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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.

MEND, v., n. Also men. See P.L.D. § 64. Pa.t., pa.p. mendit; ment (Sc. 1776 D. Herd Songs II. 199; ne.Sc. 1962), ¶mend. Deriv. menner, a mender, one who mends or repairs (Abd. 1954 Banffshire Jnl. (19 Jan.), Abd. 1962); vbl.n. menin, a patch, repair, extension (Cld. 1880 Jam.). Sc. usages:

1. As in Eng., intr. to recover in health, to get better. Gen.Sc. (Sh., Ags., Edb., Ayr., Dmf., Rxb. 2000s). With o, to recover from, obs. in Eng. in 18th c.; tr. to heal or cure of an illness, to restore to health, arch. in Eng.Ayr. 1785 Burns To J. Goldie iii.:
Not a' her quacks wi' a' their gumption Can ever mend her.Dmf. 1831 R. Shennan Tales 53:
The doctor's not worth ought I vow, He might hae mend ye lang or now.Edb. 1870 J. Lauder Warblings 42:
Ye pow'rs! attend the helpless sick, And mend puir Crummie.Kcb. 1897 A. J. Armstrong Robbie Rankine 20:
He's got County Council on the brain, but he'll men' o' that.Gall. 1901 Gallovidian III. 74:
My granfather got it frae him for mendin an unweel wean.Kcb.¹⁰ 1962:
If ye either haud or men, ye'll dae.

2. intr. Of an affection or affected part: to heal, to get better. Gen.Sc. Now only dial. in Eng.Sc. 1804 J. Abernethy Surg. Observ. 140:
An ulcer mends in one part though it may spread in another.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 33:
The heid did not mend.

3. tr. and intr. To fatten, to put on weight, (to cause) to grow stout or plump (Kcb., Uls. 1962). Phr. to be well mended, to have put on weight (Uls. 1903 E.D.D.).Slk. 1810 Hogg Poems (1865) 277:
An' pu' the limpet aff the rock, To fatten and to mend ye.Twd. 1873 C. Swainson Weather Folk-Lore 39:
February; an ye be fair, The hoggs'll mend, and naething pair. Uls. 1993:
He's well mended.

4. intr. Of persons: to reform in morals or behaviour, to mend one's ways. Gen.Sc. Arch. or dial. in Eng.Ayr. 1786 Burns To the Deil xxi.:
But fare-you-weel, Auld Nickie-Ben! O, wad ye tak a thought an' men'!Lnk. 1838 J. Morrison M'Ilwham Papers 11:
The Synod's menin, I hear; and frae what I recolleck, they had muckle need o' it.Edb. 1851 A. Maclagan Poems 184:
For Gudesake mend, while yet ye can . . . Forsake your drouthy, clouty clan.Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken viii.:
Yer soul's black wi' them [sins], an' it's time ye was mendin'.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 82:
An' fain wid men', fan their chance wis past.

5. tr. To reform, improve, better, to put right, to rectify (a person's character or habits) (Sh., Ayr., Gall., Uls. 1962).Wgt. 1704 Session Rec. Kirkinner MS. (4 Dec.):
He . . . had that horrid expression more than once, God be with yow, The Divil be with yow, The better to mend the worse be with yow.s.Sc. 1793 T. Scott Poems 358:
O' ye'r love 'twill owther men' ye, Or a wee deceive the time.Kcb. 1891 M. A. Maxwell Halloween Guest 67:
I maun mend her o' that.Uls. 1900 E.D.D. s.v. devil:
Deil mend ye, serve you right.

6. To augment, to eke out or increase, esp. of food. Phr. to mend a meal.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 53:
Was she found out for mending o' their mail?s.Sc. 1793 T. Scott Poems 329:
The poor man cou'd have ment a meal, Wi' a hare-bouk or sa'mon tail.

7. Phrs.: (1) no ane o' them to mend anither, all equally bad, “birds of a feather” (m. and s.Sc. 1962); (2) to mend one's hand, to refill one's glass, have another drink. Cf. Eng. dial. to mend one's draught, id.; (3) to mend the land, to follow the plough, breaking up or turning over land missed by the ploughshare.(1) Sc. 1825 Jam. s.v. siclike:
“What sort of fouk are the rest of them?” “They're just sic and sicklike; there's no ane o' them to mend anither.”m.Lth. 1897 P. H. Hunter J. Armiger 112:
Ye ken my opinion o' the womenfolk, an' the longer I live the less I see to gar me change it. There's no' ane o' them to mend anither.(2) Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xxx.:
She drew a flask from her pocket, and filled the fellow a large bumper, which he pronounced to be the right thing . . . “Wunna ye mend your hand?” again offering the flask.(3) Slg. 1808 Farmer's Mag. (June) 199:
Some industrious farmers . . . followed up the ploughing [by a home-made wooden plough] with a second operation called mending the land; that is a person with a small triangular spade attended the plough, dug up those blanks when it was thrown out, laid over those furrows which the mouldboard was unable to invert, and threw spadefuls of earth on those parts where the furrows were too shallow to afford mould for covering the seed.