Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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
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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.
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"Barley n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Sep 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00087857>
