' Barrowsgate 16:
Noo, Dauvit wis souter an' sexton as weel, An' beetit or beeriet 'mang folk as they cam'.