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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DARK, daurk, dawrk, dork, n., v., adj. See also derk adj., n.

1. n. 

Sc. forms of Eng. dark. wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 9:
Come dork, she wis richt weak
Wi' the gowpin' o' her sair heid and seeck
At the thocht o' touchin' a singel bite.

Sc. usages:

In phr. ¶the dark of time, the remote past, the beginnings of time.Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle iv.:
That and this ruckle of stones we sit in are all that's left of what was my father's and my grandfather's and their forebears', back till the dark of time.

2. v.

(1) intr. To grow dark. Obs. in Eng. since early 17th cent. (N.E.D.). Vbl.n. darkin', twilight (Cai.⁴ c.1920).Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶:
Come hame when it darks.

(2) tr. To make dark, to darken. Obs. in literary Eng. since 17th cent. (N.E.D.) but still in use in e.Lan. dial. (E.D.D.).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 308:
And wish no Clouds may hover in the Air, To dark the Medium, and obstruct from Sight The gradual Motion and Decay of Light.Per. 1900 E.D.D.:
I sanna dark yer door.

(3) fig.: to cloud, spoil. Arch. use of (2).Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xviii.:
One woman is enough to dark the fairest ploy that ever was planned.

III. adj.  Sc. forms of Eng. dark (daurk Ags., Gsw., Ayr., Dmf. 2002). m.Sc. 1991 Stewart McGavin in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 75:
the tavern skails.
daurk figures skouk
throu baukie yetts
an doun the causey
fae lampies lowe
tae lampies lowe.m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 16:
In this citie o whispers
Doon daurk, smokey vennels
Windin, we reached the Jewish quarter. Gsw. 1969 Tom Leonard Intimate Voices (1984) 9:
dork init
good jobe theyve gote thi lights.