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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LEED, n.1 Also leid (Abd. p.1768 A. Ross Poems (S.T.S.) 175), lede (Sc. 1928 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 363), lead; liet (Per. c.1800 Proud Lady Margaret in Child Ballads I. 430; Abd. 1873 P. Buchan Inglismill 48); leet. [lid]

1. A language, speech (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai., Per. 1902 E.D.D.; Ork. 1960). Now mainly poet. Hence comb. mither-lied, one's mother tongue.Sc. 1746 E. Erskine Works (1871) III. 305:
Let faith get up its head, and it will speak its own particular leed.
Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 11:
Speak my ain leed, 'tis gueed auld Scots I mean; Your Southren gnaps, I count not worth a preen.
Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 77:
Let Matrons round the ingle meet, An' in a droll auld farran' leet 'Bout fairys crack.
Bnff. 1792 Trans. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 443:
He died; peur saul! and wi' him died The relict-muse o' Mither-Lied.
e.Lth. 1796 R. Gall Poems (1819) 92:
To lend a lift to your ain country leid; That dauted leid, whilk Fame can weel attest, Suits honest Scotia's aefauld bairns the best.
Ags. 1819 J. Burness Plays, etc. 302:
We should stick by our ain Scots leed.
Sc. 1832 D. Vedder Poems 20:
When ye speak o' puin' doon houses, and seekin' new stances, why, I maun just e'en answer you in your ain leed.
Ags. 1894 A. Reid Sangs 81:
Wha will forget his hamely crack — The weel-kent leed sae aft he spak'?
Sc. 1926 H. M'Diarmid Drunk Man 85:
Nor cared gin truth frae me ootsprung In ne'er a leed o' ony tongue That ever in a heid was hung.
Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' Ling 3:
I could for very joy ha'e sung To hear again the lallan leid.

2. A form of speech, a formula, strain, refrain, the way a rhyme or song goes; “ one is said to have a leid of a song, when he knows part of the words” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.).Bnff. 1782 Caled. Mercury (14 Aug.):
Wae, dool, an' sorrow, cark, an' care Rings throu the nook, a' here an' there, Wi' dowie leid.
Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 108:
Had I been, ever, likely to come speed, Love, and love only, had been a' my leed.
Ags. 1815 G. Beattie Poems (1882) 171:
Thrice backwards round about she [witch] tutter'd While to hersel' this leed she mutter'd.
Ags. 1841 Whistle-Binkie (3rd Ser.) 40:
This wonderfu' calf has the rare gift o' speech; Has Scripture by heart, as the gowk has its lied.
Abd. 1873 P. Buchan Inglismill 48:
Harpers stood roun'; an', as they harped, they sung Lieds sweetly wild, but in some unco tongue.
Ags. 1894 A. Reid Songs 28:
“We dinna ken the water's worth Until the well rins dry,” Sae says the guid auld farrant leed.

3. A constant or repeated theme, a rigmarole, a long, rambling story, a favourite “line” or topic (Cai. 1902 E.D.D.; ne.Sc., Ags. 1960).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 103:
He ga's a leed o' a sermon, an, nae bodie kent tap, tail, nor mane o't. He got intil a leed, an' oot o' that he cudna get.
Abd. 1880 G. Webster Crim. Officer 87:
An' a' that the laird cud roar an' thraet'n', he got naething but the same leid owre again.
Ags. 1912 A. Reid Forfar Worthies 84:
[He] electrified her by the remarkable leid of excuses here faithfully recorded.
Abd. 1923 Swatches o' Hamespun 26:
“Jinse, Aw canna wint ye!” Davie herpit, as 'twar's leed like a frettin bairn.
Ags. 1949 Forfar Dispatch (24 March):
Weel, ye've mebbe herd auld fowk on this sonnet yersel, so I'll no' gie ye nae mair o' thatten leid.
Abd.27 1959:
She jist has a leed aboot it.

[O.Sc. lede, a language, a.1400, diction, c.1450, Mid.Eng. lede, a reduced form of leden, O.E. lēden, language, esp. the language of books, from lēode, a people, conflated with lǣden, Latin.]

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"Leed n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/leed_n1>

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