Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1732-1801, 1927, 1982-1992
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TOUR, n.2, v.2 Also toor and in mod. illiterate use tower (Gsw. 1913 F. Niven Ellen Adair xvii.). Hence tow(e)rist, tourist (Sc. 1951 Scots Mag. (March) 454; Per. 1965 Perthshire Advert. (14 July) 9), reduced dim. form tourie (Sh. 1934 S.M.T. Mag. (May) 33). Sc. forms and usages. [′tu:(ə)r; illiterately ′tʌuər]
I. n. 1. As in Eng., a circular route or journey. Sc. phrs.: in a tour, in the course of a journey, in a circuit; to bend one's tour, to make one's way, direct one's steps.Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 285:
When to my Meg I bend my tour, Thro' Ewden drift, or snawy show'r.Sc. 1801 Baron of Brackley in Child Ballads IV. 87:
"Thro Birss and Aboyne," she says, "lyin in a tour, O'er the hills of Glentanor you'll skip in an hour."m.Sc. 1982 Eilidh Nisbet in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills 154:
Let TOWERISTS seek from every nation
This land's romantic desolation Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 141:
'Towrists,' said Donald's Jamie, as if the word explained everything. 'Birdwatchers or something. Or that crowd, what d'ye call them, geologists.' Sc. 1992 Herald 18 Sep 18:
Mr Stamp would do well to heed lessons learnt from the same venture held in Edinburgh last weekend, where the towrists' curiosity got a little out of hand.
2. One's turn or spell in a regular sequence (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Adv. phrs. tour about, tour and turn, turn about, alternately, at every second turn (Lth., Ayr., Kcb., Rxb. 1972). Now rare in Eng. exc. in military usage.Sc. 1732 P. Walker in Six Saints (Fleming 1901) II. 25:
Two of these prisoners took their tour about, lying upon him with a napkin in his mouth.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) I. 213:
With Cluny's children they kept the hut And tour about on watch were put.Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 22:
Mei next: it's ma toor ti be serrd.
†II. v. To direct one's steps, to betake oneself.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 40:
Sa aff I scours, Blessing my lucky stars, an' hame I tours.
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"Tour n.2, v.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tour_n2_v2>
