Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
LIG, v.1 Also ligg.
1. To lie, recline, rest (Abd. 1825 Jam.); to have sexual intercourse (Cld. Ib.); of sheep: to bring forth lambs (s.Sc. Ib.). Pa.t. ligged. Rare and now only liter.Sc. 1720 Broadside:
As sweet as the Morn Dew that ligs on the grass.Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 91:
Whan Phoebus ligs in Thetis lap, Auld Reikie gies them shelter.Ags. 1824 Literary Olio (10 Jan.) 3:
A bield, where mind may eithly lig in For threescore years.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 299:
The Duke of Kent doth yawning lig.Sc. 1827 C. I. Johnstone Eliz. de Bruce II. viii.:
To lig down on a battel of oat-straw behind Black Leddy.wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan App. 507:
A second wife ligs wi' him neist the wa'.Hdg. 1889 J. Lumsden Lays Linton 25:
Nanny an' you maun ligg an' lair thegither i' the backside o' the machine — but ye maunna fecht.Knr. 1895 H. Haliburton Dunbar 100:
Gin ye list to lig into the laft, There's a braw flure-head.Sc. 1926 H. M'Diarmid Penny Wheep 33:
The Day loups up (for she kens richt weel Owre lang wi' the Nicht she mauna lig).n.Sc. 1950 Scots Mag. (July) 264:
An the little fite rose ligged laich on the grun, wi her unquit love for fee.Sc. 1979 Sydney Goodsir Smith in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 34:
Hap your heid sweet reason,
Logic, ligg at ease.
Mense, this is nocht your season, m.Sc. 1986 Ian A. Bowman in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 165:
The starling's nest, weel derned ablow the foreshot,
gars her eggs ligg secure. m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 9:
A wheen o heathen Vikings liggan thare,
eftir some wid gilravigin affair. Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 42:
Syne I gaed wi the licht
ay its turnan,
doun frae yon smoory hill,
the day's aince-erran aa bi wi,
ae sang liggan
caul i the daurk. Dundee 1994 Matthew Fitt in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 177:
Owre in the coarnir, ther wus hauf a deid cou liggin oan its syde an a boy in a whyte peenie wus layin intae it wi an aix. m.Sc. 1996 John Murray Aspen 9:
the fern's emprent lifeless liggs
atween leifs o shale.
Hence agent n. ligger, -ar, a newly-spawned salmon, a foul fish (s.Sc. 1825 Jam., “as fishes of this species become foul by lying too long in the fresh water”; Gall. 1960).Kcb. 1830 Perthshire Advert. (18 Feb.):
It is a curious fact that otters, unlike human poachers, never pounce on liggers, if they can possibly procure a fresh run fish.
¶2. To lay, cause to lie.e.Lth. 1885 S. Mucklebackit Rural Rhymes 34:
Should e'er blind Fortune's chancy wheel Ligg us thegither.
