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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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BRAT, BROT, Bratt, Brotach, n. and v.¹ Also broat and brattie, bratty, brottie, dims. Now only dial. in Eng. [brɔt]

I. n.

1. Clothing in general.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 36:
They'll rive ye'r Brats and kick your Doup And play the Deel.Hdg. 1902 J. Lumsden Toorle, etc. 281:
This "Stan'in Water" a' was drawn, . . . Yet naething fund worth hauling out Mair than tree-ruits, bauchles an' bratts.Ayr. 1821 Galt Ayrsh. Legatees 59:
Her bits of brats are sairly worn, though she keeps out an apparition of gentility.Kcb.¹ 1935Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 45:
Little girls and boys, Whilk to clead, and eke to feed, Maun hae brats, and brose, and bread.

Phrases: (1) bit and brat (see Bit, n., 1 (2) (c)), bite an(d) brat (brattie), food and clothing; (2) brats o' claise, — duddies, clothing, used contemptuously.(1) Lnl. 1880 T. Orrock in Poets and Poetry of Lnlshire (ed. Bisset 1896) 157:
He sent us lots o' weans, guidwife, Wi' bite an' brattie tae.Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 224:
Though we hae little wardly gear, Our bite and brat, and a' that.(2) Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 68:
It's a great matter, now-a-days, To get some meat an' brats o' claise.Ayr. 1789 Burns To Dr Blacklock (Cent. ed.) vi.:
I hae a wife and twa wee laddies; They maun hae brose and brats o' duddies.

2. "A bib, or pin-afore" (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.²; Bnff.², Slg.³, Lnl.¹ (obsol.), Lnk.³ 1935).Arg.¹ 1929:
What wez ye doin' that ye soiled yer bratty?Gall. 1890 P. Dudgeon in Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 56–57:
"Brat," now signifying a child's pinafore.

3. "A coarse kind of apron" (Arg.¹, Lnk.³, Ayr.⁸, Kcb.⁹ 1935; Cai., Edb., Ayr. 2000s, brat); an apron (Abd.⁹, Ags.² 1936, brot).Ork.(D) 1880 Dennison Orcad. Sk. Bk. 128:
Her brat apo' her e'en.Cai.⁷ 1935Crm. 1834 H. Miller Scenes 186: 
It's our Jenny's brottie sticking out o' the snaw.Ags. 1929 (per Abd.¹):
The souter put on his moleskin brot.Ags. 1932 Forfar Dispatch (8 May) 2/5:
Here wiz me pu'in aff my brot, snoddin ma heid, and dichtin ma face.Fif. a.1839 G. Gourlay Our Old Neighbours (1887) 71:
"Cast your brat the noo, David," referring to his shoemaker's apron.Fif.¹⁰ 1935Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie's Wallet viii.:
Your sooty, singet, brunt bit brattie, Strung round your buik, ye waichlin fattie.Bwk. 1997:
brat - a heavy hessian over-apron worn by women manual workers when doing particularly rough or clarty work.Arg. 1992:
I last heard brattie used in natural speech in 1982. Gsw. 1931 H. S. Roberton Curdies 67:
I thocht I was entitled to a rise. So I dichts my face wi' my bratt, an' I sails up to the boss.Wgt., Kcb. 1988 W. A. D. and D. Riach A Galloway Glossary :
brat a sacking apron.

4. "A plaid, such as shepherds use" (wm.Sc. 1835–1837 Laird of Logan II. 296; Kcb.³ 1929).wm.Sc. 1835–1837 Laird of Logan II. 296:
"Ye see," said he, ". . . I sat as near the organ as I could get, and as they were turnin' round the wheel, the teeth o't grippit my plaid, and ere I could say 'stop your bumming,' my braw brattie was out o' sicht."

5. "A winter jersey" (Mry. 1914 T.S.D.C. I., brottie).

6. "A rag" (Cai.⁸ 1934, brat; Cai. 1907 D. B. Nicolson in County of Cai. 67, brot). Ags. 1879 Forfar Poets (Fenton) 62: 
Wi' riven coats an' dirty brots, An' breeks that's hardly worth a shillin'.

Hence bratty, adj., ragged (Cai. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.); brotty, adj., ragged (Cai. 1907 D. B. Nicolson in County of Cai. 67).

7. "A cloth put on a tup hogg to prevent its covering a ewe" (Lth. 1935 (per Lnk.³)).Sc. [1844] H. Stephens Bk. Farm (1851) II. 384:
Tup-hoggs are never allowed to serve ewes or gimmers, not having attained maturity. . . . To prevent him effectually from serving a ewe, a piece of cloth named a brat, or apron, is sewed to the wool below his belly.

8. "A quilted cloth or covering, used for preserving the back of a horse from being ruffled by the Shimach, on which the pannels are hung, being fastened to a pack-saddle" (Mearns 1808 Jam.; Per. 1898 E.D.D., brot, brotach). Not known to our correspondents.

9. "The scum of any fluid" (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 89, bratt); found also as a pl.n.; "the tough skin which forms on porridge, etc., in cooling" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); transf. the crust that forms on the top of harrowed land (Ayr. 1928).Sc. 1692 A. Pitcairne Assembly (Maitland Club 1830) 10:
When from the milk they take the fatt, They call it scum, or cream, or bratt.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Brat. Scum. It does not necessarily signify refuse; but is also applied to the cream which rises from milk, especially of what is called a sour cogue, or the floatings of boiled whey.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 907:
The point is ascertained by the formation of a strong thick brat or scum on the surface.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. Ork. Par. (1922) 101:
When making a cheese, . . . the whey was re-heated to boiling point, when a scum called "brats" rose to the top.Per. 1766 H. Robertson School of Arts 107:
Take the brat or cream off the top of it, and lay it on a plate.Edb. [1845] F. W. Bedford Hist. G. Heriot's Hospital (1859) 347:
Some of the callants dinna like either the brat on their pot. [This meaning is not given in D.O.S.T.]

10. A thin stratum of coal contaminated with lime or pyrites (Fif. 1845 Stat. Acc.² IX. 265, grey broats, broats and till). Also in n.Eng. dial. in form brat.

II. v.

1. To cover a ewe or ram to prevent copulation.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems on Different Occasions 34:
Or ye may gar me ride the stang, And p—l brat me like a ram, But awa we'er geldin' iron.

2. "To cover sheep with a cloth to protect them from bad weather" (Lth. 1935 (per Lnk.³)).Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1118:
As a protection to wool it is as effective as any salve, as has been satisfactorily proved by Mr M'Turk, who bratted one side of 8 sheep, and salved the other side.

3. To curdle.ne.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
Thunner brats the milk.

4. To cake or harden, as by heat.w.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
The sun brattit the grund.