buirdly, a. Sc.
(ˈb{obar}rdlɪ)
Also prob. bierdly, bierly, beerly, boordly.
[prob. a modern perversion of the earlier Sc. buirly, goodly, stout, burly. Less prob. repr. OE. ᵹebyredl{iacu}c suitable, seemly, meet, f. ᵹebyrian, ONorthumb. byra to be pertinent, become, be becoming, with sense ‘comely’.
In the latter case, the mod.Sc. ui would have to be explained as altered from earlier i, ie, which is perhaps unparalleled. (Mod.Sc. ui, ({obar}, y) normally represents OE. ó, ME. ō, or Fr. u). If = buirly, burly, we may suppose buirdly to be due to the ordinary popular association of the word with buird, board, which is further seen in the anglicized form boardly used by modern Scottish writers. Bierly, bierdly are then regular n.e. dial. forms of buirly, buirdly.]
‘Large and well-made’ (Jam.); stately; stalwart; sturdy, stout, burly.
| 1300–1600 [See borli, burely, buyrlie, buirlie s.v. burly]. a 1783 Lady Jane xix. in Child Ballads iii. No. 62 (1885) 75/2 Rise up, rise up, my bierly bride. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 85 Buirdly chiels, an' clever hizzies. a 1800 in R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads (1806) II. 133 (Jam.) Out and spake the bierdly bride. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems (1846) 60 Full-grown boordly chiels like you. 1815 Scott Guy M. liii, Twelve buirdly sons and daughters. |