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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BA(A)ND, BA(A)N, BAWN, BAUN(D), n.¹ As in St.Eng. something that binds, hence, a cord, fetter, ribbon, etc. [bɑn(d), bɑ:n(d) Sc.; but em. and wm.Sc. + bǫ:n(d)] Special Sc. uses.

1. lit.

(1) Band formerly worn round the brow by women, a snood.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 47:
A good Face needs no Band, and an ill ane deserves none.

(2) Short strips of white linen hanging down from the collar as part of the conventional clerical pulpit or officiating dress in the Scottish Church used only by a minister settled in a charge.Sc. 1709 T. Boston Memoirs (1853) 211:
I cast off my band, and put on my cravat again.Sc. 1909 Colville 75:
He issued from the Presbytery examination a licentiate, and thereafter a probationer, and finally, an ordained or placed minister, with the privilege of wearing bands.Bch.(D) 1932 P. Giles in Abd. Univ. Rev. (March) 102:
Sae rank oot the goon' an' the ban's an' lat me ta buzness.Gsw. 1868 J. Young Poems 160:
A goun an' bawns, or law'er's wig.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe 284:
Dreaming of the time when his son would don the “goon an' ban's.”

(3) †A kind of neckcloth worn by laymen.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems II. 329:
Wale out the whitest o' my bobbit Bands.

(4) A hinge, a fastening for a door.Sc. 1874 A. Hislop Sc. Anecd. 245:
With nae better weapon in his hands than the jail door . . . whilk he rent frae the bands.Sc. 1887 Jam.⁶:
The old-fashioned hinge consisted of a hook, affixed to the door-post, and a band (with a loop at the end to fit the hook) fastened to the door. Hence hinges are described as “hooks and bands.” [See also Bats and bands, s.v. Bat.¹]Ork. 1731 A. W. Johnston Church in Ork. (1940) 110:
The kirk-door next breast of the kirk being old and confused so that it could neither keep locks nor bands.Bnff.² 1933:
Bit Jeems cudna win in till he liftit the door aff o'ts baans.Per. 1763 J. Meikle Hist. Alyth Par. Ch. (1933) 224:
Bands for the Tent Door.

(5) Two lengths of corn or flax twisted together to bind a sheaf.Abd.¹⁹ 1933:
Makkin bans in hairst was a common jobbie for the muckler littlans, to help the getherer lassie.Uls.² 1929:
Bands. Two lengths of rushes knotted together used for binding beets or sheaves of flax.

(6) What is contained by a rope (sec (5)) or what is strung on it. Used esp. of straw or fish.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
A b[and] o' floss' o' gloy; a b[and] o' pilteks.Sh. 1914 J. M. E. Saxby in Old-Lore Misc., Ork. Sh. etc. VII. ii. 74:
Baunds o' piltacks or sillock, with other sorts of fish.

(7) The state of being stalled and fed.Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
We hed twal head at da winter baand.

(8) Frame or timber or rib of a boat.Sh.⁴ 1933:
Da boat hed six wips i larch aroond hir an' hir baands wis oak.Sh.⁵ 1933:
“Da upper wup is rotten below da efter baand” — i.e. the top plank of the side of the boat has decayed where it has been in contact with the aft-most vertical rib.

(9) See first quot.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
Band, a long stone, bond-stone, laid crosswise when building a stone wall. [See Band-stane.]Bnff.² 1933:
It's a gweed strong wa' wi' plenty baans in't.

Phrase: to take baand, to tak band, to take root, to take a firm grip, be firmly embedded (in masonry).Sh. 1897 Shet. News (12 June) (E.D.D. Suppl.):
Wi' dis bjinter 'at he's been frae da nor 'est dey can naithin' edder o' ae kind or anidder tak' baand i' da ert, or grow.Abd. 1906 Banffshire Jnl. (5 June) 3:
[He] likit stanes were gey lang nibbit Tae tak' gweed baun at Drachlaw.Fif. 1800 J. Thomson Agric. Fife 37:
It is of a fine colour, is capable of being neatly dressed, takes firm band, and strongly resists the weather.

Comb.: staandin'-baand. (See quot.)Sh.⁵ 1933:
The “staandin'-baand” by which a cow is secured in the byre.

2. fig. Mod.Eng. bond.

(1) A promise, an agreement; also a money bond.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian viii.:
Mr Novit, ye'll no forget to draw the annual rent that's due on the yerl's band.Sc. 1851 G. Outram Lyrics Legal, etc. (1874) 44:
Syne she gi'ed him her band for the cost that was comin'.Bnff. 1895 W. Cramond Par. of Grange 34:
Here also is a band by Adamson of Braco 1695, and a number of old rentals.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 120:
An straight wi' the Savilians sealed a band, In aftertimes unchangeably to stand.

(2) The marriage bond.Sc. 1904 Fair Janet in Ballads (ed. Child) 64A. xxii.:
And when they cam to Marie's kirk To tye the haly ban.Edb. 1822 R. Wilson Poems, Robin and Marion iii.:
Mess John tied our bridal baun'.wm.Sc. [1835] Laird of Logan (1868) 81:
Dee whan ye like ye'll dee in the band (married to someone), like McGibbon's calf.

(3) Bondage, state of restraint.Sc.(E) 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms xiv. 7:
Whan the Lord sal bring hame again them that's in ban' o' his peopil.