▪ I. peat1
(piːt)
Forms: 3–6 pete, (5–6 pett, 5–7 pet), 5–9 peet, 6–7 Sc. peit(t, 6– peat.
[In 13th c. pete, in Anglo-L. peta, known from c 1200 in Scoto-Latin documents, where, like the associated turba ‘turf’, it was app. from the vernacular. Origin unknown: see Note below.]
1. a. (With a and pl.) A piece of the substance described in sense 2, cut of a convenient form and size for use as fuel, usually roughly brick-shaped. (Chiefly Sc. and north. dial.)
| [c 1200 in Liber de Melros (Bann. Cl.) 76 Tantum terre mee..ubi sufficienter possint exsiccare petas suas et..liberum transitum..ad ipsas petas abducendas. 1262 in Charters &c. of Peebles (1872) 5 Jurati dixerunt quod burgenses de Pebblys foderunt petas suas in petaria de Waltamshope. 1278 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 488 Henrico de Horneby et Emerico ad petas fodiendas et cariandas, 60s. 1299 Ibid. 500 In 163 carratis petarum cariandis 39s. 8d.] 1333 Patent Roll 7 Edw. III, i. m. 24 Redditum octo carectarum turbarum que dicuntur petes cum pert' in Skypwyth. c 1400 Burgh Laws c. 35 (Sc. Stat. I) Na man aw to punde..þaim at bryngis wodd or petys bot for wodd or petys. 1497 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 344 Item, for petis and colis to the schip..viijs. vjd. 1538 Leland Itin. V. 91 Oftentimes in diggin in this Mosse for Petes or Turves they finde the hole Trees. 1572 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxii. 19 With Peittis, with Turuis, and mony turse of Hedder. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. 182 Those that are first cut vp, are called Turffes of the vpper part, and such as are taken downward, are called Peates. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 542 It yeeldeth Pets in the mores. 1710 in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 300 It does now afford good Peats. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxix, I often wish there was a het peat doun their throats. 1873 Black Pr. Thule i, He stirred up the blazing peats in the fire-place. Ibid. xviii, I asked you to bring one peat, and of course you brought two. |
† b. A turf or sod in general.
Obs.| 1570 Levins Manip. 212/16 A Peate, cespes. 1612 Heywood Apol. for Actors i. 22 Of turfe and heathy sods to make their seates, Framed, in degrees, of earth and mossy peates. 1638–48 G. Daniel Eclog. i. 314 Their Corps are Covered with green Peats, The place full sett with flowers. |
2. Vegetable matter decomposed by water and partially carbonized by chemical change, often forming bogs or ‘mosses’ of large extent, whence it is dug or cut out, and ‘made’ into peats (in sense 1).
| 1428 in Sir W. Fraser Wemyss of W. (1888) II. 56 To wyn and ger laboure..turfe pete and hathir..quharsumeuir thai may be fundin wythin the said landis. 1626 Bacon Sylva §775 Turfe and Peat and Cow-sheards are cheape Fuel. 1652 French Yorksh. Spa i. 2 An unctuous bituminous earth, which the country People cut.., making Turfe, and Peate thereof. 1754 Burt Lett. N. Scotl. xviii, In digging of Peat, there have been found Fir-trees of a good magnitude. 1803 Walker in Trans. Highl. Soc. Scot. II. 3 Peat is a word used in Scotland and the north of England, but seldom to be found, till of late years, in English authors. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 233 Accumulations of partially decomposed vegetable matter form the substance known as peat or turf. |
