Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MISGAE, v. Sc. form of Eng. misgo.
Sc. usages:
1. intr. To go wrong, to fail, to miscarry (Bnff., Ags. 1963). Ppl.adj. misgane, gone astray.Sc. 1745 Scots Mag. (June) 275:
Right well I wat! he kept them night and day, Nor a' his time did ony e'er misgae.Per. 1766 A. Nicol Poems 21:
But if a' mercy, things misgae, I'll ramble like a Lybean rae, That flees the wood.Sc. 1843 Carlyle Past and Pres. (1858) 125:
The business had all misgone in the interim.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 115:
A doot the thing 'll mis-gae.Sc. 1879 P. H. Waddell Isaiah i. 4:
The outcome o' ill-doen forebears, an' bairns as misgane's they can win!
2. tr. To miss, to pass by; specif. of a cow: †to misgae the steer, to fail to conceive by the bull.ne.Sc. 1881 W. Gregor Folk-Lore 161:
May your bairnies n'er be peer, B' soothan, b' soothan, Nor yet yir coo misgae the steer.
