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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STOUND, n.¹, v.¹ Also stoun, stoon(d); and Sh. forms sto(i)nd, stuind, st(j)und, dim. sto(i)ndi. [stun(d); Sh. stomd. st(j)ʊnd]

I. n. 1. A period of time, a while (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 215, 1866 Edm. Gl., stuind, 1908 Jak. (1928), stond(i)), freq. in reference to length of absence. Phrs. a stound o' days, a few days, at or in a stound, in a short time, in a moment, ill-stound, exclamatorily = alas, lackaday, or imprecatively = confound-!, blast-!, bad luck (to-)! (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1971). Cf. Ill-oor.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 126:
An' mair nor pleas'd turns in a stound, An' couthily says unto Jean.Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 179:
Ay row them [sheep] in, at least a stound o' days.Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shep. MS. III. 123:
Ill stound, she says, ye reckon that a crack That but his pound yet fetches to a plack.Sc. 1803 Scott Minstrelsy III. 357:
Syne, in a stound, the pool profound To cleave in twain appear'd.Sc. 1820 Scots Mag. (May) 423:
I' the mirk in a stound wi' rairan' sound, A spait the river rase.s.Sc. 1859 Bards of Border (Watson) 9:
When they got a' their corn cut down, They held their kirn — a merry stoun!Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 107:
Thu bit coorts me i' starts an' stoonds.Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 23:
Throwing down the fish, he exclaims “Ill stjund ta dy glyed face.”Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Du's been dee a stoind: you have been away a long time.Ags. 1937 Scotsman (29 May) 14:
My spy-gless whaumles roond, The chimleys, at a stoond.

2. A sharp throb of pain, a pang, twinge, an intermittent ache (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Uls. 1953 Traynor). Gen.Sc. Obs. in Eng. exc. n. dial.Abd. 1801 W. Beattie Parings (1873) 27:
That stouns amo' my taes, Will pit my heart awa!Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 42:
Her heart felt the grup o' the last fatal stoun'.Bnff. 1880 J. F. S. Gordon Chron. Keith 322:
“Fat's vrang wi' ye noo?,” asked the Dr. “Ohone! . . . stouns in my Head.”Uls. 1881 W. H. Floredice Memories 260:
A stoon worse nor the shooting of a corn in the frost.Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 31:
Some nichts fan I've been sleepin' ill, an' stouns gyaun doon my taes.Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 1:
The stoun o' age creeps through my banes.

3. A pang of mental pain or emotion, a throb of grief (Sc. 1755 S. Johnson Dict., 1808 Jam.), a thrill of pleasure or excitement (Ork., n., m.Sc. 1971).Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 13:
Baith their hearts bett wi' the common stound, But had na pain, but pleasure o' the wound.Ayr. 1789 Burns I gaed a Waefu' Gate ii.:
And ay the stound, the deadly wound, Cam frae her een sae bonie blue.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck iii.:
I just fand a stound o' manheid gang through my heart.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch iv.:
I had a terrible stound of calf-love.Dmf. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 222:
This was a new stoond to the goodwife's heart.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xiii.:
A lood reishil at the front door, whilk sent a stoond through oor stammacks.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 245:
The waff of the wild roses and honeysuckle cam in stoons of sweetness alang the air.e.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 255:
The stang an' stound o' memorie.Abd. 1898 J. M. Cobban Angel xvi.:
Then a stound of peril smote me.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 22:
Dod, man, I mind the stound o' pride Gaed through my hert.Slg. 1935 W. D. Cocker Further Poems 21:
It brings to my he'rt but a stoun o' regret.Sc. 1952 Scots Mag. (March) 459:
That broucht a warmth to her cheeks sae wan, And sent a stoond through the glowerin' man.ne.Sc. 1979 Alexander Scott in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 70:
Sair heid frae here,
sair hert frae outbye thonder
-but whilk will stang
wi the shairper stob,
and whatten a stound
will laist the langer? Abd. 1991 George Bruce in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 23:
'A stound o pitie gaed tae the hert,' quo Lorimer. Sc. 1991 Kenneth Fraser in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 101:
Suppose, ae morn, ye got a muckle stoun,
Eneuch tae mak ye think your hert wad stap:
The heidline in your paper, at the tap,
Was: 'Embro Castle tae be dingit doun.' w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 42:
Sae, gin aa life's cares ding-doun,
Or jist gie's a random stoun, -
If the strivin bringsna joy but black despair, ...