3. A dark brown resembling the colour of peat.
| 1971 Homes & Gardens Sept. 84 Quite a lot of dark browns (anything from donkey to peat.) 1975 Times 7 Oct. 11/4 Long-sleeve sweater..in colours loganberry, peat, brown, and mid-blue. 1978 Country Life 16 Nov. 1685/1 There is nothing brash about Biba colours. Moss, peat, [etc.]. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. attributive, as
peat-barrow,
peat-bed,
peat-brick,
peat-charcoal,
peat-coke,
peat-creel,
peat-dealer,
peat-ditch,
peat-earth,
peat-fire,
peat-fuel,
peat-gas,
peat-ground,
peat-knife,
peat-land,
peat-marsh,
peat-moor,
peat-mould,
peat-mud,
peat-pit,
peat-pulp,
peat-smoke,
peat-soil,
peat-swamp,
peat-wain,
peat-water;
b. objective and
obj. genitive, as
peat-caster,
peat-casting,
peat-cutter,
peat-cutting,
peat-digger,
peat-fitter,
peat-making;
c. instrumental, as
peat-coloured,
peat-roofed,
peat-smoked,
peat-stained adjs. Also similative, as
peat-black,
peat-brown adjs. and
ns. For other combinations, with many illustrative examples, see
Eng. Dial. Dict.| 1886 A. Winchell Walks Geol. Field 245 Spread it over the whole vast *peat-bed. |
| 1961 R. S. Thomas Tares 35 Nerves strengthened with tea, *Peat-black. |
| 1897 R. Munro Prehist. Probl. 254 A machine for making *peat-bricks. |
| 1898 B. Kirkby Lakeland Words 160 *Peat-broon, t' colour of a dried peat, er bit of undyed woo'. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 9 Aug. 10/1 A rush-grown pool of peat-brown water. 1962 D. Francis Dead Cert. xv. 173 My suit was a filthy peat-brown. |
| 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 353/1 Incorporating pitch or rosin melted in a cauldron with as much of the *peat-charcoal ground to powder as will form a tough doughy mass, which is then moulded into bricks. 1870 (title) On the Economical Production of Peat and Peat-Charcoal. |
| 1889 Doyle Micah Clarke 228 *Peat-coloured streams splashed down these valleys. |
| 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 192 Breking of thair *peit creillis and sleddis. |
| 1756 Collet in Phil. Trans. L. 114 No body happened to be there at that time but the *peat-cutters. 1963 Times 10 June 14/6, I followed a track that was once used by peat cutters. 1969 E. H. Pinto Treen 94/2 A peat cutter is a square⁓ended spade of normal length, with a right-angled, forward projecting blade at one side, like the breast plough. |
| 1774 T. Pennant Tour in Scotl. & Voy. Hebrides 1772 I. 66 By the imprudence of the *peat-diggers, who were continually working on that side [of the moss]. 1894 A. Gordon Northward Ho! 202 The peat-digger was the most notorious carouser in Carglen. 1978 Maledicta II. 167 Peat-digger, any rural Irish person. |
| 1903 G. W. Hartley Wild Sport i. 11 Jumping in and out of crumbling *peat⁓ditches. |
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 127 The said Trees are..found very seldom unless in this *Peat-Earth. |
| 1754 Burt Lett. N. Scotl. xvi, My Landlady sat..by a little *peat-fire in the middle of the Hutt. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xix, Over the peat fire sat a very old man. |
| 1807 Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 109 Digging and curing *peat-fuel upon Dartmoor. |
| 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits iv. 64 Oars, scythes, harpoons,..*peat-knives, and hay-forks. |
| 1907 Daily Chron. 1 Oct. 8/1 They wandered hand in hand across the *peatland and the marshes. 1973 Moore & Bellamy (title) Peatlands. 1977 Undercurrents June–July 40 They are tackling the problems of what to do with bull calves, a large acreage of peatland and the need to produce extremely high quality winter fodder in a high rainfall area. |
| 1884 A. Campbell Rec. Argyll 310 The people would be all off at *peat-making. |
| 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth ii. (1723) 82 The squamose Covers of the Germina or Buds..are found in..many *Peat Marshes. |
| 1832 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 215 In June, 1747, the body of a woman was found six feet deep, in a *peat-moor in the Isle of Axholm. |
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxvi. 372 It appeared as if *peat-mould had been strewn over it. |
| 1908 Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 122/2 The latest development in the production of *peat-pulp is being made in Sweden. |
| 1814 Scott Wav. lxvii, Poor old Janet, bent double with age and bleared with *peat-smoke. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 184 The peatsmoke is going to his head. 1971 Country Life 4 Nov. 1226/1, I may be prompted by something to recall the scent of peat⁓smoke. |
| 1896 N. Munro Lost Pibroch 19 The step-mother..with hate in her *peat-smoked face. |
| 1903 G. W. Hartley Wild Sports ix. 193 Its contents were for the thick-set, *peat-stained beast standing a little to the right. |
| 1578 Knaresborough Wills I. 133 Thre *peate waynes. |
d. Special
Comb.:
peat-ash, the ash of burnt peat;
peat-bank, a bank from which peats are cut;
peat-bog, a bog composed of peat; also
attrib.;
peat-coal, a soft earthy lignite;
† peat-cote,
= peat-house;
peat-flannel, flannel with peat in its contexture;
peat-hag, broken ground whence peats have been dug: see
hag n.4;
peat-house, an outhouse in which peats are stored;
peat-machine, a machine for grinding peat and pressing it into ‘bricks’ for fuel;
peatman, a man who digs, dries, or sells peats for fuel;
peat-marl: see
marl n.1 1 c;
† peat-mire, a miry peat-bog;
peat-pan:
cf. pan n.1 8,
quot. 1875;
peat-pot, a hole out of which peats have been dug and in which water has collected;
peat-road, a rough track on a mountainside for the hauling down of peats;
peat-spade, a spade made of a shape for cutting and ‘casting’ peats;
peat-stack, a stack of peats built up to dry for fuel;
peat-wool, wool impregnated with peat; also
attrib. Also
peat-moss, -reek.
