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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

OOR, n. Also ooer, 'oor; hoor (Lnk. 1882 J. Carmichael Poems 36; Abd. 1912 G. Greig Main's Wooin' 7); heur. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. hour. See P.L.D. § 40. [u:r]

1. As in Eng. Deriv. oorly, hourly (Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 136).Abd. 1751 Monymusk Papers (S.H.S.) 240:
To compear before the said baillie this day in the heur of cause.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin iv.:
He . . . sits “hoo-hooin'” to himsel' on the clog by the door-cheek for oors an' oors on end.Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 242:
Da ooer dat I heard dat he wis nae mair.Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle iii.:
Twa oors syne . . . I gied them to twa gaun-aboot bodies.Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chron. (13 April) 2:
Milk-sellers rapping up households “an 'oor afore the time.”Cai. 1929 John o' Groat Jnl. (13 Dec.):
'E maister is sittin' 'ere; feint a muckle differ on him til 'is oor an' day.Gsw. 1939 Edward Gaitens in Moira Burgess and Hamish Whyte Streets of Stone (1985) 24:
'... Ye should go oot tae the pictures or doon tae the chapel for an hoor. ...' m.Sc. 1979 William J. Tait in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 37:
Ye're a sair miss! I mind ae nicht -
A nicht! This same oongoadly oor
Whan my een caught my watch, wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 51:
Ma 'oor is come. My power. Ma risin' star
Is in the Heavens. m.Sc. 1986 Tony McManus in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 169:
That satisfies his hert - loe has its hoor it seems.
This bubbleyjock has aye approuved her gentill weird,
Whan daith comes creepin on its reid wame, you sud see Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 54:
Whiles we'd stop on the wye owre
and look up at the acres o starns
in the bricht silent alaneness o that 'oor
and say nocht, Sc. 1990 David Purves in Joy Hendry Chapman 59 76:
Oor eftir oor, the plane rairs on regairdless. Sc. 1991 Forbes Macgregor in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 17:
The Lord's taen up twal stane o stour
To mak a man within the oor Dundee 1991 W. N. Herbert in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 177:
Dundee is yir pit and anerly toon;
pass owre Piers, Piers pass owre:
thi psychopomp huz huddiz oor. Gsw. 1993 Margaret Sinclair Soor Plooms and Candy Balls 1:
Intae the sweetie shop, a ha'penny in ma haun,
That much tae choose fae, fur hoors ah wid staun. Fif. 1994 Nellie Watson in Joan Watson Memories and Reflections: An East Neuk Anthology 2:
The menfolk toiled for mony an oor,
The womenfolk kept busy tae em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 90:
'Did she say anything?' he asked his aunt.
'Aye. She sat up and asked for yer faither. That was aboot three oors ago. Since then, naethin.'

Phrs.: (1) a blue hour, a time of quarrelling. Cf. Blue Day, 2.; (2) guid oor, int., for a mercy, for a wonder (Sh. 1964). See (Guid and cf. Ill-oor; (3) in guid hour, in good time, opportunely.(1) Abd. 1872 J. G. Michie Deeside Tales 119:
Some while after this the lairds met in the moss, an' there was like to be a blue hour between them.(3) Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 81:
In guid hour you're come, perfay, To gi'e our filthy freirs a fray.

2. In pl., in expressions of time: o'clock; time of day. For comb. fower-hours see Fower, 5.Sc. 1706 Acts Gen. Assembly 17:
To meet and conveen . . . at Ten Hours in the Forenoon.Wgt. 1708 Session Bk. Glasserton MS. (24 Oct.):
To meet with the minister upon Fryday next for distribution of the poors money about ten hours.Sc. 1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 176:
If at ele'en hours you list to rise, Ye's hae your dinner dight in a new guise.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie x.:
I thought ye would hae had that o'er by twal hours.Lnk. 1825 Jam.:
The same mode of expressing time is still used in some counties, through all the numbers commonly employed in reckoning; as twa-hours, two o'clock, three-hours, three o'clock . . . Even the first numeral is conjoined with the plural noun; ane-hours, one o'clock.Ayr. 1871 J. K. Hunter Life Studies 23:
When it cam' near to ten hours at e'en.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 154:
“What's your oors, doctor?” “Weel,” said I, “Hugh, it's exactly two minutes to two with me.”