Bay

Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary
web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html

BAY, sb.1 Irel. Yks. Chs. Der. Lei. Nhp. War. Shr.
Hrf. Bdf. Hrt. Nrf. Suf. Ess. Ken. Sur. Sus. Hmp. Wil.
Som. Also written bee s.Chs.1 [bē, beə.]
1. A division or space in a building between two main
beams; gen. applied to a barn or farm-building.
n.Ir. The bay is the distance or space from one ‘couple’ to
another. A house with one ‘couple’ would have two bays.
These bays seem only to mark the divisions of the roof, not
necessarily the ground space (A.J.I.). w.Yks. A row of cottages,
having five rooms to the front, is said to be of five bays, or five
bay, for the word does not appear to be used in the plural. So
a barn, of which the roof is divided by the main cross-beams into
five portions, is said to be of five bay, Hlfx. Wds.; w.Yks.1 We say
of anything valuable, ‘It's worth a bay of wheat.’ nw.Der.1 Lei.1
The vicarage house, consisting of five bayes, and a barn of five bayes,
a stable, and two other little bayes of building, Terrier of Claybrook
(1638) Nhp.1 A barn is said to consist of so many bays according
to the number of beams; each is termed a ten, fifteen, or twenty
feet bay in accordance with the space between each beam, and the
quantity of wheat lying on one side of a barn, or more correctly
between the main beams, is designated a bay of wheat; Nhp.2
War.3 Quite common. e.An.1 We speak of a barn, or a cart-lodge,
of so many bays. Suf. (C.T.), Suf.1, Sus.1 Sus., Hmp. Holloway.
Wil.1 w.Som.1 If an old roof required new covering in uncertain
weather, it would be usual to give orders only to strip one bay at
a time. It would gen. be about ten feet wide, but depending upon
the construction of the roof. Wee aa·n u-guut uun·ee bud waun
bai· u raef·turz vur tu fún·eesh [we have only got one bay of
rafters to finish].
2. The space between the threshing-floor and the end
of a barn, in which corn or straw is stored.
w.Yks.2 That part of a barn in which corn or straw is stored.
Chs.1 The old-fashioned barn consisted of a threshing floor, or barn
proper, in the middle, which was flagged, sometimes boarded, and
in a few of the very oldest buildings, made of a calcareous clay,
which was burnt and hardened into a kind of cement. On one
or both sides of the threshing floor was a bay for storing corn in
the sheaf. The bays were separated from the threshing floor by
a low wall, but were otherwise open to the barn. There are
plenty still in existence; Chs.3 A division, like a barn, only open
partially on two, three, or all sides, with a slate roof, where hay
is placed instead of being stacked in a hay-rick. It is something
synonymous with balks, except that in the latter case the hay is
completely under cover. s.Chs.1 A compartment communicating
with a barn by means of a large square opening in the wall. Der.2
nw.Der.1 That portion of many barns on one side of the thrashing
floor, extending from the floor to the roof, as distinguished
from the bawks on the other side which is the space over the
shippens or cow-houses. Shr. The air penetrates through all
parts of a bay surrounded with boards, Marshall Review (1818)
II. 238; Shr.1, Hrf.1 Bdf. A bay of corn, a part railed off from
barton, Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. (1809) Hrt. He had but
half a bay of wheat, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) V. i. Nrf., Suf.,
Ess. Morton Cyclo. Agric. (1863) Suf. Rainbird Agric. (1819)
288, ed. 1849. Ken. In the old-fashioned barns the middle is divided
from either side by boarded partitions about four feet high; these sides
so boarded off are termed bays (P.M.). Sur.1, Hmp. (J.R.W.),
Hmp.1 w.Som.1 That part of a barn which is gen. on each side of
the thrashing-floor; in this sense, no doubt, the space partitioned
off by the floor partakes of the nature of a recess. The word is
used to express the entire space on either side of the floor.
3. Comp. Bay-boards, (1) the boards which partition off
the middle of the barn from the bays; (2) the boards
which fit into the space between the doors of a barn and
the ground; (3) boards in an oast kiln to prevent the
hops falling out when the door is opened.
(1) Ken. In some places the boards which cover the space
between the bottom of the barn-door and the ground are called
rack-boards, while the term bay-boards is confined to the boards
which partition off the middle of the barn from the bays (P.M.).
(2) Ken. (P.M.); Ken.1 The large folding doors of a barn do not
reach to the ground, and the intervening space is closed by four or
five moveable boards which fit in a groove ─ these are called bay-boards.
(3) Ken. At the entrance to an oast kiln on the inner side
of the door there is a board about 2 ft. high ─ detachable, sliding in
grooves, to prevent the hops falling out when the door is opened;
this is called the bay-boards (P.M.).
4. One of the rooms of a cottage or one-storied house.
N.I.1, w.Yks.2
[1. A bay of building, mensura viginti quatuor pedum,
Coles (1679); Travée, a bay of building; the space and
length between the main beams of a room or between
two beams, COTGR. Fr. baie, OFr. baée, ‘ouverture béante’
(Hatzfeld).]

