v. Sc. and north. dial. Forms: 4–7 theke, 5 thicke, 6 Sc. thik, thyk, 6–9 Sc. theik, thick, 7–9 theak(e, thake, 8–9 Sc. theck, theek. [A collateral form of THATCH v. in use before 1400, of somewhat uncertain history. Perhaps from OE. þęccan, the forms of the imperative þece and the 2nd and 3rd pers. sing. present þecest, þeceð being extended to the verb as a whole: cf. streek, Sc. and north. form of STRETCH, OE. stręccan.]
† 1. trans. To roof (a building) with stone, slate, tiles, shingles, lead, or the like. Obs.
1387. Charters &c. of Edinb. (1871), 35 (St. Giles). The forsayde v chapellys sal be thekyt abovyn with stane.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), x. 38. A full faire kirk … thekid wele with leed.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (Rolls), II. 568. Rycht clene thickit was than all this tour, Weill gilt with gold. Ibid., III. 190. Sanct Androis kirk … That thekit wes with coper in tha dais.
1559. Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1875), III. 57. To thik the southe syde of the towlbuyth with new sklait.
1572. Satir. Poems Reform., xxxiii. 192. I se ȝour tempills cassin downe and reuin: The maist part are bot theikit with the heuin.
1628. Extracts Burgh Rec. Glasgow (1876), I. 365. [To] theik the samyn [ruiff] with leid.
1710. Sibbald, Hist. Fife, II. v. § 2. 78. They (as the Proverb has it) tirr’d the Kirk, to theek the Quire.
1777. J. Robertson, in McKay, Kilmarnock (1880), 177. Water is gude for mony a purpose, although ye’re a’ aware we canna theek Kirks wi’t.
b. spec. To cover the roof of (a house) with thatch of straw or the like; also, to protect the top of (a corn or hay rick) with straw laid so as to carry off the rain.
1399. Mem. Ripon (Surtees), III. 130. In y11 travis de stramine ordii emp. 5s.,… in salario j hominis tegentis,… thekand prædictam domum per v dies.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., I. 474. Thy berne also … to thicke hit, thou ne lette.
c. 1450. Life St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 7649. And thekyd it with hay and thak.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VIII. xi. 30. Quhais rufis laitly full rouch thykyt war wyth stra or gloy by Romulus the wycht.
1637–50. Row, Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.), 417. The fabrick of the kirk wes in so evill a condition, being theiked with heather.
1672. T. Whittingham, Diary, 30 Aug., in Best, Farm. Bks. (Surtees), 138, note. Wheatley of Saiston ye theaker is to theake Leonords’ Barn.
1721. Ramsay, Bessy Bell & Mary Gray, i. They bigg’d a bower … And theck’d it o’er with rashes.
1863. Mrs. Toogood, Yorks. Dial., I want you to theak my rick.
1895. Crockett, Men of Moss-Hags, 283. The roof was daintily theeked with green rushes and withes.
2. transf. To cover in general (but often with allusion to thatching a roof).
1667. in Campbell, Balmerino (1899), 414. To men that thickit a holl in the kirk with divite.
1719. Ramsay, To Arbuckle, 117. I theck the out, and line the inside Of mony a douce and witty pash.
a. 1800. Twa Corbies, iv., in Scott, Minstr. Scot. Bord. Wi’ ae lock o’ his gowden hair, We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare.
a. 1810. Tannahill, Rab Roryson’s Bonnet, Poems (1846), 116. This bonnet that theekit his wonderful head.
1896. Crockett, Cleg Kelly, xlii. 283. A pump theekit frae the frost wi’ strae rapes.
3. absol. or intr. (from 1 or 2).
a. 1518. Skelton, Magnyf., 1027. For it is I that other whyle Plucke down lede and theke with tyle.
1876. Whitby Gloss., s.v., ‘You mun theeak weel, this caud weather,’ put on extra clothing.
Hence Theeked, -it ppl. a., thatched; Theeking vbl. sb., the action (concr. the material or product) of thatching; ppl. a., that thatches or covers.
1792. Burns, Bessie & her Spinnin Wheel, ii. On ilka hand the burnies trot, And meet below my *theekit cot.
a. 1801. R. Gall, Poems (1819), 28. She reached the theeked byre.
1393. Regist, de Aberbrothoc (Bann.), II. 43. For the quhilkis *thekyn and gutteryn the abbot … sal pay till hym xxxv marcis.
1579. Burgh Rec. Edinb. (1882), IV. 104. Wynd tycht, watter tycht, in thyking, slating,… and vther necessaris.
1617. Mem. St. Giles’, Durham (Surtees), 47. To Nycholas Sparke for thekin 4 days, viij a day.
a. 1835. Hogg, Tales, Sheph. Cal., xvii. Bread for the belly and theeking for the back.
1846. Brockett, N. C. Words (ed. 3), s.v. Theaker, A ‘theaking snow’ quietly but continuously falling, so as to cover thickly, as a thatch does, a house.
