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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PRIMAR, adj., n. Also primer. [′prəimər]

†I. adj. First, primary. Rare and obs.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 194:
The primar Speech with Notes harmonious clear.

II. n. †1. The Principal of a college or university, “the designation formerly given to the Provost of a college” (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Now only hist.Sc. 1704 Univ. Edb. Charters (Morgan 1937) 157:
On of the rolls [of students' names] is for the primar and the other for the regents use.Sc. 1728 Munimenta Univ. Gsw. (M.C.) II. 438:
On account of the Principals funeral . . . black cloths for the cover of the Primar's seat.Gsw. 1736 J. McUre View Gsw. 221:
The Primar or Principal has a most stately and convenient lodging on the South-side.Sc. 1907 C. G. McCrie Confess. Ch. Scot. 83:
In one of his lectures when Primar of the University of Edinburgh.

2. In the University of St. Andrews: †(1) a student of the first grade in social rank, the son of a nobleman, who paid higher University fees than the other two grades of student, the Secondars and Ternars, and wore a distinguishing gown of richer material and fner cut. The term had been discontinued by 1807, although the terms Secondar and Ternar were still in use at that time. Now only hist.Sc. c.1750 R. G. Cant Univ. St. Andrews (1946) 96:
The distinction between Bursars and Boarders was still maintained, also between Primars, Secondars, and Ternars.Fif. 1807 J. Grierson Delineations St. Andrews (1838) 164:
Formerly there were at this college three descriptions of students, distinguished by the quality of the gowns which they wore, and by the amount of the fees which they paid to the professors. The first of these were called Primers. They wore gowns ofsuperior quality, trimmed in elegant style, and paid on entering six guineas of fees.Sc. 1827 Evid. Comm. Univ. Scot. (1837) III. 35:
[At St. Andrews University] the primars are the sons of Noblemen; the Secondars are what they call Gentlemen Commoners in England.Sc. 1952 W. C. Dickinson Two Students xxviii., Note:
Primars, always few in number, had apparently disappeared by 1740, and the whole system of these distinctions was abolished in 1829 . . . On the other hand Lord Kennedy (1809) is said to have been the last primar.

(2) a student having a certain supervisory status in a University hall of residence or hostel. Prob. a deliberate revival of (1).Fif. 1934 The Fettesian LVI. 232:
Primar of his corridor in St. Salvator's.