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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BLATE, Blait, Bleat, Bleet, adj. Gen.Sc. [blet, blit (rare)]

1. Modest, diffident, bashful, sheepish; put out, embarrassed. Adv. blately.Sc. 1701–1731 R. Wodrow Analecta (Maitland Club 1843) III. 236:
Mr Rutherford is said to be a modest, blate man, in his publick sermons, and not very popular.
Sc. 1719–1803 A. Skirving Johnnie Cope viii.:
Now, Johnnie, troth, ye are na blate To come wi' the news o' your ain defeat.
Sc. 1747 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S. 1895) II. 233:
His Lordship was pleased to swer be his soul I was not bleat to aske a pass from him.
Sh.(D) 1918 T. Manson Humours Peat Comm. I. 104:
Dats da wye o da men — der awfil blate, especially afore da lasses.
Mry.(D) 1824 (2nd ed.) J. Cock Hamespun Lays 123:
Mass John, her brither, was nae blate, To buckle you wi' sic a cheat.
Abd. c.1850 quoted in Deeside Field (1929) IV. 41:
The stool o' repentance, it is a sair seat, And them that sits on it I fear they look bleet.
Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 49:
He'd be riggit oot in a fite silk, open-necked sark. He'd hae a Latin luik, wi a jeelip o Amazon Indian mebbe - saft, reid mou, thin neb, blaik shiny hair... He'd be perfumed - bit a bitticky blate.
m.Sc. 1979 Ian Bowman in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 40:
He doutna glower at me, but he bent
to scrieve wi his finger in the stour;
then his spreit cam oot to me, an I kent
he was blate at ma shame, for aa his power.
m.Sc. 1991 William Neill in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 51:
Nae wunner thon yin sud get intae boather
preachin tae better fowk. He wesna blate
tae tell the elders aff, gang his ain gait.
As if we didna ken wha wes his faither!
em.Sc.(a) 1991 Kate Armstrong in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 113:
speak posh, dinna be blate
an ye'll flee up tae jine em, aye, singin praise.
w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 13:
Oor Margaret is naethir late,
nor blate, at comin forrit.
wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 117:
"He's no blate. Is he thinkin' to jump into the gentry by means of her?"
Arg. 1993:
He's no blate, that fella - he wiz at the door agane the day for a len o the mower.
Gsw.(D) 1902 J. J. Bell Wee Macgreegor xii.; Ayr.8 1934:
“Och, it's a daft recite, an' I canna mind it” . . . “Ye can mind it fine, ye needna be sae blate.”
Ayr. 1822 Galt Steam-Boat viii.:
The first day I lingered blately about the place.
Slk. 1835 Hogg Tales Wars of Montrose I. 151:
Refused to obey orders and rebelled! he's no blate!
Dmf. 2000 Betty Tindal Old Mortality 6:
Ma mither was the first pownie Mr Paterson hid iver owned. He'd taken a likin tae her as she wisnae blate at comin forrit, bit had a douce kinna naitur, and she had long-lashed gleg dark een that nae-body could resist.
Uls. 1900 A. McIlroy By Lone Craig-Linnie Burn xi.:
Weel, weel, lasses ir no' blate noo-a-days.

Hence blateness, bleatness, n., shyness, modesty.Per. 1745 J. Brown in R. Mackenzie Life J. Brown (1918) 41:
As for bleatness I feared to complain viva voce.
Rxb. 1920 Kelso Chron. (27 May) 4/2:
At these hirings and fairs blateness took flight, self-consciousness vanished.

2. Stupid, easily deceived; dull, unpromising.Sc. 1928 J. Wilson Hamespun 20:
But they'll a' change their tune when they see my new gown, An' look blate 'cause they didna our kirkin' foresee.
Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 50–51; Abd.19, Ags.1, Fif.1 1934:
Gang hame again, na, na, That were my hogs to a blate fair to ca.
Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow xiv.:
Miss Celandine says they let on that thon out-sized umberellies are for the sun! But I'm no' sae blate.

3. fig. Of grass, corn, etc.: “backward in growth” (Bnff.2, Ags.1 1934).Abd.(D) 1929 J. Alexander Mains and Hilly 104:
Girss an' corn an' a' 's awfu' blate.

4. Combs.: (1) blait-mouit, “bashful, sheepish, q[uasi] ashamed to open one's mouth” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); (2) blate-shed, shame, confusion.(2) Ags. 1853 W. Blair Chron. of Aberbrothock iii.:
Davie he leuch richt hearty at Andro', puir stock, a' owre wi' the blate-shed o's mistak.

[O.Sc. blate, blait, bleat, bashful, stupid, lacking in cordiality (D.O.S.T.). Origin uncertain. O.E. blāt, pale, livid, would give Mod.Sc. form blate. The rare O.E. blēat = bringing misery (Sweet) would give bleat or bleet.]

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"Blate adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/blate>

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