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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FURTH, adv., prep., n., adj. Also fort, furt (Sh.). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. forth, also occurring in combs. furthward, furthwith, hencefurth, etc. [Sc. fʌrθ, Sh. fʌrt]

I. adv. 1. Outside, out of doors, in(to) the open air, of rest or motion (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; Sh., ne.Sc., Ags. 1953); abroad.Abd. c.1750 J. Skinner Amusements (1809) 64:
Anes she lay an ouk and langer Furth aneath a wreath o' snaw.ne.Sc. 1836 J. Grant Tales 64:
“An't please Gude, I'll gae furth and see,” quo' he.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 122:
Baith hame an' forth, on water an' land.Sh. 1886 J. Burgess Sk. and Poems 4:
“It's a braw nicht furt,” said Robbie.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 26:
Whin we wir a' come fort ta geng hame, William said: . . .Abd. 1922 G. P. Dunbar Whiff o' Doric 57:
She grabbit a besom sae hefty, sae hefty, An' dreeve them a' furth wi' their gear.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 18:
I'se awa furth or I'se be tinin my temper.Sh. 1951 New Shetlander No. 29. 15:
Here's dee a bröni. Noo gaeng furt, an tak paece afore dee.

2. Followed by o(f): (1) away (from), out (of), beyond the confines or limits (of) (ne.Sc. 1953). Still found in legal formulæ and in mod. liter. usage.Rnf. 1707 W. Hector Judicial Rec. (1876) 203:
She away took with her furth of the said house ane whole stand or suit of womans Cloaths.Lnk. 1708 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 17:
Any such man . . . who is eable and cappable of service, and unmarried, and furth of service.Lnk. 1711 Ib. 116:
Ane Act . . . commanding the . . . Egyptians to pass furth of this kingdom and remain perpetually furth thereof.Ags. 1726 Dundee Charters, etc. (1880) 161:
Excepting furth of this act muilded candles, for which they are allowed to take five shillings Scots as formerly.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxxix.:
A pardon had been despatched to Scotland to Effie Deans, on condition of her banishing herself forth of Scotland for fourteen years.Sc. 1823 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 403:
A curious device is followed when he is abroad, or furth of the kingdom, as it is called.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxvi.:
To summons you, “Alexander Peterkin, residenter, furth of the dwelling-house . . . at Smiddyward”.Sc. 1907 Acts 7 Edw. VII. c. 51 § 52:
It shall be competent to execute edictally any warrant of citation granted . . . against any person furth of Scotland.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood i.:
Wearie, Ovie, gang awa. Haste ye furth o' house an' ha'.Mearns 1934 “L. G. Gibbon” Grey Granite 151:
Wide open heath that lay furth of the toun.Sc. 1949 Gsw. Univ. Graduates Assoc. Circular (Oct.):
Graduates' Clubs furth of Glasgow.Sc. 1979 John Kincaid in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 31:
Leaving dramatists aside for the moment, there are some funny directors about these days, furth of Scotland as well as in it. wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 152:
... but there were tales from further afield beyond Eriboll, Tongue and Hope, and even furth of Scourie, of some new wild highwaymen flourishing gleaming pistols, firing them threateningly into the air, emptying purses of gold coin from rich travellers, ... Sc. 1992 Herald (7 Nov) 12:
It is a pity that a leading Scottish newspaper should still be churning the old "kent his faither" philosophy which has bedevilled Scotland throughout the centuries and sent so many of its artists furth of its borders. Gsw. 1999 Herald (27 Aug) 21:
A Lady, a native of Greenock, now living furth of that parish, sends this thought-provoking contribution :... Sc. 2000 Herald (1 Feb) 17:
At least 90% of all Presbyterians in Scotland still adhere to the national Kirk, which despite its woes and stumblings has still a bigger part in the nation's life than the Church of England can claim furth of Hadrian's Wall. Sc. 2000 Herald (2 Mar) 19:
Minnie Gorie was the oldest supermodel in the world. Her granddaughter, Ingrid Tait, having inherited her mother's artistic skill, is making a name for herself furth of Orkney as a designer.

†(2) Out of the revenues (of), at the expense (of).Sc. 1699 Sc. N. & Q. (Nov. 1931) 201:
In this contract he styles himself “The Right Honourable Sir James Innes of Orton, Knight Baronet,” and grants his wife three chalders of victual furth of Kinnermonie in life-rent.Slg. 1711 Trans. Slg. Nat. Hist. & Arch. Soc. (1924) 39:
A yearly ground annual of eight merks payable furth of two ruinous tenements on the east side of the Mary Wynd.Sc. 1751 W. McFarlane Geneal. Coll. (S.H.S.) II. 340:
10 Merks yearly ffurth of the Lands of Fullartone.Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel iv.:
An auld accompt due to my father's yestate by her Majesty the king's maist gracious mother, when she had sundry providings forth of our booth.

3. = Fore, II. 1., in phr. back and forth, this way and that, to and fro (Sh.¹⁰, Abd.²⁷ 1953), now only U.S. and dial. in Eng.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped ix.:
I was still arguing it back and forth.

II. prep. A use developing from I. 2. (1) above: out of, from, outside (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Slg., Wgt. 1953). Cf. the similar development of Eng. outside.Sc. 1701 E. D. Dunbar Social Life (1866) 135:
Reserving always furth and from this present tack all ship's beer.Fif. 1711 in A. Laing Lindores Abbey (1876) 287:
The said Baillyies enacts and ordains that she be presently thereafter banished furth the toune.Abd. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm I. ii.:
Is that wuman furth the hoose, Jean?e.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 34:
When furth the cottar's fowre was' Care packs him aff without delay.Ayr. 1894 K. Hewat Little Sc. World (1908) 22:
More than once we have heard of a potato-stealer who was incarcerated there, and, on the day of liberation, was walked round the outside walls thrice, and, with an old empty potato sack on his back, beaten “furth” the boundaries of the Burgh.wm.Sc. 1925 G. Blake Wild Men vi.:
[He] had fled . . . and was now furth the country.Abd. 1928 Abd. Univ. Review (Nov.) 23:
Ye still wid greet T' see me streekit furth yer yaird.

