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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.

HECH, int., n., v. Also hegh, haigh, haich, heh, heech, hich, heigh, hiegh. [hɛç, hiç, hɪç]

I. int. An exclamation, akin to a sigh, gen. expressive of sorrow, fatigue, pain, surprise or contempt (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 135, heigh; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 259; Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.). Often in conjunction with me, sirs, etc. Gen.Sc.Abd. c.1692 A. Pitcairn Assembly (1722) 6:
Sir, hegh I have been seeking you in all the Taverns in Town — hegh —.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 119:
Ha, heh! thought I, I canna say But I may cock my Nose the Day.Sc. a.1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 216:
But to the bridal I [jilted girl] sall gang . . . I care nae tho' they a' should cry, Hech, see, sirs, yonder comes the dirdam.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality v.:
“Much obliged to you, Alison, and many kind thanks.” “Hegh, sirs, sae fair-fashioned as we are!”s.Sc. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems 310:
Heigh me! is thus the gamfrel gane? What will they yet come to O.m.Lth. 1858 Dark Night 71:
Hech keep me, min, and I wad be keen o' bonny things.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxix.:
Haigh she daurna for the very life o' 'r utter a single thrawn syllable.Bnff. 1881 W. M. Philip K. MacIntosh's Scholars xv.:
Hech! this is a lithe howe!Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona ix.:
Hech, I would rather you wouldnae.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 31:
She primmed up her mou' and said saft as a doo, “Hech, sirs, what a burden is man!”em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 9:
Syne will each stoundit sairie sowel
Tae its ain gash corp mak mane an say:
"Hech me! Whit for hae ye revived
Tae bring on baith o us sic wae? .. "

II. n. The act of exclaiming in this manner; “the act of panting” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); an exclamation. Freq. in phr. neither hech nor how, not a syllable (Ayr. 1956).Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 238:
An' soon's our hechs, an' heys are by, An' baith our rungs laid down.Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 41:
Death steppit ben, wi' a “hech” and a “hoo,” An' quo' he, “Auld Ailie, I hae cam' for ye noo.”Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) xiii.:
Syne he stoppit an' wi' a lang hech o' a sigh, he says, “Bawbee, this is genna be a coosie.”Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 224:
With never a hum, nor a hech, nor a howe.

III. v. To exclaim hech, make such a sound; to pant or breathe hard or uneasily (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Slk. 1956), to hum and haw, to talk in a prosy or lugubrious manner. Freq. conjoined with how (see How, int.) to express weariness (Kcb.¹⁰ 1956).Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 8:
Nae ferlie, though it pierc't my saul, I pegh't, I hegh't, syne cry'd, Waul! waul!Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 26:
I laid on, and sae did he, till some o' us a' hech'd again.Sc. 1827 Mary Hamilton in Child Ballads (1889) III. 392:
What need ye hech and how, ladies? What need ye how for me?Ags. 1921 V. Jacob Bonnie Joann 2:
Aside ye, I hech an' I haver, I'm het an' I'm cauld.Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 17:
It gi'es me aye a perfect scunner To hear folk hechin' Aboot commandments and their thun'ner.

Hence reduplicative comb. to hech-kech, to make much ado about nothing (Dmf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 150).

IV. Combs.: 1. hech aye, indeed (ne.Sc., Per., Knr., m.Lth., Uls. 1956); 2. hech hey, hiegh hie, heigho' used esp. to express weariness, or regret (Per. 1956); 3. hech how(e), -ho,(1) = 2. (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 259; Kcb. 1919 T.S.D.C. III.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Slk. 1956); (2) used attrib. = hum-drum, monotonous, following a very conventional or long-established pattern; (3) used as a n., (a) the exclamation hech-howe; (b) a fixed routine, a fixed habit, esp. in phr. (the) auld hech how(e), the old routine, “the same old story ”, a return to a former state (of health or circumstances) (Lth., Cld. 1825 Jam.; Fif. 1912 D. Rorie Mining Folk 414; Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 12; Fif., Knr., m.Lth., Slk. 1956); also a person of staid habits, an old fogey; 4. hech-how-hum, = 2., “it is always accompanied with a yawn” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 259; ne.Sc., Per., Knr., m.Lth. 1956); 5. hech wow, = 2. (Gall. 1827 Curriehill; Slk. 1956), gen. expressive of distress or regret. Cf. eh-whow s.v. Eh.1. Bnff. 1918 J. Mitchell Bydand 19:
Hech aye, McCraw, there's heeps o' killin' in a cyaurd.2. Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 27:
Yet monie a sigh an' hegh hey did she gee, An' looked ay as gin she meant to flee.Per. c.1800 Lady Nairne Kitty Reid's House (1905) i.:
Hech! hey! the mirth that was there.Sc. 1802 Scots Mag. (July) 593:
She . . . said to herself, wi' a heavy hiegh hie, Oh, a'body's like to be married but me.3. (1) Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 156:
Heigh how is heavy some, An old Wife is dowisome.Rxb. 1811 A. Scott Poems 119:
O Richie Gall! Cauld 'mang the dead, . . . Thou's left us a' without remead, To sigh hech howe.Ayr. 1826 Galt Lairds xxxviii.:
Hech-how, for sixty year — ay, sixty year, and mair siller, I have hung up my hat on that dividual same pin.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) vi.:
But tuts-tuts — hech-how! my day has long since passed; and this is stuff to drop from the lips of an auld fool.s.Sc. 1892 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 169:
Hech, how me! but my love is long in coming to her grave in the cold ground!Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders i.:
Another stretched himself till I heard his joints crack, and said “Hech How!” as though he were sleepy.(2) Dmb. 1846 W. Cross Disruption xxxix.:
For the time to come he maun preach his dry, fusionless, hech-how sermons.Edb. 1866 J. Smith Poems 151:
A bonnie hech-how majority.(3) (a) Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 47:
I sat doon bi the ingle low, An' gap't, an' gae a lang heigh-how.(b) Abd. 1778 Weekly Mag. (18 Feb.) 184:
May rowth o' blessings on him row, The lad wha sings the auld heigh-how.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xi.:
He touched the horse's neck with his riding-wand, and it fell into its auld heigh-ho of a stumbling trot.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 14:
Yet thinkna, Miss, that I'm an auld hech howe; That's ane let's a' things hing jist as they grow.Ayr. 1879 R. Adamson Lays 97:
But neist day brings back the auld hech-howe again — Cauld, blatterin' blasts of hail, snaw, sleet or rain.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 125:
I thocht he was in the auld hech-how, aye pechin through Chronicles.Per. 1896 D. Kippen Crieff 127:
Tammie Rab was a silly bodie and had his ain heich howe.s.Sc. 1938 Border Mag. (Jan.) 13:
“Oh, nothing bye-ordinar', Belle,” Johnnie would say. “Just the same auld hech-how.”4. Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Trad. 61:
Hey-how . . . fool that I was to refuse Auld Gagram. . . . Hech-how-hum.5. Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 42:
Dear me! heh! wow! — and say ye sae, — Return'd the Brock, — I'm unko wae.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 49:
Hech-wow! but it's a thrawart fate that workin' bodies dree.s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws xxi.:
Hech wow! Gin they didna strip us nakit.