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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DOVER, v., n. Also vocalised form †dowre (Sc. 1919 Abd. Univ. Review (June) 213). [′do:vər]

I. v.

1. To doze, to fall into a light sleep. Often with ower, to doze off. Gen.Sc. Ppl.adj. doverin'. Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley xviii.:
Ae night when he was riding dovering hame.Sc. 1949 A. M. Kay in Scots Mag. (April) 35:
The Captain lay there prone in the sunshine dovering over into his dog-watch nap.Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 51:
Ae auld bodach, twa pews ben, dovered ower like a hen on a reest an snored. His wife dunted him in the ribs tae wakken him.em.Sc.(a) 1991 Kate Armstrong in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 115:
We dover, sauf in wir ain mirk,
Like Brutus. Mind, he wauked an dirk
Stickt intae Caesar ... Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 45:
Then up frae the fire rise oor doverin' dougs Wi' een that for mercy implore us.Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 139:
An' juste's he gae the door a bang, She was begun to dover. Edb. 1979 Albert D. Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 42:
Deleerit or in dreams I lippen til
Mair mervellous ferlies nor the Nazarene wrocht
And, till I wauken, I believe it aa:
As lang's I'm doveran I wad sweir
Yon's evidence. Hdg. 1908 J. Lumsden Th' Loudons 185:
But, what wi' the feast, the punch, an' the fun, I dover'd clean owre in a heap.wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 14:
Mary nursed him day by day, and she was sitting beside him one afternoon just before Hogmanay, sewing quietly and talking, when he woke now and then from a dovering sleep. wm.Sc. 1992 Sheila Douglas ed. The Sang's the Thing: Voices from Lowland Scotland 148:
I wis lyin sleepin when I wakened up wi something workin at the door. I said, "Hoosh, get away wi ye!" It went away, an I dovered owre tae sleep again. But then it came back, an it was at the door again. Arg. 1998 Angus Martin The Song of the Quern 51:
He's streetched afore a greeshach
wi the pipe sleck in his mooth
doverin in contentment
as the gale draws tae the sooth. Gsw. 1998 Carl MacDougall in Donny O'Rourke and Kathleen Jamie New Writing Scotland 16: The Glory Signs 93:
The pal's propped up on four pillows. Fucked. Looks like death, lost weight, smoking like a tinker's fire, hands and lips trembling, just dovering, neither here nor there. Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 153:
He dover'd owre, and fell a'dreamin'.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 190:
Dovering for a meenont, I can see my grandfather toasting his cheese at the fire.Kcb. 1893 S. R. Crockett Stickit Minister 58:
Jaikie dovered over to sleep.

2. With ower: to fall in a swoon (Ork. 1929 Marw.).

3. “To wander in a hesitating manner as if in doubt or bewilderment” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.), to walk unsteadily. Ppl.adj. doverin', wandering, hence fig. solitary, rare.Sc. 1819 J. Rennie St Patrick iii. iii.:
The're nae pagans nou south o' the Clyde, an' binna a doverin' ane, aibles, in the wyl' muirs o' Galloway.Sc. 1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona x.:
I cannot . . . go dovering round in the black night.Ags. 1893 F. Mackenzie Cruisie Sk. 65:
He had gane doverin' hame wi' my coo. It's the air, Jess, or the stir o' the market that plays thae pliskies on us.

†4. tr. To stun, render senseless, to stupefy.Sc. 1853 Fraser's Mag. XLVIII. 695:
The powder that dovers the unhappy off to sleep.Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man III. 416:
Ane o' them gave me a nab on the crown, that dovered me.

II. n.

1. A doze, a light sleep, a nap (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc.Bnff. 1880 J. F. S. Gordon Chrons. of Keith 321:
Aweel, Meggie, ye've great reason to be thankfu' that ye get a dover in the Day time for hantels o' folk dinna get that.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 120:
In a dover, ha'flings sleeping, Sad he saw, wi' hallow ee.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller iii.:
I'll gang nane to bed; an hour o' a dover is a' the rest I e'er get in the night time.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xxi.:
His lordship's no longer young, sleeps ill at night, and always takes, as I know, what he calls a “good long dover” after dinner.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe 137:
I was wakened, whan I had just fa'en into a dover o' a sleep, by a loud dunner at the door.

†2. A swoon.Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel ii.:
“You seem well recovered now, can you walk?” “Bravely, sir . . . it was but a bit dover.”