Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†GAIR, adj., n.2 Also gare, ge(a)r.
I. adj. 1. Sharp, keen.Sc. 1740 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 462:
When e'er we venture out, the air Upon our bouks is turn'd sae gair, That ilka face turns black and blue.
2. Greedy, covetous (Rnf. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.), very eager. Also derivs. ¶gairly, garesome, id.Sc. 1719 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 134:
Thy raffan rural Rhyme sae rare, . . . Sae gash and gay, gars Fowk gae gare To ha'e them by them.Sc. a.1758 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 297:
'Mang mony things the garesome harlot Fand a gay mickle deug of scarlet.Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 198:
Whare the gamester sits wi' features gair, To spulzie her o' her pang'd pouches there.Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems 17:
Thy Mither's gair an' set upon the warl, It's Muirland's gear that gars her like the carl.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 46:
Ye ken they've little for to spare, You really sudna be so gair.Slk. 1832 Hogg Queer Book 31:
The greedy gleds and gairly fowls.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 136:
. . . gair Cumclutch, 'mid his satellites, Wi' brazen lungs and trumpet-roaring throat.
Hence gairly, adv., greedily.Hdg. 1787 in Farmer's Mag. (Mar. 1810) 57:
Ye've garely seiz'd men's occupation An' ta'en their bread.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 87:
“What is gairly gathered is roundly spent,” says the proverb.
3. Parsimonious, niggardly (Dmf. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); thrifty, careful. Also deriv. ¶geary, rather mean.Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems 114:
Gair bodies a', now mak' yer mane, Auld honest Harry's dead an' gane.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xxv.:
He's a wee gair, I aloo; but the liberal man's the beggar's brother.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 36:
Bare, braggin' beggars, whase hale study is To twine ger thrifty folk out o' their gear.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 91:
Ye're the gairest folk in a' the raw.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 98:
We never wantit, wife, For ye were aye sae gair.Ags. 1898 A. H. Rea Divot Dyke 83:
I ne'er changed my style yet, though maybe it's odd — I'm geary at hame, and I'm geary abroad.
Hence gairness, carefulness (in money matters), parsimony.Sc. 1812 The Scotchman 62:
The gairness I learnt frae my dadie wad hae hindert me frae sellin my chukie on a scourie day.Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 180:
An' yet she grudges me my meat . . . What does ane live for but to eat? This gairness is a perfect staw.
4. Used adv. in combs.: (1) gair-gathered, accumulated by greed; (2) gare-gaun, gair-, rapacious, greedy (Rxb. 1825 Jam.).(1) Lnk. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 319:
Gair-gathered siller Will no haud thegither.
II. n. Greed, covetousness.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 111:
Your face is so weel braz'd wi' gare, An' heart sae harden'd.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. xv. 22:
Aften yon leuks tae be luve whilk is raither carnalitie, sith it haes its rute i' naitiral inclination, self-wull, houp o' repetition an' gair.
