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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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FOUND, n., v. Also foon(d), foun; †fund (Kcd. c.1730 C. Wright G. Guthrie (1900) 54; Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 163), fun. [fu:n(d)].

I. n. 1. A foundation, base, lit. and fig.; also the excavation made for the foundations of a building. Used in sing. and pl. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1702 T. Mair Ellon Rec. (1898) 305:
It would be necessarie to raze the Church to the found.Sc. 1829 G. Robertson Recoll. 79:
The wooden work of it [roof] was constructed . . . of upright kebbers of rough timber, inserted into the heart of the walls, as low down as the found.Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 172:
Like those unselfish workin men of old, That laid the solid founds o' Christianity.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 175:
All the rubbish was cleared away for the foond of the new tower by the beginning of December.Abd. 1889 W. Allan Sprays 99:
Gin the foun' o' a story be laid tae the line.Kcb. 1911 G. M. Gordon Clay Biggin' 9:
Davy . . . was diggin' the foond for the cot hoose.Rxb. 1921 Kelso Chron. (25 Nov.) 2:
They'll be gaun doon tae the foonds likely.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 61:
I guid furt an' begood ta hok for a foond ta da back wa' o' da byre.Sc. 1948 Scotsman (9 Dec.):
The tunnel takes four right-angle turns round the founds of the R.S.A. building.

Comb.: found stane, a foundation stone. Also fig.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 79:
The foundstane, mother Eve did lay it E'er scarce created.Sc. 1889 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm II. 529:
The covering may be effected with strong pavement, . . . or with rough found-stones, where such can be procured.ne.Sc. 1979 Alastair Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 63:
that I was boddomed on the saut rigours o your law -
to be vast and various
and yet fixed to the foonds. Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 197:
You don't know who you're talking to, you worm!
Where were you when I sank the foonds of the earth and threw it up in six days? Sc. 1995 James S. Adam New Verses for an Auld Sang 12:
... young Scotia bricht in braw new goun
will breist the braes wi eident bearin;
juist ae wee step twixt me an foun
on whilk tae bigg thon dream we're sharin Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web iii:
A puil, fit o the Darroch, keepit me drawin fur oors, fur I wis certain a kelpie bedd in its founs, ...

2. Specif.: a ring of stones and brushwood on which a corn-stack is built (ne.Sc. 1953), sometimes including the sheaves forming the base of the stack.Abd. 1920 C. Murray Country Places 1:
[He] roon the ruck foun's wi' the lave o' the loons Played "Takie" by licht o' the meen.Abd. 1953 Abd. Press and Jnl. (4 Nov.):
Has Marion ever forked a "foun" against the wind with the chaff blowing into her face?

‡3. A fund, reserve of money (Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 243; Ags.² 1943); in pl., funds, money. Cf. Fond, n.Sc. 1707 in Earls of Cromartie (ed. Fraser 1876) II. 37–38:
Wee have a better, that is, a more mine-full foond in Scotland then the Indies can affoord.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxxv.:
Tibbie havin' the purse in her pouch, I hadna sufficient foonds for that.Fif. 1894 A. S. Robertson Provost 32:
By-the-bye, Saunders, was Dauvit i' the Burial Foond (Friendly Society)?Sh. 1919 T. Manson Peat Comm. II. 131:
Paid twinty-five pound a week, an his livin, an his traivellin expenses, firby haein a found laid by fir extrees.

II. v. 1. As in Eng., to lay the foundations of, to found, establish.Abd. 1879 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie II. xi.:
Though the hoose be fun't upo' a rock, it's maist biggit o' fells, an' the fundation's a' I luik even to see o' 't again.Sc. 1887 in Mod. Sc. Poets (ed. Edwards) X. 338:
For ilka man and mither's son that acts up to his licht, And foonds life's biggin' on the true, and fends it wi' the richt.Sc. 1891 R. Ford Thistledown 124:
The "foondin'" . . . demanded that the "greybeard" should be filled and emptied.w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 84:
Torphichen's kent in fact as foondit
ver' ne'r a thoosant year an yet,
wi its auld name that's Cymric soondit,
yae thoosant mair's a safe-like bet.

Hence combs.: (1) ‡foundin pint, a drink given to the workmen after laying the foundations of a building as an augury of good luck (ne.Sc. 1874 W. Gregor Olden Time 15, funin-; Ork., Ags. 1953); (2) foundin stane, foundation stone.(1) Mry. 1875 A. Jervise Epitaphs I. 300:
A minister [of Knockando] refused to give the workmen a founding pint, . . . upon which they are said to have pronounced a malison against future incumbents.Kcb. 1906 Gallovidian No. 31, 107:
The idea of the foundation sacrifice still subsists in the "foonin pint" and bread and cheese given when starting the building of a house.Per. 1918 J. Meikle Old Session Bk. 183:
The "foundin' pint," which still drags on a precarious existence.Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS.:
They came to him for a foonin' pint and he gae them a foo bottle o' fuskey.(2) Ags. 1898 J. T. Boyle Spectre Maid 73:
O' him that laid the rock that made His foondin' stane o' fame.

2. intr. with refl. force, with (up)on: to base one's opinion, etc.; to establish itself, be established on (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Slg., Fif. 1945).Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xiii.:
Ye shall never lay finger on my daughter, and that ye may found upon.Sc. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Revol. III. i. v.:
All delineation . . . must either found on Belief and provable Fact, or have no foundation at all.Fif.¹⁰ 1943:
Ye canna foond upon what he says.