Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

BELLIES, BELLISES, BELLOWSES, Bellysis, Bellisiz, n. Bellows. [′bɛlɪz e.Rs., Ayr., s.Arg.; ′bɛlɪsɪz Bnff., Ags., e.Per., Fif., Lth., Edb., Ayr., Arg.; ′bælìz s.Sc.]

1. Bellies. The earlier form of the pl. which came to be regarded as a sing.Sh.⁴ 1934; e.Rs.¹ 1929:
Bellies, bellows.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ayrshire Legatees iv.:
Setting up the poker afore the ribs, instead of blowing with the bellies to make the fire burn.

2. Bellises, bellisiz, bellysis, variants of the second pl.Sc. 1906–1911 Occas. Rhymes in Rym. Club Misc. 171:
Kilty, kilty, cauld erse, Couldna play a drum, His father took the bellises, And blew him up the lum.Bnff.⁴ 1926:
Bellisiz, bellows.Ags.(D) 1922 J. B. Salmond Bawbee Bowden vii.:
I got a len' o' Willie Walkwisely's melodeon, an' some lad's kickit the bellises awa' frae'd.Fif. 1910 (per Mry.²); also Ayr.¹ 1910:
Bellises, the bellows for blowing up a fire — as used in the “smiddy.”Lth. a.1885 “J. Strathesk” More Bits from Blinkb. (1885) 60:
Look at a pair o' smith bellises.Edb. 1872 J. Smith Jenny Blair's Maunderings (1881) 34:
A chair wantin' the leg, a pair o' bellysis wantin' the stroop, . . . an' an auld Cheeny willow-pattern plate.

3. Bellowses.m.Sc. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls o' Hame 87:
Her man, puir chiel, can scarce get gallowses, Yet he maun buy her dandy bellowses!Arg.¹ 1929:
Bellowses. The common dialect word for Bellows. The younger generation has bellies.

Phr. fae the bellows to the fore-hammer. (See quot.)Ags.⁹ 1927:
“I was fae the bellows to the fore-hammer a' day” — i.e. extremely busy.