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 70 Turf and *Peat-ashes must needs be very rich. |
| 1887 Mrs. Saxby Lads of Lunda (1888) 198 A snow-wreath..filled one of the *peat-banks, a pit some six feet deep. |
| 1775 Lightfoot Flora Scot. 219 Andromeda..in *peat-bogs in the Lowlands not unfrequent. 1832 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 213 A considerable portion of the European peat-bogs are evidently not more ancient than the age of Julius Cæsar. 1965 G. M. Brown in New Statesman 9 July 52/2 Being under age And wringing peatbog whisky from a clout Into a secret kettle. |
| 1859–65 Page Geol. Terms 282 Lignite beds..others soft and earthy, and known as ‘*peat-coal’. |
| 1898 Chamb. Jrnl. Mar. 187/2 ‘*Peat flannel’—for so it is called—is a fine, delicately shaded flannel, containing a considerable portion of peat in its contexture. |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, Warstling wi' hunger and cauld..upon wet brae-sides, *peat-hags, and flow-mosses. 1842 G. Turnbull in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. No. 10. 8 Brown barren moors, varied with peat-hags and covers of whins and of broom. |
| 1339–40 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 538 Super reparacione del *Pethouse. 1580 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 320 Within the peithous of the neddir bailye. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 149 Betty Landsborough..set him to chop wood, and stack it in the little peat-house. |
| 1821 Examiner 1 Apr. 207/2 As James Johnstone, *peatman, was levelling moss. |
| 1479 Priory of Hexham (Surtees No. 46) 51 Habent communam de *Pet⁓myre..ad fodiendum et capiendum inde petas. |
| 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), *Peeat-pan, a very hard stratum below the peeat, impregnated with iron, impervious to water. |
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxiv. 46 And hyd thame in a *pete-pot all. 1721 Kelly Sc. Prov. 268 Out of the Peat-Pot into the Mire. 1800 A. Carlyle Autobiog. 28 Their eldest son..having missed the road.., fell into a peat pot, as it is called, and was drowned. |
| 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 121 Mount the hill by a *peat-road, which leads to Eel Tarn. |
| 1573 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 242 A gavelocke, ij hacks, iij *peatspades, ij flainge spades, a garthe spade, vijs. 1802 C. Findlater Agric. Surv. Peebles 208 The peat-spade is furnished with a triangular cutting mouth, as also, with a cutting wing on the right side,..to cut the half decayed wood found mixed with the moss. |
| 1583 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 577 Certane houssis, barnis and *peitstakis. 1802 Scott Let. to Ellis in Lockhart, The formidable hardships of sleeping upon peat stacks. |
| 1898 Chamb. Jrnl. Mar. 187/1 *Peat-wool dressing. This surgical wool is extremely absorbent..; its deodorising power is great. |
[
Note. As
pete has from the beginning been applied in the north, not to the substance, but to a shaped and prepared piece of it (
cf. the expressions ‘to make peats’, ‘peat-making’), the suggestion is offered that we may have in it one of several instances in which a word
orig. meaning ‘piece’ has become at length the term for a piece of some particular substance. If this be so, there may be etymological connexion with the stem
pette- which gave
med.L.
petia,
pecia (:—
*pettia),
It. pezza, F.
pièce, ‘piece’, and is held to be of Celtic origin (Thurneysen
Keltoroman. 20). The Old Celtic entries in the
Book of Deer, have
pet, genit.
pette, in sense ‘portion, piece’, with which Stokes,
Goidelica (
ed. 2) 120, compares
OIr. pit portion of food (in
terc-fit,
leth-fit). (This word is supposed to have passed into Goidelic from a Brythonic dialect:
cf. Welsh
peth portion.)]
