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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.

DWINE, v. and n. Also dwyne. [dwəin Sc., but Cai. dwein]

I. v.

1. intr. Gen.Sc.

(1) Of persons or animals: to pine, to waste away, to fall into a decline (Sh., Bnff., Abd., Ags., Ayr. 2000s). Ppl.adj. and vbl.n. dwinin(g). Also in Eng. dial.Sc. 1701–31 R. Wodrow Analecta (M.C. 1843) III. 125:
He dwyned away under his distemper.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xxxiv.:
Sir William Ashton promised me a bonny red gown . . . for being up early and doun late . . . wi' his dwining daughter.Sc. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance I. 38:
It was first a sutten doon cauld, an' noo he's fa'n in till a sort o' a dwinin like.Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 24:
Afore he made ti dee, Keing James the Fift
rowed roun ti face the waw an dwyned awa,
raither nor thole the skaith that wes ti cum ... Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 3:
A twa three year back, merriage wadna hae bothered her ava. Bit her fowk war auld noo, dwinin, dweeble. Her sister Betty wis merriet, as wis her brither.Bch. 1946 J. C. Milne Orra Loon 14:
But this aul' dwinin' backbane o' a beast Dis naething a' day lang but eat gweed girss.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood 185:
It's no as if they did ill things like garrin' the kye rin dry and the weans dwine.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 39:
Nou thir auld singers are gane
til an airt whaur nae makkar is thrang,
faur ben in a lown o ma ain,
I dwyne for the want o a sang. wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 50:
... Angus, had dwyned for a year or two, not able to work his ground, and all he had left as legacy was a stony strip outside his cot, ... em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 90:
They had to take a taxi straight to the infirmary, he told him. She'd been dwining away all afternoon.Fif. 1841 C. Gray Lays and Lyrics 137:
Sae never dwine about ae quean, There's plenty yet for a' that!Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie and Bess 4:
He's bad the noo, he says, wi' a dwinin'.Dmb. 1879 J. Napier Folk-Lore 36:
I had taken what was called a dwining, which baffled all ordinary experience; and, therefore, it was surmised that I had got “a blink of an ill e'e.”

Hence dwin(e)y, adj., sickly, pining (Cai. 1900 E.D.D.; Abd.⁸ 1917; Fif.¹⁰ 1941).Kcb. 1923 W. D. Lyell Justice Clerk 139:
She looks a wee bit peaky and dwiney, I'm afraid.

(2) Of things: to fade (away), to wither. Ppl.adj. dwynin(g). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1991 Kenneth Fraser in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 101:
Yet the Scots leid's a treisure o mair worth
Than ony castle, an it dwines awaa
Frae day tae day, but tho we see its faa
There's gey few words o protest comin furth. Mry. 1804 R. Couper Poems I. 165:
What though the rose dwines on its stalk.Abd. 1742 R. Forbes Ajax (1748) 5:
But, name Ulysses to it anes, The worth quite dwines away.Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 69:
At gloamin, [birdsong] didna dwine neither, fur syne tuik ower the saft croo-croo o the cushie, and the greetin keen o the whaup melled wi the eildritch skreich o the hoolit. Abd. 2000 Sheena Blackhall The Singing Bird 9:
As lang as salmon sweem the waves an I hae thochts tae myn,
As boats salute the dwinin year,Dundee 1994 Matthew Fitt in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 179:
The dey wus dwynin, the gloamin camin oan. Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 9:
And dwyning nature droops her wings, Wi' visage grave.w.Sc. 1929 R. Crawford In Quiet Fields 36:
Gie me the hill at dwynin' day; Ae hertsome star in hertless blae.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 11:
The sun, heich lantren o the lift,
Blinters an fades forenent his bleeze.
Afore the brichtness o his face
It dwines an dees. Ayr. 1826 Galt Lairds ii.:
Mony a blithe ranting roaring rental of langsyne has dwinet and dwinlet into the hungry residue of a wadset.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables frae French 84:
While ithers [trees] dwine or wissen frae the blaze O scroochin' sun, I easy kep his rays.Dmf. [1777] J. Mayne Siller Gun (1808) 30:
And, O! may I, ere life shall dwine To its last Scene, Return, and a' my Sorrows tine.

2. tr.

(1) To cause to wither or waste. Rare.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 20:
Ye say he didna look,
but it's mair nor that - he didna, wadna, see;
wanted this, needed this, the truth let dwine.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 54:
Tho' lairds take toothfu's o' my warming sap, This dwines nor tenants gear, nor cows their crap.Kcb. 1894 S. R. Crockett Raiders xlii.:
I will dwine your flesh on your bones, for I am your King, John Faa.

(2) Used imprecatively = confound (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., dwyne; Sh.¹¹ 1950; Mry.¹ 1925).Sh. 1836 Gentleman's Mag. II. 589:
O dwyne yun fasin, gin hit beena da vyldest itt ivvir dere faan apun yitt.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 16:
All at wance Joannie says, dwine it.Mry. 1897 J. Mackinnon Braefoot Sk. iv.:
“Dod dwine the ill-contriven nickums,” said he.

II. n. A decline, a waning (Ork., Bnff., Abd., Fif., m.Lth., wm.Sc. 1950).Sc. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (June) 280:
But I hae a darg i' the dwine o' the moon, To do, an' syne my song is done.m.Sc. 1996 John Murray Aspen 17:
Daith isnae
kennin hou ye mairked oor faimlie's dwyne
wi fadit cuttins gotten fae the Scotsman.wm.Sc.¹ 1951:
She wis nivver a guid daer an' syne she took a dwine an' ae moarnin' when I gaed in she wis deid.