BAY, sb.2 and v.1 Ken. Sur. Sus. I.W. Wil. Dor. Som.
Dev. [bē, beə.]
1. sb. A dam or bank across a stream to keep back the
water; also the pool itself.
Ken. (P.M.) Sur.1 A pond-head, where the water is kept up to
drive a mill, or for ornamental purposes. Sus.1, I.W.2 n.Wil. These
[jacks] will leap a bay or dam if it interrupts their voyaging down
the stream. I have seen a young jack, about a foot long, leap over a
bay, and fall three or four feet on to the stony floor below, Jefferies
Wild Life (1879) 355. Wil.1 Dor. Barnes Gl. (1863) w.Som.1
Never applied to the water itself. In mixing mortar, it is usual to
make a circular bay of sand to retain the water poured on the lime.
A very common method of fish-poaching is to make a bay, at a dry
season, so as to divert the stream from a pool or a hole, and then
to dip out all the water in the pool, of course catching all the fish.
Dev. The stream falls over its rocky ledges into deep ‘bays,’ where
the clear brown water, after eddying round and round as if seeking
an outlet, checks its speed for a moment, Page Explor. Drtm.
(1889) xii.
2. v. To dam or keep back water; gen. used with
back.
Ken. (P.M.), Sur.1, Wil.1 w.Som.1 To bay back the water, is one
of the commonest of phrases. The wind bayed back the tide. Mr.
Baker 've a bayed back the water eens all o' it urnth down his ditch,
and we 'ant a got a drop vor the stock to drink. Dev. The water
was 3 feet in half an hour, and now you would have to bay back
the stream to get a bucket-full, Reports Provinc. (1881) 8.
[Bay, a dam to keep up water, Ash (1795); A bay (dam),
pila, moles, Coles (1679); Moile, a dam or bay of planks
whereby the force of water is broken, COTGR.; Baye or
penne is a pond-head made up of a great height to keep
in a great quantity or store of water; this word is mentioned
in the statute 27 Eliz. cap. 19, Cowell Interp. (ed.
1637); Bay, obstaculum, Prompt.]

BAY, sb.3 Nrf. Suf. [bē.] A squirrel's nest. Cf.
dray.
e.An.1, Nrf.1 Suf. N. & Q. (1852) 1st S. v. 67; White Selborne
(1788) 286, ed. 1853; Suf.1

BAY, sb.4 Som. Dev. [bē.] The second branch of a
stag's horn.
w.Som.1 n.Dev. Close to the head a point springs from the
beam and is curved upwards: this is called the brow-point. Just
over it a second starts, in shape resembling the first, but not so
long or large: this is called the bay, Jefferies Red Deer (1884) iv.
[Abbrev. for bay-antler. Surendouiller, the be-ancler
of a buck, the second branch on either of their heads,
COTGR. The prefixed bay, be- repr. Fr. bé-, bes-, Lat. bis.
The form with bez- is found: Bez-antler, the second
branch of a stag's horn next above the brow-antler,
Phillips (1706).]

BAY, v.2 and sb.5 Sc. Also Som. Dev. [bē.]
I. 1. v. Of stag or bloodhounds: to utter a long, deep
howl.
w.Som.1
2. To assail with barking.
w.Som.1 Hounds are said to bay a deer when they surround
him in some spot where they cannot get at him, but keep baying
at him. ‘Here the pack bayed him on a rock for an hour, and in
attempting to turn round he fell, and the hounds closed on him,’
Rec. n.Dev. Staghounds, 41. ‘We see below us our quarry,...
standing proudly on a rock surrounded by the flowing tide.
... The hounds bay him from the land,’ Collyns, 143.
3. sb. The long, deep howl of hounds when hunting.
w.Som.1 Of staghounds a man would say: Aay yuurd dhu bai·
oa-m [I heard their bay]. Dev. Soon would burst on his ear
that loud and welcome chorus called the ‘bay,’ Whyte-Melville
Katerfelto (1875) xxiii.
4. In phr. to break bay, of a stag: to get away after being
brought to bay.
Dev. There's a time for a deer to move,... a time for 'un to
stand at bay, and a time for 'un to break the bay, Whyte-Melville
Katerfelto (1875) xxv.
II. 1. v. To raise the voice loudly, gen. in weeping.
Bnff.1 The muckle bairnly breet o' a loon began t'bay an' greet
fin's mither geed awa. ‘Oot’ is sometimes added. The word
conveys the idea of childishness.
2. sb. The voice raised loudly, gen. used of weeping.
Bnff.1 He ga' a bay nae ordinar, fin he wiz pitten in amo' the
caul' wattir.
Hence (1) Bayan, vbl. sb. the act of raising the voice
loudly; (2) Bayin, ppl. adj. having the habit of raising
the voice loudly.
Bnff.1
[1. The wakefull dogs did never cease to bay, Spenser
F.Q. (1596) I. v. 30; This hounde bayeth at somwhat, ce
chyen aboye a quelque chose, Palsgr. (1530). 2. And by the
way continually they bay me, As hungrie wolues at
passengers doe howle, Drayton Leg. P. Gaueston (1596),
ed. 1613. Cp. OFr. abaier (mod.Fr. aboyer), ‘donner de la
voix’ (Hatzfeld).]

