Part 61 (1/2)

V. ~Beld Cyttes~.

BELLAN, _s._ Fight, combat.

_Douglas._

Lat. _bellum_.

BELLE, _s._ Bonfire.

V. ~Bail~.

BELLING, _s._ The state of desiring the female; a term properly applied to harts.

_Douglas._

Rudd. derives the phrase from Fr. _belier_, a ram; but perhaps it is rather from Isl. _bael-a_, _bel-ia_, _baul-a_, Germ. _bell-en_, mugire, boare.

BELLIS, _s. pl._

_Wallace._

BELLIT, _adj._ Bald.

_Fordun._

_Scotichron._

BELLY-BLIND, _s._ The play called Blind-man's buff, S. A.: _Blind Harie_, synon. S.

Anciently this term denoted the person who was blindfolded in the game.

_Lyndsay._

In Su. G. this game is called _blind-bock_, i. e. blind goat; and in Germ. _blinde kuhe_, q. blind cow. It is probable, that the term is the same with _Billy Blynde_, mentioned in the Tales of Wonder, and said to be the name of ”a familiar spirit, or good genius.”

BELLY-FLAUGHT.

1. To _slay_, or _flay_, _belly-flaught_, to bring the skin overhead, as in flaying a hare, S. B.

_Monroe's Iles._

2. It is used in Loth. and other provinces, in a sense considerably different; as denoting great eagerness or violence in approaching an object.

_Ramsay._