▪ II. peat2 Obs. or
arch. (
piːt)
[Common from c 1570 to 1640; re-introduced by Scott. Origin uncertain. (Not Sc., exc. in sense 3.) Cf. MDu. pēte, in Kilian 1599, ‘god-mother’, also
= petken, god-daughter, ‘lustrica filiola, filia initialis,
vulgo profilia’. (See also
pet.)]
† 1. Used as a term of endearment to a girl or woman
= pet of a woman; hence with various shades of meaning
= girl simply, light or merry girl, fondled or spoilt girl, etc.
Obs.| 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 103 Alas good simple peate, Of dull and feeble braine. 1576 T. Newton Lemnie's Complex. (1633) 245 To invite and call into their companies some beautifull Damosels, and pleasant Peats to passe away the time more merrily. 1581 Rich Farew. Milit. Prof. (1846) 172 Being halfe convicted by the confession of the gentle peate, his new wife. 1593 Drayton Man in Moon ix. G iij, Here might you many a Shepherdess have seen,..Lettice and Parnell prety louely peates. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. i. 78 A pretty peate, it is best put finger in the eye, and she knew why. 1605 B. Jonson, etc. Eastw. Hoe v. i, God's me life, you are a peat indeed! 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. ii. ii, Of a little thing You are a pretty peat, indifferent fair too. |
b. Applied to a pet animal.
| a 1577 Gascoigne Praise P. Sparrow Wks. (1587) 285 As if you say but fend cut Phip, Lord, how the peat will turne and skip. |
2. As a term of obloquy for a woman:
esp. in
proud peat.
Obs. in 17th c., but revived by Scott.
| 1599 B. Jonson Ev. Man out of Hum. Dram. Pers., Fallace. Deliro's wife and Idoll, a proud mincing Peat, and as peruerse as he is officious. a 1623 Fletcher Wife for Month i. i, And ye proud peat, Ile make you curse your insolence. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xvii, Ere he [Rothsay] takes back yonder proud peat to his table and his bed,..Douglas must be King of Scotland. 1895 Miss Tytler Macdonald Lass xii. 164 You were always a proud, undaunted peat of a lass. |
b. Applied as a term of dislike to a man.
[By Scott and his imitators.]
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. li, ‘I have angered the proud peat now’, he said to himself, ‘by finding out a likeness’. 1866 Gd. Words 2 Apr. 267/2 The presumptuous peat! the light⁓headed auld fule! to mint sic madness. |
† 3. ‘Formerly, a lawyer, supposed to be under the peculiar patronage of any particular judge, was invidiously termed his peat or pet’ (Scott
Redgauntlet Let. xiii, note). Hence
† ˈpeatry,
† ˈpeatship, the personality or office of a peat.
| c 1680 R. Cook's Petit. agst. the Peats in Maidment Scot. Pasquils (1868) 224 Now humbly doth shew to the Lords of the Seat, That he's likely to starve unlesse made a Peat. Ibid. 225 Old Nevoy by all is judged such a sott, That his peatship could never be thought worth a groat. Yet John Hay of Murie, his peatry, as I hear, By virtue of his daughter, makes thousands a year. Newbyth heretofore went snips with the peats, Bot haveing discovered them all to be cheats, Resolves for the future, his sone Willie Baird, Shall be Peat of his house, as well as Young Laird. c 1680 Scot. Pasquils (1827) xxii. 49 Sat. on Fam. of Stairs, His mother's tongue learn'd him his father's law; Lyke prentice taught the trade by ear, but book, In seaven years petship e'er he wrote or spoke. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Let. xiii, As like being akin to a peatship and a sheriffdom, as a sieve is sib to a riddle. |