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.
MAW, v.1, n.1 Sc. forms and usages of Eng. mow, to reap. See P.L.D. § 34.1. [mǫ:; mɑ:]
I. v. A. Forms: inf., pr.t., maw, ma(a) (s.Sc. 1871 D.S.C.S. 206); pa.t. weak mawed, strong meuw (Ib.; sm.Sc. 1962). [mɪu]; pa.p. mawn, maan (Ib.). Gen.Sc.Sc. 1705 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 389:
The 2 mawers began to maw the intack this morning.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 23:
But mair nor master maws the field.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 14:
And wad ha'e kemp'd wi' ony man At dyking or at mawing.Ayr. 1792 Burns In Simmer i.:
In simmer, when the hay was mawn And corn wav'd green in ilka field.Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy vi.:
I hae been flitting every term these four-and-twenty years; but when the time comes there's aye . . . something to maw that I would like to see mawn.Slk. 1820 Hogg Tales (1874) 188:
For death spares naebody. . . . He maws them down as the gerse on the field.Bwk. 1859 P. Landreth J. Spindle (1911) 4:
I muckit oot the byre, an' mawed a pickle gerss for the coo.Sh. 1916 J. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr (14 Aagust):
If ye maa girss wi da weet, ye loss naen o da droucght.Ork. 1931 J. Leask Peculiar People 132:
Treu, dere waasna muckle tae maa, forbye whit waas o'd waas tin an' short.
B. Usages: 1. Derivs.: (1) mawer, one engaged in mowing, a mower (Gall. 1962); (2) mawster, id.(1) Sc. 1703 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 329:
To tomas his mawers in the easter park . . . £0 4 6.Wgt. 1877 “Saxon” Gall. Gossip 93:
A pickle mair siller to pay us mawers.(2) Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems I. 100:
The mawster strong, wi' shining steel He bounds the meadow through.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 325:
It has what mawsters call a matted sole, which racks the shouther-blades in cutting it.
2. Combs. with ppl.adj.: ¶(1) mawing-airn, a scythe; (2) maain-girse, meadow hay (Sh., Ags. 1962).(1) Sc. 1879 P. H. Waddell Isaiah ii. 4:
Till pleughs syne, their swurds they sal dight, an' their spears intil mawin-airns.(2) Sh. 1960 New Shetlander No. 54. 16:
Dey're wuppled roond da maain-girse In mödows growin green.
3. Vbl.n. mawing, the portion of a crop to be laid aside for payment of rent, in allusion to the familiar proverb about the apportionment of every three seeds in a farmer's grain crop, “Ane to saw, and ane to gnaw and ane to pay the laird witha”.Sc. 1706 Charitable Observations on Forbes' Treatise on Tithes 99:
By the old Scots way of calculating the proportion of the growth of the land, which ought to be payed yearly to the Heretor, they make a Tripartit division, by three Words Somewhat Barbarous, Sawing, Gnawing, Mawing: the first Imports, that the 3d part of the Cropt should be laid aside for Sowing the land the next year: the 2d Implies that another 3d part should be allowed to the Farmer for Maintenance of his Family and beasts necessary for his Labour: the last 3d being due to the Land-lord.
†II. n. A single sweep with the scythe (Cld. 1825 Jam.).
