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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HIND, n.¹, v.¹ Also hynd(e), hyne (Ayr. 1926 Wilson Dial. Burns 168; Sc. 1930 W. Bell Rip Van Scotland 138), hin(e). [həin(d)]

I. n. 1. A farm-servant, a ploughman (Sc. 1808 Jam., hyne; Lth., Ayr. 1923–6 Wilson; m.Lth., Bwk., Kcb., Dmf., Rxb. 1957); occas. used derogatorily (see Sc. 1816 and Rxb. 1920 quots.). Specif. in s.Scot. and n.Eng. applied to a married skilled farm worker who occupies a cottage on the farm and is granted certain perquisites in addition to wages (Sc. 1812 J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. II. 120; Rxb. 1957), a Cottar. ¶Adj. hindish, like a hind, rustic.Lnk. 1708 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 18:
His wife is to shake the straw, shear in harvest and work att all manner of work as a hynds wife.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 222:
Nor Hynds wi' Elson and hemp Lingle, Sit solling Shoon out o'er the Ingle.Lth. 1772 Edb. Ev. Courant (1 Aug.):
Wanted . . . a hind, or principal operative servant, for a Farm about five miles distant from Edinburgh.Ayr. 1791 Burns Lament of Mary iii.:
The meanest hind in fair Scotland.Hdg. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ III. 197:
The wages of these cottagers, or hinds as they are here called, is nine bolls of oats, two bolls of barley, two bolls of pease, a cow maintained summer and winter.Kcb. 1814 J. Train Mountain Muse 40:
And yon old hind, who taught him how The run-rig of his sire to plow.Sc. 1816 Scott B. Dwarf vii.:
“Out, hind!” exclaimed the Dwarf; . . . “home to your dwelling.”Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 273:
Here I give . . . a few hindish speculations respecting this mystic phrase.Slk. 1824 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) xii.:
Several young boobies o' hinds, threshers, and thrum-cutters.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 100:
The hinds did wi' the hizzies hoise, An' a' the country news Recount that day.Rxb. 1920 Kelso Chron. (27 May) 4:
Town folks looked upon ploughmen as a distinct class, a sort of peculiar people. To them the word “hind” was something of a synonym for a social pariah, not far removed from serfdom.Bwk. 1947 W. L. Ferguson Makar's Medley 21:
The smell o' neeps is i' the wund; Hinds roond the doors are crackin'.Dmf. 1955 Dmf. & Gall. Standard (1 Jan.):
Married Man Wanted as Hind for Heads Farm for February 22nd, to occupy farm-house which has been recently modernised and redecorated; must be able to take full charge.m.Sc. 1991 William Neill in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 48:
Flee, flee, sire, spak the Regent's hind
in Sillersecks left lug;
yon sauvage Clan hae taen a mynd
tae gie yir thairms a rugg.

Hence comb. and phr.: (1) barn-man hind, see quot. (m.Lth.¹ 1957); (2) double hind, one of two farm-workers employed on equal terms on a farm; (3) hyndrooms, rooms in a farm-house for accommodating married farm servants; (4) hinds' raw, a row of cottages occupied by farm-workers (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; m.Lth., Bwk., Rxb. 1957).(1) Bwk. 1794 A. Bruce Agric. Bwk. 113:
There are also barn-man hinds, who, except in hay and harvest time, are constantly employed in threshing, for which they are generally allowed the twenty-fifth part of the whole produce, for their labour.(2) Sc. 1799 G. W. T. Omond Arniston Memoirs (1887) 51:
Item for 16 bolls of oats, 2 bolls pease, 1 boll bere, for a double hynd's boll £82 Scots.(3) m.Lth. 1725 Woodhouselee MS. (Stewart) 76:
He . . . lived quietly with his mistres and child in hyndroumes in the farme house at Fulfoord.(4) Rxb. 1922 Kelso Chron. (18 Aug.) 3:
When the big farm made up the scene about the only houses visible were those in the “hinds' raw” and the residence of the farmer.

2. A youth, a stripling. Only used attrib. and arch. in ballads, as in hind-chiel, -greeme, -squire, -squar. Obs. in Eng. since 16th c.Sc. 1783 Gil Brenton in Child Ballads No. 5. li.:
By there came a jelly hind greeme.Sc. 1827 G. R. Kinloch Ballads 229:
Till up started the Hynde Etin, Says, “Lady, let thae alane!”Abd. 1828 P. Buchan Ballads I. 6:
By it came a young hind chiel, Says, Lady lat alane.

II. v. To work as a hind (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Gen. found only as ppl. or vbl.n. hindin(g), acting as a hind, the work of a hind, a situation as a hind (Ib.; m.Lth., Bwk., Rxb. 1957). Hence dooble (double)-hindin(g), a farm where two farm servants are employed (Rxb. 1957). See also Dooble, adj.Slk. 1875 Border Treasury (27 March) 394:
He offert to let me ha' a dooble hyndin' wi' my uncle.Hdg. 1887 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) X. 337:
Ye'll get wages like the lave when your hindin'-work begins.Rxb. 1920 Kelso Chron. (27 May) 4:
“It disna do to make them a' slaves” — hinding in her opinion being slavery.s.Sc. 1936 Border Mag. (April) 52:
Hindin's had their bows o' meal, An' raws o' tawties tae theirsel.