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BEEK v. to warm n. the act of basking in the sun. A glimmer of light

The origin of this verb is unclear but to quote the Oxford English Dictionary: “Now only Scots and northern dialect”and in their suggested etymology they explain that there could be a Germanic connection: “compare, in same sense, dialect German, bächeln,bächern,…”.

 

The first occurrence in Scots comes from John Barbour’s epic The Bruce and appears in the Dictionary of the Scots Language ( HYPERLINK "http://www.dsl.ac.uk" www.dsl.ac.uk): “Ane Ynglis man, that lay bekand Hym by a fyre;” [An English man, that lay warmed him by a fire;] (1375).

 

The word seems to have been constant in Scots throughout the centuries and one of the earliest examples in Modern Scots comes from the poet Allan Ramsay writing in a poem of 1723: “Her Cheek, where Roses free from Stain, in Glows of Youdith [youth] beek…”. Later examples include the more straightforward: “Ah’ll go an’ beek mysel’ in the sun.” (Argyleshire 1929). 

 

An extended meaning “to add fuel to fire” appears in The Gallovidian in 1910: “Wee Cupid beeks the fire.” 

 

However, the original meaning was still current in the late twentieth century: “…but then, the sun jist cam beelin in the windaes, beekin us.” (J E McInnes writing in A Tongue in Yer Heid 1994).

 

It also survives strongly in the Scottish Travellers community: “… and you could walk in the black dark and not even see a beak of a light...” recorded in A Traveller in Two Worlds. Volume One: The Early Life of Scotland’s Wandering Bard. David Campbell and Duncan Williamson in conversation published in 2011.

 

Scots Word of the Week is written by Pauline Cairns Speitel of Scottish Language Dictionaries