Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1800-1820, 1970-1986
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0]
BARLEY, n.2 Sc. usage: a roughness in the texture of a piece of cloth, appar. from the lumpiness of the weaving resembling grains of barley.Also baurley. Sc. form of Eng. barley. Per. 1970 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 441:
This is what we call 'barley'—too strong in the weft. He pointed out the defect to me.wm.Sc. 1986 Robert McLellan in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 32:
And what could the Arran folk dae wi their baurley gin they didna mak whisky o't?
Comb. barley pickle, a kind of linen weave which produces a pattern of this sort. Also attrib. See Pickle, n.2Rxb. c.1800 Mem. S. Sibbald (Hett 1926) 158:
In the country for Table cloths they seemed to have but three general patterns, . . . Dambrod, Birds'ee and Barley pickle. Dmf. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (June) 286:
Webs of barley-pickle napery.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Barley n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 12 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00087857>
