swats, n. pl. Sc.
(swɒts)
Also 6 swaits, swaittis, 9 swatts.
[repr. OE. swatan ‘cervisia’, beer.]
New small beer or ale; also see quot. 1888.
| 1508 Dunbar Flyting 130 Sueir swappit swanky, swyne⁓keper ay for swaittis. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxiii. 261 Now drink thay Mylk and Swaits in steid of Aill. a 1682 Sempill Blythesome Wedding 69 There will be..swats, and scraped paunches. 1717 Ramsay Elegy on Lucky Wood vi, She ne'er..kept dow'd tip within her waws, But reaming swats. 1791 Burns Tam o' Shanter 40 Reaming swats, that drank divinely. 1871 C. Gibbon Lack of Gold xxx, However, he took a draught of swats (small ale). 1888 Edmonston & Saxby Home Naturalist 209 Swatts is the water that covers sowens, and is used to thin the sowens, or as a drink. |