Bow

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

BOW, v.1 Sc. Cum. Yks. Lin. Som. Dev. Cor. Also
written boo Sc. [bū.] To bend, to curve. Also used
fig.
Per. We'll bow our houghs and hae a crack, Nicoll Poems
(1837) 82, ed. 1843. Ayr. I never boo'd an e'e the whole nicht,
Service Dr. Duguid (1887) 87. Edb. Duncan was not so bowed
in the intellect as ye imagine, Moir Mansie Wauch (1828) xviii.
Dmb. It's a band between you and the gentleman, and ye see it is bow'd
awa to the left side, Cross Disruption (1844) xxiii. m.Yks.1 Bow
me that bough. n.Lin.1 w.Som.1 Muy·n yùe doan buw· dhu zuy·v
[take care you do not bend the scythe]. The word ‘bend’ is
unknown. Dev. Bow that piece of iron, w. Times (Mar. 12, 1886)
6, col. 4; Dev.1 n.Dev. Who'th bued thickkay handle? (F.A.A.)
nw.Dev.1 Thikky ire's all a-bue'd [very much bent].
Hence (1) Bow-bent, adj. stooping with age; (2)
Bowdie-leggit, adj. having bow legs; (3) Bowed, ppl.
adj. bent, crooked; (4) Bow-houghs, sb. crooked legs;
(5) Bow-houghed, adj. bow-legged; (6) Bowing-chaffs, sb.
distortion of the face by grimaces, &c.; (7) Bowings or
Bueings, vbl. sb. the joints, esp. the under-part of the knee-joints;
(8) Bowsie, sb. a term of contempt given to one
who is crooked.
(1) n.Yks. T'awd man gans bow-bent (I.W.). (2) Bnff. (W.G.)
(3) Sc. Many persons are still possessed by the notion that a bowyt
or crooked coin has luck attached to it (Jam. Suppl.). Per. (G.W.)
Ayr. A runt was like a sow-tail, Sae bow't that night, Burns
Halloween (1785) st. 4. Cor.1 A little bowed old man. (4) Abd.
(Jam.) (5) Ayr. She's bow-hough'd, she's hein shinn'd, Burns
Willie's Wife, st. 3. Lth. The puir auld brute's bow-houghed an'
blin', Ballantine Poems (1856) 130. Cum. I seed thee last neet
wi' bow-hough'd Peat, Anderson Ballads (1805) 105, ed. 1808;
Linton Lake Cy. (1864) 298. (6) Or.I. (Jam. Suppl.) (7) Dev.
w. Times (Mar. 12, 1886) 6, col. 4; Dev.1 Cor.1; Cor.2 I've got
such pains in my bowings. (8) Dmf. (Jam.)
[The yerde is bet that bowen wole and winde Than
that that brest, CHAUCER Troilus, i. 257.]
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BOW, sb.1 Var. dial. uses in Sc. and Eng.
1. The arch of a bridge or gateway, an archway.
Sc. Four-and-twenty bows in the auld brig o' Callander, Chambers
Pop. Rhymes (1870) 252. Yks. (F.M.L.) w.Yks.5 The magnificent
archway entrance to a palace, or any arcade attaching thereto,
would both be bows simply, though they might be ‘grand bows
fursŭre.’ n.Lin.1, sw.Lin.1 Som. Jennings Obs. Dial. w.Eng.
(1825); (J.S.F.S.); W. & J. Gl. (1873). Dev. He recollected
very well seeing poor George Philp and his high-minded wife
pass under the church-bow, Bray Desc. Tamar and Tavy (1836)
III. 150.
2. Comp. (1) Bow-bridge; (2) Bow-brig, a one-arched bridge,
as distinguished from one formed of planks or long stones.
(1) n.Yks.2, w.Yks.1 (2) Abd. (Jam.)
3. An instrument for shooting arrows; in comp. (1)
Bow-arrow, a bow and arrow; (2) Bow-bearer, a forest
official.
(1) s.Chs.1 (2) Not. Bow-bearer and Ranger ─ Lord Byron,
Marshall Review (1814) IV. 151.
