Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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†BELL, n.⁴. Sc.usages of Eng. bell.

“The town-crier” (Abd. 1905 G.W. in E.D.D. Suppl.). Short for bellman.

Sc. Phrs. (1) on the bell, one's turn to buy a round of drinks; (2) the bells, the striking of midnight on Hogmanay. (1)Gsw. 1989:
Are you on the bell?Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 10:
bell If it's your round in the pub, you are said to be on the bell: 'Just you sit on yer backside, I'm on the bell.'Sc. 1988 Scotsman 4 Feb 10:
When City Faithers leave the table,
After eating all they're able,
They never stop to pay the score,
That's what the ballpoint pens are for;
While voters sweat to pay their rates
The Labour leaders treat their mates
To whisky, beer and wine as well
The poor elector's on the bell ...Gsw. 1994 R. G. MacCallum Tongs Ya Bas 107:
Being 'on the bell' in a pub meant it was your turn to buy a round of drinks. It was also an old way of saying to hurry ahead or to get on with it i.e. to bell on/to crack on etc.Edb. 2005:
I'm on the bell.(2)wm.Sc. 1984 Liz Lochhead Dreaming Frankenstein 66:
Nae time eftir the Bells, and the
New Year new in wi' the
usual crowd, wi' whisky, cheers and kissesm.Sc. 1992 Iain Banks The Crow Road (1993) 431:
I'd stayed in the Lochgair house over Hogmanay itself. We had plenty of drink in, and mum and I had prepared lots of food, but not many people actually visited after the bells.Gsw. 1994 Raymond Friel in Daniel O'Rourke Dream State 180:
At the bells
We stood up stiffly
And tinged the cut crystal
To the new year.Sc. 1996 Big Issue (19 Jul–1 Aug) 37:
Anyway, rammies like these occur most Saturday nights the length and breadth of the land. It's just a question of scale. Hogmanay in London would end up the same every year if plod brought in the bells togged out for a riot.Per. 1997:
We'll need to get a steg on if we're to get up to your Mum's before the Bells.Gsw. 1998 Glasgow Guzzler 24:
... we were able to get in some drinking before the bells.