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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

HAW, adj. Also ¶heowe; h(y)aave, hyauve, hyeave. See P.L.D. §§ 137, 141.2. Deriv. hawee. [hɑ:; ne.Sc. çjɑ:v]

Of a pale, wan colouring, tinged with blue or green: 1. of things (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis; Abd. 1956, hyaave).Mry. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads I. 242:
Like moonshine on the icy loch, Thin, cauld, and haw to see.Abd. 1828 P. Buchan Ballads I. 4:
Ere thro' and thro' the bonny ship's side, He saw the green haw-sea.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 7:
Dis time he's wrate a sicht mair, an' apo' bonnie hawee blue paper tü.Abd. 1925 Grieg & Keith Last Leaves 275:
Old people would call badly-washed clothes “hyauve white.”

Hence comb. ha(w) clay, a kind of clay formerly used for whitening doorsteps etc., gen. applied to a tough, clammy, pale-blue clay (Rxb. 1825 Jam., 1923 Watson W.-B., obsol.; s.Sc. 1956), but also applied in the St Boswells district to boulder-clay (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., obsol.).ne.Sc. 1714 R. Smith Poems 5:
His Eyes turn'd as a sullid glass, And like haw clay his hands and face.Bwk. 1887 Hist. Bwk. Nat. Club XI. 132:
A very fine yellow clay, or “ha' clay” formerly used for laying clay floors.Rxb. 1927 J. Turnbull Hawick 63:
The ha' clay was a blue "marl" got somewhere near Hawick Moss. The housewives used it for cleaning their old-fashioned fireplaces and hearthstones.

2. Of persons: pale, wan (Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 12; n.Sc. 1808 Jam.); with a livid, sallow or “blae” complexion (Bnff.⁷, Abd.⁷ 1925, hyaave); of animals: having a mottled-gray hide, roan-coloured (Bnff.⁷ 1929). Hence hyauve-leukin', haave-, sallow-complexioned (Sc. 1911 S.D.D. Add.; Abd.⁵ 1931).Abd. 1754 R. Forbes Jnl. from London 28:
The third was an auld, wizen'd, haave coloured carlen.Mry. 1806 R. Jamieson Ballads I. 235:
Wi' haggit ee, and haw as death, The auld spae-man did stand.Bnff. 1825 Jam.:
Used to denote that kind of colour in which black and white are combined, or appear alternately; as, “a hyauve cow.” When applied to the human head, it is synon. with Lyart.Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains & Hilly 4:
He's been growin' thin and hyaave i' the face.