4. The wooden yoke by which oxen were attached to
the plough, &c.; the loop in front of the yoke of a harrow,
to which the drawing-chain is attached.
Abd. (Jam.) s.Pem. Laws Little Eng. (1888) 419. Som. (W.F.R.)
Cor.3
5. A fiddler, a player.
Rnf. Few bows wi' my ain guidman Could play strathspey or
reel, Young Pictures (1865) 14. Kcd. Three bows fae well-accordit
strings Drew nae uncertain soun', Grant Lays (1884) 63.
6. The lower lip when it hangs down pettishly. e.Lan.1
7. A willow twig bent in the form of a crescent to which
a fishing-net is fastened.
Lin. Still in use, but now gen. made of iron instead of willow
(J.C.W.). n.Lin.1
8. A piece of cap-wire used to make the border of a
woman's cap stand out.
Lin. Still in use but not common, as these large caps are only
worn by a few old women (J.C.W.). n.Lin.1
9. An old-fashioned high fire-guard.
War.3 Have you put the bow round the fire in the children's
room? Shr.1 Rings usually encircle the top rod of the bow for the
children to play with.
10. The semi-circular handle of a pail, &c. In pl. the
hoops on which the tilt of a wagon or cart is supported.
Kcd. Tradition says, into this pot A golden vessel lies; And Miltown
once did see the bow, Jamie Muse (1844) 23. n.Yks.1,
n.Lin.1
11. Comp. (1) Bow-kite, a large can with a cover; (2)
Bow-skep, a coarse bowl-shaped basket with a bowed handle.
(1) Yks. Grose (1790) MS. add. (2) n.Yks.2
12. The handle of a key, scissors, &c.
w.Yks. (C.V.C.) n.Lin.1 For mendinge the bowe of the church
dore key iiij d, Louth Church Acc. (1628) IV. 35. sw.Lin.1
13. A piece of wood used to hinder a pig, &c., from
getting through a hedge.
n.Yks. We mun put a bow on t'pig (I.W.).
14. pl. Obsol. Sugar-tongs.
Sc. Existing only in the recollection of old people (Jam.).
15. The antler or point which grows from the front of
a stag's horn, nearest to the head.
w.Som.1 A warrantable stag has bow, bay, and tray antlers, Rec.
n.Dev. Staghounds, 9.
16. Comp. Bow-saw, a thin fret-saw, fixed in a frame
with semi-circular handle. (Jam.)
17. In phr. (1) to go over or through the bows, to behave
in a disorderly manner, to go beyond bounds; (2) to
bring up to one's own bow, to bring up in one's own
methods and habits; (3) to take through the bows, to call
to a severe reckoning; (4) to err on the bow-hand, to fail in
a design.
(1) Bnff.1 He's fairly through the bows wee drink. She's gane
a' through the bows wee pride an' ill naiter. Abd. Gin we be
lickly to gae owre the bows, Alexander Johnny Gibb (1871) xxvii.
(2) Shr.1 I'd rather take a young girl as 'ad never been out;
I could sooner bring 'er up to my own bow. (3) Abd. (Jam.)
(4) Sc. I would you would cease your fruitless efforts of serving
one, whom there is no chance of ultimately assisting.... You have
now erred as far on the bow-hand, Scott Nigel (1822) iv.
[4. As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse his curb, and
the falcon her bells, so man hath his desires, Shaks. As
You, III. iii. 80; His oxen or horses and the geare that
belongeth to them; that is to say, bowes, yokes, Fitzherbert
Husb. (1534) 14. 12. L'anneau d'une clef, the
bow (or upmost part) of a key, COTGR.]
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BOW, sb.2 and v.2 Obsol. Chs.
1. sb. An instrument used in hatting, made of a pole
about 6 feet long, with projecting pieces at each end, over
which is drawn a string of catgut.
Chs.1 This was formerly used for opening out and spreading the
materials from which the hat bodies were made. In ‘bowing’ the
materials for hat bodies the ‘bow’ is taken in the left hand and
the ‘bow-peg’ in the right. The string of catgut is pulled by the
end piece of the bow-peg, and then let go (s.v. Twang).
