A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1610
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Fair, Fare, adv. Also: fayr, far. [ME. faire, fayre, feire, etc., OE. fæᵹere.] In a fair manner, in various senses of the adj. 1375 Barb. ix. 287 (E).
Schyr Dauid … Fled till Brechyne … And warnyst it bath fayr and weill 1375 Ib. xx. 512.
He … weill couth trete hys frendis far c1420 Wynt. ix. 1130.
This kyng wes wys and debonaire, Gud wyandour, and fed hym fare c1450-2 Howlat 206.
He couth wryte wounder fair c1420 Ratis Raving 1012.
Be lele … & answer fare, Baith to the lord and to thi pare c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace i. 302.
This mychty persone … Welcummyt thaim fair a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 428.
A barne … In credell bundin lay slepand fair 1513 Doug. iv. vii. 78.
So ithand thai war fair bown 1535 Stewart 55891.
Expert he wes to … wryte rycht fair a1578 Pitsc. I. 171/27.
The lordis … buire fair quhill they saw thair tyme c1610 Melville Mem. 161.
Hir Maiesteis matters in England wer for the tym fair agaitwart
b. In the phrase Fair mot (hir, etc.) fall. c1500-c1512 Dunb. xxxii. 20.
Scho fled him nocht; fair mot hir fall! 1567 Satirical Poems iii. 229.
My bony boy, quod I, fair mot thé fa!
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"Fair adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/fair_adv>