4. A mood, a whim, a fit of depression, sullenness, etc. (Ork., n.Sc. 1971). Hence adj. stoonie, moody, temperamental (Ork. (stoondie), Cai. 1971). Cf. Stunder, n.Cai.⁴ c.1920:
A person, who without any apparent reason, takes into his head not to speak to his neighbour, has taken a stoon. A person who is always changing his attitude without any good reason is stoonie.Abd. 1968:
I've teen a stoun o' thrift — a sudden fit of being thrifty.Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 214:
The yowes glanced in alarm when he leaned over the fence and cried, 'How are ye all the day, my bonnie craiturs'. His mother just thought he had taken one of his stoons and paid him no heed. Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 6:
They'd left her laired like auld Attie's tractor, foonered in self-peetie. Fyles, fowk niver coored the stoons o luve unsocht.

II. v. 1. intr. To throb, ache, smart, thrill with pain or emotion (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 183; Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1923–6 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein). Gen.Sc.; also fig. to beat, pound, pulsate. Also vbl.n. stounin, stoonin. Ayr. 1791 Burns Bonie Wee Thing i.:
And my heart it stounds wi' anguish, Lest my wee thing be na mine.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 33:
Niest mornin' a' looks bright an' clear, Nae conscience stoun's.Sc. 1829 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 139:
The ear-ache, tinglin and stounin to the very brain.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 87:
I'm fashed wi' sic a stoonin' brow.Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken xviii.:
I'll gie ye a gouff i' the lug'll gar't stound the next half-hour.Slk. 1914 Southern Reporter (17 Dec.) 9:
Sobbing aloud in a way that made Sandy's heart stound, she went into the cottage.Edb. 1931 E. Albert Herrin' Jennie i. i.:
“She went away wi' a slop.” Bennie's head began to stound.Kcd. 1934 L. G. Gibbon Grey Granite 73:
Your feet beginning to stound a wee.Dmf. 1938 Chambers's Jnl. (Nov.) 840:
The stoundin' beat o' gallopin' feet Fa's lood i' the mornin' 'oor.m.Sc. 1954 N. B. Morrison Following Wind vii.:
His heart stounding at each entrance when he saw it was not she.Abd. 1981 Christina Forbes Middleton The Dance in the Village 77:
It startit 'boot a month ago
Though I've lost the track o' time
On a certain nicht I couldna sleep
For stoonin' in ma wime. m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 9:
Siccan a lowe he brocht oot frae yir een,
sae strang the flain ma briest wes stoundit sair
an frae yir companie I fled awa Ags. 1993 Mary McIntosh in Joy Hendry Chapman 74-5 113:
Her haunds wur canny as she sweiled the bluid awaa and rowed up his airm wi the blauded wup. He settled doon seekin tae get some ais frae the stounin. Dundee 1996 Matthew Fitt Pure Radge 7:
his hert
stoonds
his jaa
gaes ticht
his rauchle haun
maks a nieve in its glove

2. tr. To give pain to, to cause an ache in, to shoot through like pain, to make to throb. Rare. Also ppl.adj. stoundit. Per. 1830 Perthshire Advert. (28 Jan.):
Whare grief nae mair your heart will stoune.Sc. 1991 T. S. Law in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 35:
Her vyce, a wee thing aff-puit, soondit
as tho she kent she'd be fair-stoondit,
for this was nae croose social caa 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? ... "