2. Comp. Bow-peg, a wooden instrument with cross-pieces
at each end, used with the bow in spreading out
the materials of which a hat is made. Chs.1
3. Obs. A species of flexible ash fixed over a cooper's
lathe, and connected with the treadle, now superseded by
a wheel. Chs.1
4. v. To use the bow for spreading the materials used
in making hats.
Chs.1 [The body maker commenced operations, and for bowing,
basining, boiling, and planking he received in 1805 8s. per dozen,
Hist. Denton Chapel in Chet. Soc. (1855) xxxvii.]
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BOW, sb.3 and v.3 Sc.
1. sb. A buoy.
Sh.&Ork.1 Sh.I. (Jam. Suppl.) Bnff.1 When a line is shot,
a buoy or bow is attached to each end.
2. Comp. (1) Bow-keg, a small keg used as a buoy; (2)
Bow-row, a fishing term: the row from one buoy to another
when a line breaks and the fisherman goes to haul it from
the other end; (3) Bow-tow, a buoy-rope.
(1) Sh.&Ork.1 (2) Bnff.1 We brook wir line the day, an' we
hid a bow-row. (3) Sh.&Ork.1
3. The iron which passes through the lead-stone from
which the hooks hang. Sh.&Ork.1
4. v. To buoy up, to fasten buoys to.
Sh.&Ork.1 Sh.I. (Jam. Suppl.)
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BOW, sb.4 Sc. Wm. Also written boll (Jam.). Sh.&Ork.1
1. A house, a dwelling; cattle-fold.
Or.I. The principal farm house on an estate is in a great many
instances called the boll or bow (Jam.). Wm. Kirkby-Stephen and
Appleby Monthly Messenger (Apr. 1891).
2. Comp. Bow-man, a cottager, a ploughman.
Or.I. The amount... a cottager or bollman and his wife can
earn, Stronsay Statist. Acc. xv. 415 (Jam.); Ellis Pronunc. (1885)
798. Sh.&Ork.1
Hence (1) Bower, sb. the manager of a dairy farm; (2)
Bowing, vbl. sb. a small holding or lease of a farm in grass,
with the live stock on it; the care of a dairy. Cf. booin.
(1) Ayr. Left her there wi' the bouar's wife, Service Notandums
(1890) 103; Jamie bode wi' the bower, Johnston Kilmallie (1891)
I. 38. (2) Sc. The ‘bower’ of the present time, whose holding is
called a ‘bowing,’ N. & Q. (1873) 4th S. xii. 337; Morton Cyclo.
Agric. (1863). Ayr. They might get the bowing of some small
farm, Johnston Glenbuckie (1889) 214.
[Norw. dial. bōl, an abode (very freq. in local names)
(Aasen); ON. bōl.]
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BOW, see Bo, Boar, Boll.
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BOW, sb. Sc. Irel. Wor. Cor. 1. In comp. (1) Bow-raun,
a hoop with a skin stretched over it, used for
winnowing or carrying corn; also called Weight (q.v.);
(2) Bow-ribbed, bent or curved in the ribs or spars; (3) Bow-sprit,
fig. the nose; (4) Bow-traces, the thiller's traces, which are
supported by an iron bow which goes across the pad or
saddle of the thiller.
(1) Ir. Simmons Gl. (1890) (s.v. Waught). (2) Abd. It's
[an umbrella] auld an' casten an' bow-ribbit, Macdonald Sir Gibbie
(1879) xxxii. (3) Edb. Wi' sic a rap he tumbl'd down; His bowsprit
brake, Liddle Poems (1821) 165. Cor. The Cove ‘bo'sprit’ was
a point of honour only to be touched by alien fingers; and it was
all the more sacred because the Cove nose had a reputation for its
length, and in family quarrels... was easily pulled, Harris Our
Cove (1900) 39. (4) s.Wor. (H.K.)
2. See below.
Abd. A yoke lay on the neck of each pair of oxen; and a ‘bow,’
consisting of a piece of ash, birch, or willow, bent to the proper
shape, surrounded every separate ox's neck. The points of the
‘bows’ were stuck upwards through the yoke and securely
fastened to that position, Alexander Rur. Life (1877) 35.