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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DIN, n. Sc. usages:

1. As in St.Eng. but with weakened sense = a slight noise, freq. of running water.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 147:
If Dogs should bark, or but a Mouse make Din.Edb. [1801] J. Thomson Poems (1819) 191:
To rest themselves beside the stream, And hear its murmuring din.Lnk. 1884 J. and E. C. Nicholson Willie Waugh 39:
Syne Maisie rins to pour the scaddin' water Amang the fragrant leaves, wi' tricklin' din.

2. A fuss, to-do (Bnff.², Abd. and Ags. correspondents, Kcb.¹⁰ 1940).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 25:
And she, poor Jade, withoutten Din, Is sent to Leith-Wynd Fit to spin.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xx.:
Here's a bra' din, indeed, about an auld wife gaun to the grave.Ags. 1892 A. Reid Howetoon vi.:
She styled him “a dainty body, wi' little din.” We are a quiet people, but not stolid.Ayr. 1885 R. Lawson Maybole Past and Present 59:
“Weel,” said Johnnie, “Whether is't waur to tell a lee to keep doon a din, or to tell the truth to kick up a deevilment o' a din?”

3. A report, rumour; a scandal (Bnff.², Abd.² 1940; s.Ayr. 1950 (per wm.Sc.¹)).Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken 225:
The hale glen's ringin' wi' the din o' yer iniquities.

Combs.: (1) din-breeder, a trouble-maker (Fif.¹⁶ 1947); (2) din-makker, id. (Ags. 1948 (per Abd.²⁷)); (3) din-raiser, id. (Abd.²⁷ 1948); (4) din-raisin', adj., quarrelsome (Abd.⁴ 1931); trouble-making, applied to one who carries stories in order to make trouble (Bnff.², Abd.², Abd.⁹ 1940).(4) Abd. 1873 J. Ogg Willie Waly 163:
She's greatly disliked for the length o' her tongue, An' aften described as “a din-raisin' rung.”Abd. [1903] W. Watson Auld Lang Syne (1905) 253:
Of malignant liars we had only a few, and they were known as “leein', din-raisin' randies.”

4. Sc. derivatives of din in the sense of a noise: †(1) dinfu(l), noisy; †(2) dinless, silent; †(3) dinnous, noisy; (4) din raiser, a noisy child; (5) dinsome, = (3); riotous, brawling.(1) Sc. 1877 J. S. Blackie Wise Men 31:
The trumpet-tongued exploits of dinful war.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 22:
And now in dinfu' bizzing, through the air The bees crowd thick to taste the hinni'd sweets.(2) Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 14:
An' now the dinless glens aroun' Resoundit wi' the clang.Ayr. a.1878 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage, etc., and Poems (1892) 192:
Jeanie, dinless as a ghaist, Slipt up an' wrathsome Willy fac'd.(3) Sc. 1819 J. Rennie St Patrick II. xvii.:
Ye're haudin' up your vile dinnous goravich i' the wuds here, it the vera craws canna get sleepin'.(4) Per. 1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken 188:
Skirlin' the like til a merry-begotten wee din raiser.(5) Sc. 1724 Ramsay T. T. Misc. 121:
O Katty, wiltu gang wi' me. And leave this dinsome Town a while.Mry. 1924 Hogmanay in Swatches 79:
Auld Sandy Hind gyan doon the wynd Tae swall the dinsome thrang.Bwk. 1801 “Berwickshire Sandie” Poems 79:
A while I've left the dinsome clamour, That rages in the schools.Ayr. 1786 Burns Scotch Drink xi.:
Till block an' studdie ring an' reel Wi' dinsome clamour.Gall. 1711 Session Bk. Penninghame (1933) I. 304:
Thomas Williamson was somewhat dinsome the day challenged about the herding which he claimed as his day and the said John asserted was his day of it.Rxb. 1870 J. Thomson Doric Lays 21:
Wha wadna leave the dinsome toun, Wi' a' its strife and noise.