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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1815, 1879, 1957

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SWAAR, n.1 Also swar. The depth of night, the darkest part of the northern twilight, esp. in phr. da swaar o da dim (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 211; Ork. 1884 R. M. Fergusson Rambles 167; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1971).Sh. 1815 Shetland Advert. (6 Jan. 1862):
Toilin fae d' swaar o' d' dim t' sinsett.Sh. 1879 Shetland Times (13 Sept.):
There is a short time in the middle o 'swaar o' da dim' that fish will not be caught.Sh. 1957 Sh. Folk-Bk. III. 70:
Nicht comes on De oorie swaar o dim.

[Etym, uncertain. Jak. suggests an altered form of Norw. dial. sval, dark, dusky. Another possibility is a reduced form of Norw. svart, dark, black, used subst.]

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