Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAIRNLY, Bairnlie,  adj.

1. Pertaining to childhood.Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage, etc., and Poems 190:
Hoo bairnly friendships are forgot, An' bands o' love grow frush an' rot.

2. Childish. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1889 R. L. Stevenson Master of Ballantrae iv.:
I remember checking a maid because she sang some bairnly kickshaw.Per. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 80:
I ha'e left them now for ever, But, to greet would bairnly be.Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chron. (21 Dec.) 2/6:
This is the bairnly — the silly — attitude of the majority of the members of this Presbytery.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 19:
whaurin the fowk micht meditate
on the truth o Scotland, its state - and lack o state,
and syne jalouse that whit we need
is nae bairnlie sangs but pooer insteid, ...

3. In a state of dotage, like a child.Bnff.² 1932:
Never min' fat the aul' man says; he's turnin' bairnly again.