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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HAME, n., adv., adj., v. Also haim (Sc. 1808 Jam.); haem (Sh. 1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Buddie 6); hem (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.); him (Sh. 1949 New Shetlander No. 19. 35); heem (Ork. 1929 Marw.); hyim(m), heyime, heame, hehym (Rxb.); ¶haam (Dmf. 1731 Gentleman's Mag. 125). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. home. [Sc. hem, Sh. hɛm, Ork. him, Rxb. hjɛm. See P.L.D. §§ 32.1, 164.1, 97.4.]

I. n. Sc. form of Eng. home.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 18:
Big, bonny cat-beast, douce an tame,
Ye wanner roun ma kitchen fleer
An wanner throwe ma thochts; I'll sweir
That there ye've fun a second hame.w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 7:
Pincils an Pens hae thir uses, -
it's Hammers an Saws that build hames.

Sc. usage.

In Argyll, the town of Campbeltown and surrounding district. Cf. doon hame, of Dumfries, s.v. Doon and Hamebider.Arg.¹ 1930:
Campbeltown is always regarded and spoken of as “home,” even when the reference is to a stranger, e.g. “She'll be home soon for her furniture.”

II. adv. 1. At home.Edb. a.1730 A. Pennecuik Poems (1787) 32:
Hame at their awn town let them bide.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 2:
Hid wad hae been better for dem, I tink, gin dey bidden heem.Sc. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods 79:
Cryin' to ken whaur deil ye are, Hame, France, or Flanders.Sh. 1906 T. P. Ollason Spindrift 15:
“What knife means doo?” . . . “Da peerie broon haandled een 'at Faeder left hame.”wm.Sc. 1954 Robin Jenkins The Thistle and the Grail (1994) 139:
"... The truth is, Mr. Rutherford sir, my wife you ken, she's not been keeping well lately, and I thought if I went by train or bus I'd hae to leave a guid hour earlier, and I'd be hame an hour later. ..." Ork. 1956 C. M. Costie in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 (1998) 5:
"Weel," said the Auld Man, "if thoo're coman wae me thoo'll mind I didno speir thee, for many a time een that geungs aff wioot an errand comes heem wae een, an if thoo comes at a misanter, thoo his cheust theesel tae bleem." wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 27:
"Go and mind your Mither to get hame and be ready for us, ... " wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 9:
See, yince hame Ah'm no' happy in masel'
Until Ah ken that a' the faimly's well. Abd. 2000 Herald 18 Sep 21:
To keep the public on our side as far as possible, it was decided that the go-slows should affect them going to their work. "They winna care about that. But dinna stop them from getting hame," was the strategy. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 168:
'No unless he's done whit you've done. Followed us hame like? That's whit ye did, eh?'

2. (1) With reference to birth: into the world, with bring (Abd., Ags., Fif., Rnf., Ayr., Kcb., Dmf., Slk. 1956), fesh (Abd., Kcb. 1956), get, of the mother, midwife or doctor; with come (Ayr., Dmf. 1956), †spring, of the child; (2) with reference to employment: into service, with come, enter, gae, gang (n.Sc., Fif., m.Lth., sm.Sc. 1956); (3) with reference to tenancy: into a lease, with come.(1) Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 6:
The dentyest wean bony Jane fuish hame.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 191:
Cathrine falls o'er, and hame she brings anither.Slg. 1804 G. Galloway Luncarty 58:
Twa waly chaps sprung hame, twa lovely boys.Ayr. a.1851 A. Aitken Poems (1873) 7:
His only son Was gotten hame, an' by him christen'd John.Lnk. 1888 R. Young Love at Plough 13:
A comin' hame an' then the doctor's bill Means some expense.Gall. 1888 G. Sproat Dalma Linn 58:
There's a wee bit stranger boy cam' hame, An' she's prood as prood can be.Kcb. 1897 T. Murray Frae the Heather 41:
And she has ten lammies fetched hame.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xxv.:
As John Gourla' rode through the storm for a doctor to bring hame his heir.Sc. 1948 D. Macmillan Not Scot Free vii.:
He's a fine man, our doctor, and won't return till all's by and the wean safe hame.(2) Sc. 1700 G. Turnbull Diary (S.H.S. 1893) 391:
My wife aggried with a nurse to her daughter Marion, and she entered home.Abd. 1752 Monymusk Papers (S.H.S.) 240:
Desireing that he might be decerned to enter home to serve him as a harvest servant.Slk. 1829 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) viii.:
Among the servants that came home at the next term, was one who called himself Merodach.Cai. 1869 M. MacLennan Peasant Life 112:
And Bella went “home” to Lowestyle at once.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 92:
He was so sly an' douce, Until a sonsie pawky quean Cam' hame to keep his house.Gall. 1888 G. Sproat Dalma Linn 228:
Sae, lasses, whene'er ye gang hame to a place, Dinna gang scowlin' roun' wi' a thraw on your face.Abd.²⁷ 1947:
I was jist new come hame to the dress-makin, fan my fader dee't.(3) Abd.²⁷ 1946:
The siller he had to pey, when he cam' hame.

