Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DOUTH, Dowth, Dooth, adj.1, n.1 [duθ Sc., s.Sc. + dʌuθ]
1. adj.
(1) Of persons: dispirited, melancholy (Slk. 1825 Jam.2); languid; spiritless (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., douth, dowth).Sc.(E) 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws vii.:
See till Agnes, how pale and douth the woman looks at the very thought o't.Peb. 1838 W. Welsh Poems 59:
Wa dearsake Davie, what's warang? Ye look sae douth an' dreary.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Poems 62:
My wee finger cocket, The crambo we yoket, Sae I tint the douth way to look blate.Slk. 1801 Hogg Sc. Pastorals 10:
I never saw a douther creature; . . . When I wad fain divert an' please ye, In trouth you nouther hear nor sees me.Slk. 1807 Hogg Mountain Bard 183:
What gars ye look sae douth and wae?
(2) Gloomy, dreary, dark (of places).Dmf. 1899 J. Shaw in Country Schoolmaster (ed. Wallace) 370:
In a douth place that lassie's e'e Breaks like the sunlicht thro' a tree.w.Dmf. 1915 J. L. Waugh Betty Grier 99:
He was buried in Dalgarnock — a damp, douth place to lie in, in my estimation.Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man II. 2:
That's a douth and an awsome looking bigging. I wish we were fairly in, and safely out again.
2. n. Gloom, dreariness.Bwk. 1862 J. G. Smith Poems 177:
My heart is dung wi' dowth an' wae.w.Dmf. 1917 J. L. Waugh Cute McCheyne 171:
Oh, man, it's the douth and the damp — no sae bad on fouk born in the place, but wi' incomers — man, it grups them quick.
Hence doothfu', gloomy.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 172:
But ilk ane's rinning raving, doothfu' — Guid weather's dead.
