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.
Quotation dates: 1602-1626, 1693-1700+
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Buy, n. [e.m.E. buy (1584), buie, variant of boy(e, OF. boye. Cf. Bow n.4] A buoy. Also attrib. with rope. 1602 Rec. Convention of Royal Burghs II. 144.
Gif ane schip cums to skaith vpoun ane vther schipis anker, lyand without ane buy 1622-6 Bisset II. 246/25.
Gif sa be that they have festned it [the ship] to no buy 1693 Cromarty Corr. I. 98.
The yauchts were gone down to the buy on the Nore 1718 Glasgow B. Rec. IV. 17.
Their buy ropes nocht to be above twelue or fourtein [feet] long on anchors that lyes towards [the] bay
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"Buy n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/buy>
