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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BANK, BANKS, BANGHS, Bankie, n.2 [bɑŋk Sc. but Sh. + baŋx(s)]

1. The place in a peat-moss whence peats are cut (S.D.D., Bnff.2, Bnff.7). Gen.Sc.Sh. 1918 T. Manson Humours Peat Comm. I. 10–11:
Will our Practical Member tell us how many women are needed to “raise” the peats taken out of a bank, thirty yards long, two feet wide, three peats deep, each working ten hours a day?

2. Gen. in pl., but sing. in meaning. A steep coast; precipitous rocks or cliffs along the seashore; also used of the seashore itself, and “of the grassy edge abutting on a flat beach” (Marw.).Sh.(D) 1891 Burgess Rasmie's Buddie 21:
Shü gae dee ta me at da banks [sea shore], An sed, “Quat says du, hinnie?”
Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Bank, edge, . . . (1) ledge in a peat-pit; (2) steep coast = Fær. bakki; comm. in pl.: banks.
Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
Banghs, the seashore; precipitous seashore; the place at the shore where boats land and are drawn up.
Sh.5 1932:
He his gaen oot alang da banks — a very steep banks.

Combs.: (1) banksflooer (see quot.); (2) banks-gaet, the way up or down a cliff, used fig. in quot. of any hard or difficult business, sc. like climbing up a cliff. See Gate, n., 2.; (3) banksgirse, Common Scurvy Grass; (4) bank-sparrow, the rock pipit, Anthus obscurus (Sh. 1891 Zoologist (Ser. 3) XV. 133).(1) Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
Banksflooer, thrift, sea-pink (Armeria maritima).
(2) Sh. 1952 Robertson & Graham Grammar Sh. Dial. 14: 
He'll be him a banks-gaet.
(3) Sh. 1895 T. Edmonston Flora of Sh. 24:
BanksgirseCochlearia officinalis. Seashores and maritime cliffs, frequent.
Sh. 1898 “Junda” Echoes from Klingrahool 16:
Where the tufted banksgirse waved, And the screaming seagull flew.

3. A raised shelf or ridge of ground.

(1) A foot-path or walk.Bnff.2 1933:
I keepit on the bank (or bankie) a' the wye, an' my feet's nae verra weet.
Ags.6 1911:
Bank, a foot-path, usually one above the level of the ground on either side.

(2) The slope of a hill (gen. in pl.). Hence banky, hilly, sloping. Now only dial. in Eng.Ags.1 1933:
In Angus, fields on a slope are called banks.
w.Fif.4 1930:
The slopes of the hillsides hereabouts are often called banks — e.g. Bankhead at top of slope from Hawes Inn (not “Braehead” because, apparently, not on the road).
Rxb. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 XIX. 116: 
The lands are therefore very valuable, but rather unpleasant to labour, being banky in some places.

(3) The boundary-line of a farm.Sc. 1845 Stat. Acc.2 I. 141:
The division of a farm, if visible at all, was described by a bank or gaw fur, and except in seeding or reaping, marches were little regarded.

[In the Insular examples the Sc. form has superseded the old Sh. bakk from O.N. bakki, edge, cognate with “bank”; but the word is preserved in the special Norn applications. “Banks” in Sh. and Ork. may be used as a sing.]

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"Bank n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bank_n2>

1751

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