A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1420-1630
[0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0]
Bourd, n. Also: bourde, bowrd (bowryd, bawrd), burd(e, bwrd, bord. [ME. bourde (14th c.), burde, bord, OF. bourde cheating, deception.]
1. Play or sport; jesting, fun. c1420 Wynt. ii. 1284.
That best … wend hyr bourd hade manans bene c1420 Ib. v. 2250.
Men mycht newyre, for play na bowryd [C. bourde] … Ger hym blenk, na lauch 1513 Doug. vii. ii. 29.
He said na mair bot this, half deil in bourd 1535 Stewart 28643.
Tha forȝet all blythnes and all bourd 1570 Satirical Poems x. 365.
Quther in eirnist or bourd a1598 Ferg. Prov. 88.
Soothe bourd is na bourd
2. A cause of mirth; a jest or joke; a merry or mocking speech or tale. c1450-2 Howlat 87.
Of that bourde I was blyth c1460 Thewis Wysmen 105.
Syk a bourd may quhilum fall That al men lauch c1460 Ib. 418.
With … nys bourdis but honestee c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 385.
Of ane bowrd in to bed I sall ȝow breif ȝit c1500-c1512 Ib. 476.
Me think the best bourd quhen [etc.] 1513 Doug. i. Prol. 125.
For a gymp or a bourd, I pray ȝou note me nocht at euery word 1513 Ib. vi. i. 146.
For dreid al turn bot til a mok or bourdis 1535 Stewart 3648.
Rycht sone to scharpnes turnit all thir bourdis c1550 Rolland Court of Venus iv. 418.
Thay wald Venus make content Be sum new burd a1570-86 Arbuthnot Maitland Folio MS xxix. 58.
To bawdische bourdis … man I oft gif ear 1572 Satirical Poems xxxiii. 176.
Thinking the same to be ane iesting bourd c1590 Fowler 115/92.
Diogenes I also spyed, … a scuffer in his bwrdis 1630 Gordon Geneal. Hist. 167 (J).
This [encounter in 1572] wes called the Bourd of Brechen
b. Na bourd or bourdis, no jest or trivial matter. a1500 Henr. III. 141/49.
Bakbyttaris to heir it is no bourd 1540 Lynd. Sat. 2720.
To plaint on preistis, it is na bourd 1540 Ib. 2773.
To speik of preists, be sure it is na bourds 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 80.
His living image, it is na bourd c1568 Lauder Minor P. i. 39.
Allace, it is no bourd c1568 Ib. 197.
Accompt this for no bourd 1570 Satirical Poems xv. 89.
France hes na rest; that is na bourdis
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Bourd n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 10 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/bourd_n>