III. Combs.: 1. hame-aboot, at home, gen. in reference to a stay-at-home (Ork.⁵ 1956). Also, homely (Sh. 1956); 2. hame-airted, directed homewards; 3. hame-come, return, arrival (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1902 E.D.D.; Sh., Abd. 1956); 4. hame-comin(g), a coming-home, esp. the festivities taking place on the arrival of a bride at her new home (Sc. 1899 Mont.-Fleming, -cumming; Cai. 1902 E.D.D.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), hemkomin). Gen.Sc.; also applied to a birth (Abd., Fif., Ayr., Gall., Dmf., Slk. 1956). Cf. II. 2. (1). Found in Eng. dial.; 5. hame-draw(i)n, keenly alive to the interests of oneself or one's home (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 74, -drawn; Kcb. c.1916, -drawin; Arg., Dmf. 1956); selfish (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., hyim-drawn). Cf. Hame-drauchtit, id.; 6. hame-duin, -dane, -deen, home-made (Abd., Fif. 1956); 7. hame-fare, heem-, hemfer, the journey of a bride to her new home after the wedding (Sc. 1808 Jam., hame-fare), the festivities on that occasion (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), 1914 Angus Gl., hemfer; Ork. 1929 Marw., heemfare; I.Sc. 1956). Cf. Infare, id.; 8. hame-farin', staying at home (Sc. 1899 Mont.-Fleming; Sh., wm.Sc. 1956); 9. hame-folk, family, relatives (Sh. 1956); 10. hamegaun, (1) vbl.n., return (journey), the act of going home (Abd., Fif., Dmf. 1956); hence applied to death or to the burial of the dead (Abd.⁷ 1925; Sh., Abd., Fif., m.Lth., Dmf. 1956). Also used attrib.; (2) ppl.adj. homeward going, returning home (Sh., Abd., Kcb., Rxb. 1956); 11. hame-girse, "private pasture, in contrast to common" (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.), prob. the pasture round the steading of a croft as opposed to the more distant hill-pasture. The source has not been traced; 12. home-house, see quot.; 13. hame-lited, home dyed. See Lit; 14. hame-made, (1) n., a home-made article (m.Lth., Arg., Ayr., Rxb. 1956); (2) adj., homely, rustic, rude, unrefined (Sh., Abd., Fif., Gall., Rxb. 1956); 15. hame-through, -trow, straight homewards (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1956); 16. hame-wan, towards home. See Wan.2. Slg. 1885 W. Towers Poems 180:
I pray ilka nicht let your thochts be hame-airted.4. Sc. 1772 H. Mackenzie Man of the World II. ix.:
The maid sat up to wait their home coming.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xii.:
Ye maun stay his hame-coming.Ags. 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters IV. viii.:
That's for my ain dram. I sall tak' anither i' the hame-comin,.Uls. 1894 Daily News (12 Nov.) 5:
The homecoming of the Marquis of Hamilton and his bride to the ancestral home of the Abercorn family.Fif. 1905 S. Tytler Daughter of the Manse iv. iv.:
Weel, what mair naitural than that a man should want to hear a' the particulars of his hamecoming?Sh. 1918 T. Manson Peat Comm. I. 81:
Bit he most hev somethin fur his haem-comin. Da boy hed been awa six year an tree monts.5. Arg.¹ 1931:
A nice kindly man in his way, but aalways hame-draain. I'm no much cairin' for thae hame-draain folk: ye nuvver ken when ye hae them.6. Fif. 1956:
One would say of the scones and cakes on a table that “It's a' hame-duin,” meaning home-made, home-baked.7. Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 36:
Their merry homefair I remind, When their blythe tenantry conven'd . . . To welcome them.Ork. 1922 J. Firth Reminisc. 72:
When the bride shifted to her new home her first duty was to entertain her relatives and most intimate friends to a party. This was called the “hame-fare.”9. Sc. 1917 D. G. Mitchell Clachan Kirk 52:
The braw fellows in his coort, an' a' his hame-folk i' the palace.10. (1) Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 61:
I took a sudden blast o' the hame gawn, an' was never so near dead in my life.Ags. 1825 Jam.:
It is said ironically, when one meets with something very disagreeable on one's return, “I gat a bonny walcom for my hamegäin.”Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 41:
If God's will has ordered my hame-gaun this nicht.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 134:
He waunered in the hame-gaun.em.Sc. 1909 J. Black Melodies 28:
The hame-gaun 'oor is sweet.Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 16:
The souter airts his hamegaun wi' an unco drucken bend.(2) Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 59:
Croonin', as he gaed, a hame-gaun sonnet.12. Sc. 1824 Scots Mag. (April) 404:
Her's was a home-house, or house-of-call, on a Sabbath-day, to most of the farmers' daughters around.13. Bnff. 1861 Banffshire Jnl. (26 Nov.) 7:
Wi' our fingers like sticks, an' our noses as blue As the leg o' a hame-lited stockin.14. (1) Abd. 1847 W. Thom Rhymes 72:
An' saft the pillow to the fat man's pow — Sae fleecy an' warm the guid “hame-made.”(2) Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chron. (9 Sept.) 2:
Lauder is a gey hame-made place, but gey siccar.15. Sh. 1930 Shetland Almanac 196:
We took da gait hame-trow neest day.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 21:
I wid need ta be makkin' hametrow if A'm tinkin' ta du ony grace i' da cobblin' line da nicht.16. Sc. 1935 D. Rorie Lum Hat 26:
The kirk skailt, an' traivellin' hamewan At Sabbath-like pace.

