Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BAISIES, BAZIES, BA(I)SES, Beezie, beezy n. Rounders, handball. [′be:ziz, ′be:zɪ̢z Sc.; ′bi:ziz Ags.]Bnff.(D) 1882 W. M. Philip K. MacIntosh's Scholars 16:
A band of boys happened to be playing at the “Bazies” (Bases), a game of ball.Bnff.(D) 1917 E. S. Rae Private J. M'Pherson, etc. (1918) 30:
It's nae sae verra lang seen sin' they a' waur at the skweel, Playin' baisies, bools, an' literin' late tae watch the mullert's wheel.Abd. 1901 R. C. Maclagan Games of Argyleshire 22:
This is also called Rounders. In Aberdeenshire it is played as Bases.Ags. 1925 Forfar Dispatch (16 July) 3/3:
We hid races an' jumpin' an' playin' at beezie.Dundee 1987 Norman Lynn Row Laddie Sixty Years On 59:
Football and cricket were discouraged in the confinement of the back-coorty, so Beezy, where the ball was struck with bare hand and less likely to cause damage, was substituted. A sketchy imitation of the American baseball, and the rules tended to change at the whim of the biggest boy, especially if it was 'his ba''.

Comb.: ba'-baises. (See quot.)Sc. 1818 E. Picken Dict. of Sc. Language:
Ba'-baises, the name of a particular game at ball.