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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
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.

TID, n.¹, v. Also tidd, tuid, tyd. [tɪd]

I. n. 1. A favourable time or season, an occasion or opportunity (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags., Per., Slg., wm.Sc. 1972); also in Eng. dial. Phr. in the tid, in season, opportune.Sc. 1713 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C.) II. 264:
I wish the tidd may not be lost by unnecessary delayes.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 43:
He took the Tid, when Lowry was away, And throw a Hole into his Closet slips.Edb. 1796 H. MacNeill Poet. Wks. (1806) I. 141:
To catch the tids o' life is sage.Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 111:
The merry tid may then be gane.Gsw. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond Side 41:
While fisher chiels whause is the fate Upon sic paunderers to wait, See slippin' by the takin' tid.Lnk. 1910 W. Wingate Poems (1919) 74:
Lay in what ye ken will be aye in the tid.w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 60:
The glint o battle fire't the bluid
o Scots lang syne, A've heard it suid,
when gee'd an raxed an in the tid
ti free wirsel.

2. Specif. (1) in agriculture: the proper or favourable season for a particular operation, ploughing, harrowing, etc. (Sc. 1869 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 726; Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; m.Sc. 1972); a suitable condition of the soil for cultivation (Lth. 1825 Jam.; Uls. 1953 Traynor; m.Sc. 1972). Adj. tiddie, of land: difficult to get into condition for ploughing (Lth., Peb. 1825 Jam.).Abd. 1797 J. Anderson Essays Agric. 191:
Tid has always a reference to the state the soil has been in, chiefly as respecting wetness or dryness at the time of labouring.Slg. 1826 Caled. Mercury (3 April):
The sowing of oats and beans became pretty general. The tid was excellent, and the ground in the best condition.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 33:
The hay lost tuid, the aits ne'er thrave.Per. 1905 E.D.D.:
We hae had a fine tid for the in-pittin, sowing, etc.em.Sc. 1909 J. Black Melodies 61:
Gang merrily on wi' the harrows, my lads, The “tid” may sune gae by.Lnk. 1911 A. Sweet Villa & Cottage Gardening 131:
I have shifted a rose in July with safety, by simply catching a “tid” of cool, rainy, weather.Ayr. 1927 J. Carruthers A Man Beset i. vi.:
The land wasna in proper tid. It hadna been wrought enough.Lnk. 1960 Stat. Acc.³ 602:
The farmer can, and does, wait for a ‘tid' and then does the job very rapidly.

Phr. tid-and-quid, “a term used by old farmers to denote a farm in a state of thriving rotation; as ‘He has tid-and-quid, and fu' bien'” (Fif. 1825 Jam.). Sic, but a misunderstanding of the phr. taid and quird s.v. Quaird.

(2) of a river: the proper condition for angling; of fish: eagerness to take the bait. Gen. in phr. in (the) tid.Rnf. 1862 D. Wingate Poems 46:
Nor grudged an antrin idle day When streams were in the tid.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 70:
In short time his creel could fill, (That is, an' trouts were i the tuid).Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 146:
The sport was guid, the water in tidd.Dmf. 1921 T. G. Gracie Songs and Rhymes 13:
He gat nae mair [fish]; An' then he cried “I'll bet a quid It's been the tail en' o' the tid.”

(3) extended to apply to a piece of machinery, etc.: sound condition, good working order (Gsw. 1972, in guid tid).

3. Fig. Mood, humour, inclination (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 449; m. and s.Sc., Uls. 1972), a whim, caprice. Phr. to tak the tid, to get into a mood, esp. of ill-humour, to take the pet. Adj. tiddie, crotchety, cross-tempered (Lth., Peb. 1825 Jam.; Lnk. 1972).Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 140:
Take tent case Crummy tak her wonted tids, And ca' the leglin's treasure on the ground.Slg. 1788 R. Galloway Poems 11:
To dress them out wi' queans in towns, To hide their fauts and keep their tid.Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 105:
Imagination tak's strange tids.Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 170:
The tyd's come on me noo.Lnl. 1896 A. M. Bisset Poets Lnl. 317:
Nae dowiesome tid e'er fashes oor bluid.Dmf. 1921 J. L. Waugh Heroes 30:
Thoroughly in the fishing “tid.”Gsw. 1947 H. W. Pryde 1st Bk. McFlannels vii.:
To put them in a good tid for buying a whole lot of new furniture.Edb. 1967 Daily Mail (13 Feb.) 6:
I'm in a better tid on a good day.

II. v. 1. To cultivate or crop at the correct season.Lth. 1783 A. Wight Present State Husbandry IV. 692:
To give or with-hold culture, as best accords with the state of the soil for the time, which is emphatically called, in my country, tiding the ground.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
The aitseed has been weil tiddit; The proper season for sowing oats has been taken.Hdg. 1883 J. Martine Reminisc. 317:
He judiciously “tidded” the land and manured highly so as to produce heavy crops of all kinds.

2. To humour, coax, induce in a gentle way.Lnk. 1893 J. Crawford Verses 54:
He kens hoo to tidd a' their ain bits o' ways.Lth. 1920 A. Dodds Songs of Fields 6:
A born horseman wi' the knack O tiddin them tae ploo or cairt.