100 Favourite Scots Words by Pauline Cairns Speitel sampler

BEEK verb to warm; noun the act of basking in the sun, a
glimmer of light
The origin of this verb is unclear but to quote the Oxford
English Dictionary, ‘Now only Scots and northern dialect’ and
in their suggested etymology they explain that there could be a
Germanic connection: ‘compare, in same sense, dialect German,
bächeln, bächern…’
The first occurrence in Scots comes from John Barbour’s epic
The Bruce and appears in the DSL: ‘Ane Ynglis man, that lay
bekand Hym by a fyre’ 1 (1375).
The word seems to have been constant in Scots throughout
the centuries and one of the earliest examples in Modern Scots
comes from the poet Allan Ramsay writing in a poem of 1723:
‘Her Cheek, where Roses free from Stain, in Glows of Youdith
beek’. 2 Later examples include the more straightforward ‘Ah’ll
go an’ beek mysel’ in the sun. ’ (Argyllshire, 1929). An extended
meaning ‘to add fuel to fire’ appears in The Gallovidian in 1910:
‘Wee Cupid beeks the fire. ’ However, the original meaning was
still current in the late 20th century: ‘…but then, the sun jist
cam beelin in the windaes, beekin us. ’ (JE McInnes writing in
A Tongue in Yer Heid, 1994)
It also survives strongly in the Scottish Travellers community:
‘… and you could walk in the black dark and not even see
a beak of a light…’ (recorded in A Traveller in Two Worlds.
Volume One: The Early Life of Scotland’s Wandering Bard,
David Campbell and Duncan Williamson in conversation,
published 2011).
Pauline Cairns Speitel
1
An English man, that lay warmed him by a fire
2
Youdith: youth