The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #52503   Message #804115
Posted By: Malcolm Douglas
16-Oct-02 - 12:33 AM
Thread Name: What the heck did Burns mean by...
Subject: RE: What the heck did Burns mean by...
Perfectly good Middle English word, as Masato said; retained longer in Scotland than in England. V often mutates into B; compare, for example, scrivener and scribe.