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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FUN, n.¹ Also †funn. n.Sc. form of Whin, n.², gorse and Whin, n.¹, whinstone. See P.L.D. §§ 59, 134. [fʌn]ne.Sc. c.1805 Laily Worm in Child Ballads No. 36 xv.:
He has sent to the wood For hathorn an fun.Bnff. 1878 Ellis E.E.P. V. 779:
Fin [th]is fun bleems, i.e. never. [A pun on the two meanings of the word.]Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 124:
He rase a' dreepin' wi' the dyow Fae bed o' funs an' steens.Bnff. 1927 Banffshire Jnl. (29 March):
Still the time of “chappit funs” as winter feed is not beyond the span of some lives yet.

Freq. attrib. and in combs.: 1. fun-buss, a whin-bush (ne.Sc. 1953); †2. fun chackert, the whinchat, Saxicola rubetra (ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna of “Dee” 77); †3. fun egg, an addled or infertile egg (Cai. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.) quasi made of whinstone; †4. fun lintie, = 2. (ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna of “Dee” 77); †5. fun mull, a kind of mill for grinding whins as cattle fodder; 6. fun-stane, -steen (ne.Sc. 1953), whinstone.1. Abd. 1868 G. Macdonald R.Falconer I. xx.:
The glory of his red hair . . . once mistaken for a fun-buss on fire.Abd. 1929 Sc. Readings (ed. Paterson) 91:
An egg that had been lyin' in a funn-buss for months.5. Abd. 1914 A. McS. The Bishop 33:
That wis a' 'at some o' the beasts got last winter, excep' at toons faur there wis a fun-mull.Abd. 1926 Trans. Bch. Field Club XIII. 79:
Whin shoots crushed with the powerful fun-mull.6. Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 8:
In hell . . . Where a fun-stane does Sisyphus Down to the yerd sair gnidge.