Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1710, 1825-1933
[0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
BARTIZAN, n. and v. Also †barteshing, barty.
I. n. 1. A battlemented parapet at the top of a castle or church; esp. a battlemented turret projecting from an angle at the top of a tower.Sc. 1710 Descr. Sheriffdom Lnk. and Rnf. (Maitland Club 1831) 46:
The house of Dalyell was ane old castle, with a barteshing.Edb. 1898 J. Baillie Walter Crighton 142:
And opening a door they now got out on to a ledge or steeple barty running round the tower.Edb. 1914 E. Cooper in T.S.D.C. I. 17:
Barty. A battlement. Contraction for bartisan used by boys of George Heriot's Hospital.Edb. 1920 Weekly Scotsman (2 Oct.) 5/2:
The classroom was at the top of one corner of the "barty."
2. (See second quot.)Bnff.2 1933:
I'll need t' pit up a bartizan in the ein o' the byre t' get a place for the meer an' the foal.Mearns 1825 Jam.2:
Bartizan. Any kind of fence, as of stone or wood.
II. v. (See quot.)Bnff. 1866 Gregor D.Bnff. 216:
Bartizan, to fence in a strong, rude manner; to barricade strongly.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bartizan n., v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bartizan>