III. n. The out-of-doors, the open air (ne.Sc., Ags. 1953). Phr.: †the muckle furth, id. (Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems Gl.). For phr. the furth, see V. 7.Bnff. 1872 W. Philip It 'ill a' Come Richt 127:
A heard him i' the furth brak' oot intil a bicker o' lachter, and rin awa'.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 183:
Eppie wha had been trockin' aboot the furth.Abd. 1895 G. Williams Scarbraes 39:
A nice wee hoosie after a coorse day's trachle i' the muckle furth.Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 45:
Nae liltin' lasses gar the gloamin's ring, Auld men an' frail maun face the furth's onding.

IV. adj. Outside, out of doors, open-air (Sh.¹⁰ 1953).Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 18:
Fling da watter ower da air o' hay it's ootby i' da soae at da partition, ta tak da cauld furt wauf aff o't afore do pits it i' da byre.Ib. 107:
Doo sees da nights is turnin lang noo, and whin da furt wark is by, a body haes a moment ta spare.

V. Phrs. and combs.: 1. †furthcomand, ppl.adj., furthcoming, †-comen, vbl.n., forthcoming, ready to be produced, production. Sc. Law: (action, decree, process, etc. of) furthcoming, the procedure by which money or goods arrested for debt are judicially delivered up to the creditor, i.e. made forthcoming. Also forth-, †furthe-; †2. furthfarin, enterprising, adventurous (Mry. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.); †3. furthga'in, the feast given at the departure of a bride from her parents' home, a wedding entertainment (Abd. 1916 T.S.D.C. II.). Also †forthgeng (Ags. 1808 Jam.); 4. furths(c)haw, to show forth. Arch; †5. furthsetter, one who sets forth, an author, a publisher; 6. furth-the-gait, -gate, adj., adv., candid(ly), honest(ly), straightforward (ne.Sc. 1953). See also Fair, II. 2. Phrs.; 7. the furth, adv., out of doors, in the open, outside, away from home (Abd. 1825 Jam.; Abd. 1953), where the represents there- as in the ben, s.v. Ben, adv., 4. (5).1. Hdg. 1703 Records Sc. Cloth Manuf. (S.H.S.) 345:
Alexander Weir produces ane coppie upone ane summonds of furthecoming laid on in his hands.Ayr. 1706 Arch. and Hist. Coll. Ayr. & Wgt. IV. 211:
Being arrested in his hands att the Earle's instance, therefor decerned to make payment and furth comen of the samen.Kcd. 1712 Urie Court Bk. (S.H.S.) 115:
Robert Spark, . . . is fyned in twentie shilling for the lyike fault, and the same is ordained to be made furthcomand out of his fie.Sc. 1754 Erskine Principles iii. 6 § 8:
Decrees of forthcoming are judicial assignations to the arrester, of the subject arrested.Sc. 1795 Lumsden & Aitken Hammermen Gsw. (1912) 187:
At the next meeting a “Libelled Summons of ffurthcoming . . . was produced by the Clerk.”Sc. 1890 Bell Dict. Law Scot.:
The forthcoming is an action in which the arrestee and the common debtor are called before the judge to hear sentence given, ordering the debt to be paid, or effects to be delivered up to the arresting creditor.Sc. 1926 Green's Encycl. I. 547–8:
An arrestment . . . is a step of diligence which, to be completed, requires a furthcoming. . . . To make furthcoming, payment and delivery of the sum owing by the arrestee to the common debtor.3. Per. 1830 Perthshire Adv. (4 Nov.):
The bride's friends, who had been called together by special invitation of herself and her maid, as was also the case with the bride-groom and his man, a week or ten days before hand, then sat down to an early dinner, termed the forthgoing. When this repast was finished, the bride took leave of her parents, generally in tears, at her father's door, and was led by the send, one taking hold of each hand, to the church.4. Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 177:
And, Alexander-like, furth-shaw Example in that strife.Sc. 1928 T. T. Alexander Psalms xix. 1.:
God's gudeliheid the hevins rede, The lift His wark furthschaws.5. Sc. 1821 Scots Mag. (April) 352:
Tho' they be written by the same furthsetter.6. Abd. 1891 J. Ogg Glints 37:
Despite yer arrowy sho'ers an' fleein' cloods, You're honest, furth-the-gate — may grace be wi' ye.Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 27:
Fat was there left for me But jist to answer back as frank, as furth-the-gait an' free.Sc. 1924 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 342:
Fair oot, an' furth-the-gait, I am.7. Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xl.:
Lockin my bits o' doories, an' seein' that neen o' the creaturs wasna reestin the furth.Abd. 1909 G. Greig Mains's Wooin' 49:
Jist lat's hear yon teen again ye wis playin' the furth wi' the variations.Abd. 1920 C. Murray Country Places 5:
O it's little we care gin the furth it be fair, Or mochie or makin' for snaw.Bnff. 1927 E. S. Rae Hansel fae Hame 13:
It's far the furth ye face the fremt, but aye The hert rugs hame fae ootmaist eyens o' earth.Abd. 1952 Huntly Express (25 April):
I wis born the furth, an' I'll dee the furth.

¶VI. v. To set forth, to proclaim.Ags. 1897 A. Reid Bards Ags. & Mearns 137:
He lifted aye his heichest strain To furth its praise.