IV. Phrs.: 1. f(r)ae hame, out of one's element, strange, lost, lit. and fig. (Abd.²⁷ 1920; Bnff., Abd., Ags., Dmf. 1956); 2. hameldaeme, an imaginary holiday destination (see 1988 quot.) (Gsw., Ayr. 2000s); 3. to come hame, to arrive at one's destination (Sh., Ags. 1956); 4. to gae (gang) hame, to die (Abd., Ags., Fif., Dmf., Rxb. 1956); 5. to get hame, to import (Ork., Arg. 1956); 6. to pay hame, to pay back, requite, retaliate on, to punish (‡Sh. 1956). Obs. in Eng.1. Abd. 1952 Huntly Express (6 June):
The new occupiers of farms will be a bittie fae hame kine for a week or twa.Slk. 1956 Southern Reporter (11 Oct.) 4:
Nothing looks more frae-hame than stooks sitting among snaw.2. Gsw. 1988 Michael Munro The Patter Another Blast 30:
hameldaeme Literally, home will do me, this mythical place name is used as a stock smart reply to the question 'Where are you going for your holidays this year?' It is particularly popular with people who can't afford to go anywhere.Sc. 2000 Herald 3 Jan 10:
For me, there was only ever one choice: Hameldaeme. (For those unfamiliar with the patois, Hameldaeme was the preferred option of Glaswegians of yore who spurned the option of a Glasgow Fair fortnight in Saltcoats or Rothesay in favour of staying at home.)Sc. 2001 Herald 6 Jul 20:
Any holidays planned or is it just hameldaeme at Holyrood and Balmoral as usual?3. Arg.¹ 1932:
Four singers were booked for the concert last night but only three cam home.4. Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxxii.:
But ye are sure your mother, the Lady Countess, is gane hame?Rnf. 1879 D. Gilmour Pen' Folk 67:
I miss the wee lassie with the brown hair, and conclude that she has gone Home.Fif. 1886 G. Bruce Poems 203:
He said he was “wearying to gang hame!” meaning to the grave.5. Wgt. 1709 Session Bk. Glasserton MS. (10 Feb.):
The minister reports he hes gott home eight ells of plush and a fringe conform for a mort cloath.Arg.¹ 1932:
Are these local strawberries? No, I got them home (i.e. imported them).6. em.Sc. 1706 Mare of Collingtoun in Watson Choice Coll. i. 49:
Then she that Sum right thankfullie Should pay them hame again.m.Lth. 1811 H. Macneill Bygane Times 36:
Gude faith! ye pay'd him hame, my cock!