v1.1
Publishing history:
v1.0: 01/10/24
v1.1: 12/01/25
boiteag ‘worm, maggot; bait’, also baoiteag, baoit (baoid), boit(e): (1) boiteag f. [ˈb̥ɔʰtʲaɡ̊], gen. boiteig [ˈb̥ɔʰtʲæɡ̊ʲ], [ˈb̥ɔʰtʲɛɡ̊ʲ], is recorded in Raasay (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh: [bɔtʹɑɡ] (sic)), Skye and Strathglass (ibid.) and cited in HSS (1828), MacBain (1896), Dwelly (1911), MacLennan (1925), Dieckhoff (1932: [bòhdˈjag]) and AFB˄ (/bɔçdʲag/); (2) baoiteag f. [ˈb̥əiʰtʲaɡ̊], gen. baoiteig [ˈb̥əiʰtʲæɡ̊ʲ], [ˈb̥əiʰtʲɛɡ̊ʲ], is recorded in Lewis (Oftedal 1956, 90: /bəit’aɡ/) and cited in HSS (1828), MacBain (1911), Dwelly (1911) and MacLennan (1925); (3) baoit f. is recorded in Lewis (Dwelly 1911) and cited in AFB˄ (/bɤihdʲ/), baoid in Easter Ross (Watson 2022, 110: /boːi̯d´/) and in both West (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: [b[ɤı]dʹ]
Also the verbal noun a’ baoideadh [ə b[ɤi]dʹu̜] ‘baiting’; ?cf. boiteadh ‘boiled feed for horses’ (HSS 1828; MacBain 1911).
Also the verbal noun (p. 178) baoideadh [pəi:ǰu] ‘baiting’.
Where the word is possibly feminine but used with a masculine pronoun: (Dail bho Thuath, Suaineabost or Lìonal) tha an lìon beag air a bhiathadh ann an sgùil, le boite ga chur air gach dubhan.
Cha bu ghille snog do shamhail
gu bhi mealladh na te ghrinn,
Dheidheadh crois-tàra dhath nad dhruim,
diamon am bràigh do mhalaidh,
Glamair air do chura-mhagail,
bun an t-slabhaig ris a’ ghaoith,
T’ earbull cho beag ri boit,
fàinne ’n cuinnean do bhathais.
‘Boitidh, call to a pig; poitidh in Sutherland. Cf. boit, a feed, as when an animal is turned in for a short time among long grass (Glenlyon); from Eng. bait.’
Disyllabic boiteag and baoiteag (as opposed to boit(e) and baoit) appear to contain the Gaelic diminutive suffix -ag; baoit and baoiteag have diphthongal stressed vowels (as opposed to boit(e) and boiteag, which have monophthongal stressed vowels); boit(e) may occur alongside boiteag (and it would not be surprising if it did given the pair baoit, baoiteag), although in some cases a spelling boit(e) may in fact intend a pronunciation baoit.
Mackay (1897, 95) derives SG (Sutherland) beid (?leg. baoid) from Ice. beit, while Henderson (1910, 205) derives SG beit (perhaps correcting Mackay) from ON beita. While McDonald (2009, 341) derives SG beid, beit, boiteag and baoiteag from ON beita, Oftedal (1956, 90; 1962a, 120; 1972, 117) derives baoiteag from ON beit or beiti, but via English. Meanwhile, MacBain (≈1911) compares boiteag and baoiteag with SG botas ‘intestinal worm[s]’, which he derives from MEng. bottes, pl. of bot, bott ‘parasitic worm’, noting Scots batts; for SG botas, cf. (Harris) boiteas [botʹəs] (sic) (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄) and (Gairloch) botais [b̥ohtɪʃ] and boiteis [b̥oht’əʃ] (Wentworth 2003).
ON beit f. ‘pasture, pasturage’, beita f. ‘bait’ and beiti n. in the sense ‘worm used for bait’ all have [ei], which would be expected to yield SG [eː], e.g. ON *Breið-nes ‘(the) broad-promontory’ > SG Brèinis [ˈb̥ɾʲẽːˌniʃ] (Cox 2022, 177). On the other hand, MScots bottis (battis) pl. (< MEng. bottes) was evidently borrowed as SG (coll.) botas, botais, boiteas, boiteis (the latter two perhaps reflecting influence from SG boit(e) etc.), presumably while the Scots word was still disyllabic, before the middle of the 16th century (Macafee 2003, 150). SG boit(e), then, is possibly a normalised dative form of an unattested SG *bot, from MScots (sing.) *bot(t). The diphthongal vowels in SG baoit and baoiteag may reflect a more recent borrowing and go back to northern Scots forms represented by Scots betek ‘old or poor quality bait fish will not eat’ (Jakobsen 1928: [bētək, bēətək, bɛ̄ætək]),
Indeed, the Scottish Gaelic diminutive ending -ag may have taken over, via morphemic substitution, the Scots diminutive suffix -ock, -e(c)k etc.