BAY, sb.6 Bnff.1 [bē.] An unseemly mass.

BAY, sb.7 ? Obs. e.Lan.1 Baize or coarse woollen
cloth.
[Bay is also a sort of woollen stuff made chiefly in
Colchester, where there is a hall, called the Dutch Bay-hall,
Chambers Cycl. (1727); The Flemish bay and say
makers petitioned to have free trade with London during
the siege (1648), Markham Fairfax (1870) 320. Fr. baie:
‘baye, the cloth called bayes’ (COTGR.). Cp. Du. ‘baey,
bayes or course-rugged cloath of a small price’ (Hexham).]

BAY, sb.8 Nhb. [bē.] An imaginary enclosure or
place of safety in outdoor games.
Nhb. Bays are used in three games at least. In Bedstocks (q.v.)
a marked-off place is called the bay, and into this bay the prisoners
are brought and lodged when captured. One warder on duty can
hold any number of captives provided he retains his foot upon
a stone opposite the bay. In the games of Pie-baal and in Widdy-widdy-way
(q.v.) the bay is a place of refuge. The player is
in danger only when outside the bay (R.O.H.); Nhb.1 Thoo canna
catch me, noo aa's i' the bay.

BAY, v.3 Cum. Wm. [bē.] To bend.
N.Cy.1 Cum. Lang willy-wands for hoops I yust to bay, Relph
Misc. Poems (1747) 13; Gl. (1851) Wm.&Cum.1
Hence Bay-ice, sb. ice thin enough to bend.
N.Cy.1
[To þe ich buwe and mine kneon ich beie, Hom. (c.
1250) I. 191; ȝef þu nult to ure wil buhen and beien,
Juliana (c. 1230) 27. OE. (Anglian) bēgan, to bend; WS.
bīegan (bīgan, bȳgan).]

BAY, sb.2 Cum. A weir; the still water above a
weir; the slack water on the inside of the curve of a river;
a lateral bight in a river bank; the part of a stream which
widens out as it enters a lake.
(E.W.P.); The hounds took the water at the bay,.. swam
right down the whole length of the bay... Made down to the bay
foot, where it left the deep water, Carlisle Patriot (Sept. 26,
1902) 8, col. 8.
Hence Bayland, sb. land bordering a river bight.
Bordering on the Waver are meadows called Baylands; the
stream here forming bights (E.W.P.).

BAY, sb.5 Sc. The sound caused by notes of birds.
Guid Sc. Dict. (ed. 1897).

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2. The space between the threshing-floor and the end
of a barn, in which corn or straw is stored.
w.Yks.2 That part of a barn in which corn or straw is stored.
Chs.1 The old-fashioned barn consisted of a threshing floor, or barn
proper, in the middle, which was flagged, sometimes boarded, and
in a few of the very oldest buildings, made of a calcareous clay,
which was burnt and hardened into a kind of cement. On one
or both sides of the threshing floor was a bay for storing corn in
the sheaf. The bays were separated from the threshing floor by
a low wall, but were otherwise open to the barn. There are
plenty still in existence; Chs.3 A division, like a barn, only open
partially on two, three, or all sides, with a slate roof, where hay
is placed instead of being stacked in a hay-rick. It is something
synonymous with balks, except that in the latter case the hay is
completely under cover. s.Chs.1 A compartment communicating
with a barn by means of a large square opening in the wall. Der.2
nw.Der.1 That portion of many barns on one side of the thrashing
floor, extending from the floor to the roof, as distinguished
from the bawks on the other side which is the space over the
shippens or cow-houses. Shr. The air penetrates through all
parts of a bay surrounded with boards, Marshall Review (1818)
II. 238; Shr.1, Hrf.1 Bdf. A bay of corn, a part railed off from
barton, Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. (1809) Hrt. He had but
half a bay of wheat, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) V. i. Nrf., Suf.,
Ess. Morton Cyclo. Agric. (1863) Suf. Rainbird Agric. (1819)
288, ed. 1849. Ken. In the old-fashioned barns the middle is divided
from either side by boarded partitions about four feet high; these sides
so boarded off are termed bays (P.M.). Sur.1, Hmp. (J.R.W.),
Hmp.1 w.Som.1 That part of a barn which is gen. on each side of
the thrashing-floor; in this sense, no doubt, the space partitioned
off by the floor partakes of the nature of a recess. The word is
used to express the entire space on either side of the floor.