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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DRAM, n.¹, v.¹ Sc. usages.

1. n. As in Eng. = a small drink of liquor, but in Sc. can be a drink of any size, esp. of whisky. Freq. used with the def. art. = drink, drinking. Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 17:
'Ye'll tak a wee dram for the new year.' And, as always on these occasions, Bella shook her head and replied,'Oh, just a wee droppie.'w.Lth. 2000 Davie Kerr A Puckle Poems 20:
We're a trap whaur for'ners
can spen mair nor they plan,
in chip shops, bettin shops,
even in wee sweetie shops.
Pubs on aa the corners
mean "Ye'll hae anither dram".Edb. 1999:
Ah like a wee dram o gin wi a bit tonic in it. wm.Sc. 1987 Anna Blair Scottish Tales (1990) 119:
... when Provost MacKenzie took out his bottle from the press in the corner and set out four glasses, he put up his sword and resigned himself to quenching his rage with a dram of the Provost's whisky. Gsw. 1991 Margaret Sinclair Windae Hingin' and Busker Singin' 18:
There's the rag man wi' his horse, he calls it Sam,
Ah haud his horse fur him tae let him get a dram. 

 In phrs. and comb.: †(1) dram-house, a public-house, esp. one selling only whisky; (2) to be one's dram, to pay one's share of the drinks (Ags.², Fif.¹⁰ 1940); †(3) to fall on the dram, to get drunk, to go on the spree.(1) Sc. 1752 Scots Mag. (Aug. 1753) 393:
They drank two or three drams at a dram-house.m.Lth. 1845 Stat. Acc.² I. 75:
There are five public, or rather dram-houses in the parish.(2) Lth. 1819 J. Thomson Poems 76:
To be her dram she wasna sweer, But now she's dead.(3) Ayr. 1870 J. K. Hunter Life Studies 51:
They fell on the dram, and raised a rippet somehow, and were put up the steeple.

Hence †dramer, a dram-glass or its contents.Sc. 1715 Maj. Fraser's MS. (ed. A. Fergusson) II. 166:
Supt; drunk some dramers; went to bed.

2. v. To tipple (Cai., Bnff., Ags., Arg., Ayr., Dmf. 2000s). Obs. in Eng. since 18th cent.Sc. 1858 Sc. Haggis 136:
Dinna be always dram-dram-dramming.Abd. 1875 W. Alexander My Ain Folk 122:
They'll jist gae as far the tither gate drammin' thegither.wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 28:
They helped to push a way through among the gaping people who smirked or sniffed at the sight of Mary Blair's hapless n'er-do-weel, drammed daft yet again. Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch (1839) xiii.:
He became dumfoundered wi' the darkness and the dramming thegither.Gsw. 1994 Herald 11 Aug 14:
I like a chef who drinks. I support a cookery writer who drams.