But an Ben

[CatzHarrigan]

Thank you to those who kindly enlightened me as to what a deoch-an-doruis is.  My grandfather knew Sir Harry Lauder and used to sing some of his songs, sadly Grandad is no longer around for me to ask but am I right in thinking that a But an Ben is a sandwich?

[Chillum]

No, it's a kind of holiday cottage in the highlands - at least, that's what The Broon's taught me as a child.

[Quizmonster]

As Chillum says, it is basically a two-roomed country cottage. The 'ben' was the 'grander' room of the two, whilst the 'but' referred to the kitchen, work-a-day room. As an adverb, 'ben' means 'through' as in: "Come awa' ben 'e hoose!"..."Come on through (to) the living-room!"
I suppose the two-way aspect of the name 'but and ben' might have given rise to its taking on the meaning of a sandwich in some part of Scotland, but I've certainly never heard it being so used.

[calleach]

ben is a shortening of behind .and ? the but short for abutt, thus abutt and behind- 2 rooms as stated

[Quizmonster]

The adverb 'ben' is actually from Middle English 'binne' and Old English 'binnan', meaning 'within'.

[CatzHarrigan]

Thank you all very much, I think I'm now ok with all the wonderful Scots expressions that are found in Sir Harry Lauder's songs.  You've been a great help, thanks again.

[THECORBYLOON]

I've never heard of a sandwich referred to as a "but and ben" I always call a sandwich a "piece." The kitchen is "ben the house"

[RevShirls]

Catz, I think you maybe confused the phrase "but and ben" with "butty/buttie" which usually refers to a sandwich made with a roll rather than ordinary bread. As Quizmonster and others rightly say a"but and ben" is a very small, usually very basic type cottage/croft with two rooms. The main door often goes straight into the "but" part and the "ben" is through the room, so to speak. Some "but and bens" have a wee lobby (hallway) area but I think that is less common.

I was brought up with the words "but and ben" (individually and as a phrase) as my grandpa (a ploughman) spoke braid (as opposed to Lallans) Scots the whole time. I believe that "but" and "ben" were originally prepositions for "in" (ben) and "out" (but). The but was the outer room where cooking, living went on and the ben was the bedroom. People often had to walk through the but to get to the ben. More often nowadays "ben" is used as the preposition "through" and so the meaning has changed over the years. Many people do say "come ben the hoose" and then show you into their living room/lounge.

My grandpa often used to say "Yer grandmither is ben the hoose" (meaning that she was in the bedroom�) or "Yer grandmither is but the hoose" (meaning she was in the living room / scullery area). His bothy pals (they all used to live in a bothy when they were ploughing) all had the same expressions and a wonderful sense of humour. Sadly, my grandpa and most of his pals are no longer with us.