Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BAIRNLESS, adj. Gen. childless, without progeny, but sometimes, as in the following, deprived of children.Rnf. 1871 D. Gilmour The “Pen” Folk (1889) 35:
Gae on your way, sir, an' speak a word o' comfort to that . . . bairnless mother, for she needs it sair.wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 47:
It galled him to see the Hays so well-housed and that while Susannah was still bairnless, Mistress Hay was to be seen every Sabbath in the kirk with a lusty son happed to her side in a silk-fringed shawl which, Susannah was able to tell him sourly, had certainly not been woven in Kyle.
