bawn n also bon [phonetics unavailable]. EDD ~ sb 4 Ir; JOYCE 214; DINNEEN badhún for sense 1.
   1 Grassy land or meadow near a house or settlement.
   1897 J A Folklore x, 203 Bawn ... particularly where the Irish have prevailed, is the common name for the land about the house. P 113-55 Setting spuds on the bawn (flat expanse of freshly-turned sods). 1968 DILLON 131 'We have to break up some bawn tomorrow.' 'When cattle are dry, they're out on the bawn in the spring o' the year.' M 69-29 About half-way between my house and the theatre there was a big grassy bonne (meadow) and this was a favourite place for courters to go. C 71-24 [In Calvert] a baun was an enclosed pasture which was used for the grazing of sheep. In Carbonear [it] meant ground that hadn't been ploughed before. C 75-136 ~ a plot of grass land where children play and where fishermen spread their trap when they take it up to dry or mend.
   2 Expanse of rocks on which salted cod are spread for the quick-drying process of the Labrador and Bank fisheries; BEACH. Cp FLAKE.
   1895 GRENFELL 66 Newfoundlanders spread [cod] on poles called 'flakes,' or on the natural rocks, called 'bournes.' [1900 OLIVER & BURKE] 34 "Fanny's Harbor Bawn": Which caused this dreadful contest on [Fanny's] Harbor Bawn... / So pray begone, all from the Bawn, or I'll boot you in your bloom. 1936 SMITH 17 [The fish] would then lie in the waterhorse for twenty-four hours. It was then brought out on the bawn and spread 'heads and tails.' 1937 Seafisheries of Nfld 47 When the fish is dried by natural means, it is placed upon flakes, beaches, rocks and bawns (i.e. artificial beaches), where the sun and wind are permitted to perform the task of extracting the moisture. 1955 DOYLE (ed) 78 ... " 'Twas Getting Late Up in September": To spread fish on the bawn makin' wages / We went there without much sleep. T 393-67 This is where they'd make their fish—on all those small rocks about the size o' your fist. They used to call it the bawn. M 71-117 Finally the fish would be taken in hand-barrows to the bawns—something like flakes except that the boughs were laid on the rocks—and spread to dry. 1977 Inuit Land Use 218-19 First, the cod were washed to remove the salt, then they were placed on small flat stones called bons to dry. The bons were loosely separated to permit air to circulate around the fish.
   3 Phr make bawn: to prepare beach for drying salted cod by making a flat expanse of rocks.
   C 70-10 Sometimes the fishermen would fill in the crevices with beach rocks, and this would be called making bawn. My grandfather said that he has made bawn down in Labrador while fishing there in the summer-time.

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