A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1399-1599
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Bere, Beir, n.5 Also: beire, beyr, beare, bier. [ME. bere (north. beyr), early beare, ibere, OE. ᵹebǽre bearing. behaviour.] Outcry, clamour, shouting; the sound or cry made by men, animals, or birds; noise or din. a1400 Legends of the Saints xxvii. 260.
Thane ruschit men to spere The cause quhy scho mad sic bere a1400 Ib. xxviii. 589.
Son wes herde a fellon bere Of thonir and of erdine c1420 Wynt. i. 751.
He … oysis mekyll in hys bere Syk woycys as a man dois here a1500 Tale of the Colkelbie Sow i. 403.
Ceis this brangling and bere c1450-2 Howlat 953.
This howlat … Bannyt bitterly his birth bailefull in beir a1500 Golagros and Gawane 467.
Thair wes blaning of bemys, braging and beir 1513 Doug. iii. iv. 32.
With horribill dyn and beir … the harpeis on vs fell 1513 Ib. vii. Prol. 21.
Landbrist rumland rudely with sik beir 1535 Stewart 7966.
Quhill all thair beir gart all the bankis rebound 1535 Ib. 24526.
The clamorus cry, the ȝoulling and the beir, Of man and beist 1549 Complaynte of Scotland 38/24.
There eftir i herd the rumour of rammasche foulis ande of beystis that maid grite beir 1572 Satirical Poems xxxiii. 167.
Crawis and dowis cryand and makand beir 1585 James VI Ess. 17.
Let readers think … they see … Cerberus rage with hiddeous beare c1590 J. Stewart 66/42.
Quhan ane troup of porcks … quhryns vith pitius bruit and beir 1587-99 Hume iii. 127.
The foules and birdes that made the beir
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"Bere n.5". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bere_n_5>
