Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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BASS, n.¹ [bɑs]

1. A mat made of bast, coarse straw or rushes, etc., esp. a door-mat. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1741 Caled. Mercury (22 Dec.):
Royal Mattings, Floor Basses.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 38:
Jess Hedderwick raise at the income o licht
Wi a great clattervengeance o soun.
She wis dystin her basses anent the ga'le dyke
Lang afore Tam the Milkie wan roun. Mearns 1910 W. Macgillivray The Elder and his Wife 10:
They plaited "heather rapes" which they sold for thatching purposes, and made basses (rugs) for doors, cottage firesides, etc.Ags. 1848 W. Gardiner Flora of Forfarshire 224:
L[ycopodium] clavatum, L. Common Clubmoss. . . . It is known here as "Tod's-tail," and frequently manufactured into door-basses.Fif. 1898 "S. Tytler" Mrs Carmichael's Goddesses xiii.:
Heard ever a body the like? To want a laddie to shake the basses (mats).Gsw.(D) 1902 J. J. Bell Wee Macgreegor iii.:
Dicht yer feet, . . . see, dicht them on the bass.Kcb. 1895 S. R. Crockett Bog Myrtle and Peat iii. iii.:
Ye'se juist gang into the study, an' I'll lay doon a bass for ye to stand an' dreep on.

2. "This term is used in S[cotland] for the inner bark of a tree" (Jam.¹ 1818).

3. The soft dry fibres of which a bird's nest is composed.Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.:
Bass, the various soft dry substances of which a bird's nest is composed. [Not known to our correspondents.]

4. A workman's tool-basket; also a basket for carrying fish. Known to Bnff.², Bnff.⁷ and Fif.²Ags. 1930 A. Kennedy Orra Boughs xxv.:
If they would only fesh me that auld saw o' mine that's in the bass doon the stair, I'd sune get through wi' this.Lth. 1933 (per Edb.²):
On Lothian coast "bass" is a square straw basket about 2′ x 2′ used for carrying fish.

5. (See quot.)Sc. 1905 A.W. in E.D.D. Suppl.:
Bass, a cart-horse collar made of straw or rushes.

†6. "A sort of mat on which dishes are placed at table, esp. meant for preserving the table from being stained by those that are hot" (Jam.² 1825).

7. Comb.: (i) bass-bottomed, "of chairs: having the seat made of rushes or 'bass'" (Sc. 1905 A.W. in E.D.D. Suppl.). Also known to Bnff.², Bnff.⁴ and Bnff.⁷; (ii) bass mat (ii)  Sc. 1754 J. Justice Sc. Gardiner 164:
Take some Bass Matt Threeds. Ork. 1869 D. Gorrie Summers & Winters 298:
The back-bands were generally made of plaited bass mat. Edb. 2003:
Ah live in a main door an ye cannae yaise a bass mat - it gauns aw soggy, whit wi the rain an awthing.Gsw. 1972 Molly Weir Best Foot Forward (1974) 28:
Then as the dust cleared we saw we were staring at the Irvines' bass mat and not the body of the drunkard.

Hence adj. bassie, made of bast, in comb. bassie Annie, a jocular name for a small stool having the seat made of plaited bast or rushes (Bnff. 1920).