Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DROON, v. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. drown (see P.L.D. § 38). Also droun; droond (Sh., Ork. 1950).
I. As in Eng. = to suffocate by submersion in water. Also fig. The form droond is found in Eng. 16th and 17th cent. but is now only n.Eng. dial. Sh. 1918 T. Manson Humours Peat Comm. 185:
Ye'll hae her droondid. Shu's half gone already.Ork. 1904 Dennison Sketches 1:
Dey wad hae been droonded hed no Ritchie Spence poo'd them i' his boat.Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 10:
Luv - I ken ye bi yer sang -
an i the drounan daurkness
o the loch I see yer face. m.Sc. 1991 William Neill in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 50:
Poother tae mak yer whiter,
lipstick tae mak ye ridder,
a hunner assortit smells tae droon oot the stink
o common humanity. m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 17:
At Jan Palak Square
A mindit on oor ain martyrs,
A thoosan mile awa.
Twa wummin, young an auld
Droont ower the heid o releegion
In Covenantin times.wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 3:
Well, I wiggled tapselteerie, my heels were that peerie
While a kinna Jimmy Shandish band
Played 'Flower of Scotland' -
But it aw got droont oot wi wolf whistles Gsw. 1909 J. J. Bell Oh! Christina! xiv.:
What a peety they got droondit.
II. Sc. usages:
1. To spoil liquor by over-dilution with water. Cf. Phr. (3) (a). Also found in Yks. dial.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays (1908) 20:
An' mair nor that, ye've droon't the drink; The fushion o't is oot.
2. In phrs.: (1) to drown the ball, (see quot.); (2) to droon the first kittlins, (see quot.); known to Ags.2 1940; (3) to droon the miller, (a) to dilute something with too much water, gen. applied to liquor; to add too much milk to tea (Bnff., Gsw., Ayr., Dmf. 2000s); also in w.Som. dial.; Gen.Sc.; hence, to overdo, spoil things by excess; to get drunk; for origin of this phr. cf. the proverb “ower muckle water drowns the miller” (Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxi.); (b) to (cause to) go bankrupt; also in Cum. dial.(1) Per. 17.. A. E. Richardson Georgian England (1931) 86:
[In the annual Shrove Tuesday footballgame between bachelors and married men, the object] of the bachelors was to “drown” it [ball], or dip it three times in a deep place in the river.(2) Fif. c.1820 G. Gourlay Old Neighbours (1887) 86:
“Droonin' the first kittlins”, that is, to drink his first pay as a journeyman, according to custom, with his fellow-craftsmen.(3) (a) Sc. 1858 Sc. Haggis 49:
Hout, fie! I have drouned the miller. Just rax me the bottle, Master Charles, till I put in a wee drap mair o' the speerit.Sc.(E) 1868 D. M. Ogilvy Willie Wabster's Wooing 13:
He tint his bonnet, drapped his siller, Gaed owre the score, and drooned the miller.Abd.1 1929:
Haud yer han' wi' the watter; A dinna like the mullart drooned.Slg. 1932 W. D. Cocker Poems 158:
Mair Scottish poets would fair droon the miller.(b) Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 29:
So we decided just to ware mair sillar, It winna' brek the bank or droon the miller.Rxb. 1808 A. Scott Poems 136:
Honest men's been ta'en for rogues Whan bad luck gars droun the miller.Rxb. 1913 Kelso Chron. (16 May) 3:
A water scheme that ne'er was wanted, An' costin' sic a heap o' siller; I hope they maunna “droon the miller.”
3. Of an angling line: to lose control of it by not keeping it taut enough when a fish is hooked (see quot.). Per. 1838 W. Scrope Deer-stalking 97:
In Scotland this is what we call being drowned; meaning that the line is so, the action of the current and weight of water forming it into an immense curve, from which position it can with difficulty be extricated.
