What does bawbee mean?
The bawbee was a small copper coin of Scotland, valued at half a penny, that circulated from the late sixteenth century onward. Its name became proverbial for anything of trivial value, giving rise to the enduring Scots expression 'not worth a bawbee'. Although the coin itself long vanished from circulation after the union of the Scottish and English currencies, the word survives in literature and dialect speech as a colourful emblem of meagreness — a sum so slight it scarcely merits counting. Writers have used it to evoke thrift, poverty, or contemptuous dismissal, as when a bargain is scorned as hardly worth a bawbee. For readers of Burns, Scott, and other Scottish authors, recognising the term opens a window onto everyday life and commerce in early modern Scotland, where small silver and copper coins carried both economic weight and idiomatic force.
A former Scottish copper coin worth half a penny.
"She paid a bawbee for a ribbon at the Glasgow fair."
Historical; encountered mainly in texts about Scottish currency before the nineteenth century.
Figuratively, any trifling sum of money.
"His opinion on the matter isn't worth a bawbee."
Chiefly Scots; almost always used in negative constructions.
Regular plural; rare outside historical or dialect writing.
"The beggar shook his cap, but only two bawbees clinked inside."
Scotland once minted its very own halfpenny — the bawbee — and centuries later it survives mainly in the insult 'not worth a bawbee'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bawbee
The bawbee was a Scottish coin introduced in the late sixteenth century, during the reign of James VI, originally valued at six pence Scots and later reduced to a halfpenny. Its origin is traditionally linked to Alexander Orok of Sillebawby, a master of the Scottish mint whose name or lands are thought to lie behind the term, though the exact derivation remains uncertain. The word belongs to the family of obsolete Scots currency terms alongside the plack, bodle, and merk.
How bawbee is actually used
Archaic and regional to Scotland. In modern usage it appears almost exclusively in literary or dialect contexts, often in the negative idiom 'not worth a bawbee', meaning worthless or trivial.
Easily confused with bawbee
A bobby is a British police officer (from Robert Peel), while a bawbee is an old Scottish halfpenny coin.
A baobab is a large African tree, unrelated in sound-alike fashion to the Scottish coin bawbee.