A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Boyis, Boy(e)s, n. pl. [OF. boie, buie.] Leg-irons for the confinement of prisoners. 1375 Barb. x. 763.
Schir Peris Lumbard … thai fand In presoune, fetterit with boyis, sittand c1420 Wynt. iv. 134.
Withe quhat tormentis men mycht be Punysyde … As fetrys, … stokkys, boyis 14.. Acts I. 8/2.
Gif he [sc. a theif] be put in boys or in fetteris 1456 Hay I. 44/25.
The quhilk fand all thir maneris of irnis, cheynes, fettris, and boys, to prisoun men withall 1562–3 Edinb. Old Acc. II. 181.
For … ane pair of boyis of irne to him quhan he was lattin to libertie a1570-86 Maitl. F. xlv. 27.
Bandis, boyis, or fetteris is nocht lyk maryage c 1610 Crim. Trials III. 3.
Mackoneill, because he had the boyes on his legges, wrested his kute in leaping 1636 Edinb. Test. LVII. 255 b.
Ane greit studie with ane pair of belleis, ... twa boyes for halding of horsis
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"Boyis n. pl.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/boyis>
