Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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.
Quotation dates: 1870-1933, 1986-1996
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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'.
