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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.

DRUCKEN, ppl.adj. Also drukken (I.Sc.), †druken, and in curtailed form druck (Ags. c.1870 (per Fif.¹⁴); Bnff., Ayr., Rxb. 2000s). Drunken, addicted to drink. Also in n.Eng. dial. Gen.Sc. Used also as pa.p. to drink. Cf. Drunken.Sc. 1704 J. Maidment (ed.) Bk. Sc. Pasquils (1828) II. 66:
A druken, rebellious and senseless caball.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxvii.:
I hae bought wi' them, sauld wi' them, eaten wi' them, drucken wi' them.Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 91:
close-mooths yeuky wi the unkent;
fain tae drap their gett -
a drucken stramash, or a steive corp.ne.Sc. 1836 J. Grant Tales 182:
Ye're a filthy, raggit, drucken boar. Ye've been drinkin' in Glen Farquar the feck o' the nicht.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 20:
land whaur gien choice the people turnt aboot,
wrung oot o spreit like onie saft cloot,
land o ice whaur wi sair hauch
the auld dee cauld, land o the drukken droch. m.Sc. 1898 J. Buchan John Burnet iii. xvi.:
The drucken folk were dancin' and cairryin' on at the ither end.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 40:
Eftir the Sabines hud thair Roman bairns
thay got on weel eneuch withooten doot;
no lik yirsel, ye muckle drucken bruit
tae grup a leddie in yir coorse-lik airms. Ayr. 1790 Burns Merry hae I been ii.:
Drucken or sober, here's to thee, Katie.Kcb. 1911 G. M. Gordon Clay Biggin' 14:
Purdie had noo brocht in Alexander McNaught, the coachman, a drucken, idle, worthless body.

Hence (1) dru(c)kensome, -sum, intemperate, inclined to drink to excess (Sc. 1825 Jam.², -sum; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 187); (2) druckenness, drunkenness (Ork. 1975).(1)m.Sc. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 133:
Cam' into this drukensome town.(2)Sc. 1829 Scotch Haggis 277:
I'm surprized at your conduct, that ye dinna drap that druckenness.

Combs.: †1. drucken bite, food given to encourage drinking; †2. drucken penny, money to buy drink.1. Abd. 1873 P. Buchan Inglismill 43–44:
Till Luckie brings the drucken bite hersel' — Saut beef an' breed (she was a sleekit bodie) To moyen ben anither bowl o' toddy.2. Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 4:
A drudger gets a darg, and a drucken wife the drucken penny.