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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FAIR, n.², v.² Also †fare. Sc. usages.

I. n. †1. A gift bought at a fair, = fairing, s.v. v. 2. (1). Adj. ¶fairless, without a gift. Also in Nhb. dial.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 28:
Gray mercies cousin, ye sall hae your fair, The first time I to town or merket gang.Slg. 1804 "Transforthanus" Poems 91:
Lasses too, wha wanton though they came, Mony gaed dowie, lanely, fairless hame.Ags. 1815 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1882) 169:
O why sud my auld heart grow sair To hear the lasses crumpin' fair.Kcd. 1844 W. Jamie Muse 5:
So to the fair our lover went . . . To buy some fare to his ain dearie.Slk. 1893 Walter Wathershanks 26:
Efter gettin' some fairs tae the lasses, ou began tae think aboot takin' the road hame.

2. Phr. and Comb.: †(1) fair-keeper, a person appointed to keep order at a fair; (2) the Fair, also ra Ferr. = Glasgow Fair s.v. Glesca prop.n. 3; (3) to tak (somebody) to the fair, to take aback, disconcert, abash (an over-confident person) (Ayr. 1870; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh.¹¹, Ags., m.Lth., Bwk., Lnk., Wgt., Dmf., Slk., Uls. 1950). Gen. used in passive.(1) Ayr. 1858 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock 102:
A guard of tradesmen belonging to the town was usually formed to preserve order and tranquillity . . . the Guard, or “Fair-keepers,” as they were termed.(2) Gsw. 1990 John and Willy Maley From the Calton to Catalonia 1:
Picture it. The Calton. Fair Fortnight. 1937. Full of Eastern promise. Wimmen windaehingin. Weans greetin for pokey hats. Grown men, well intae their hungry thirties, slouchin at coarners, skint as a bairn's knees.Lnk. 1991 Duncan Glen Selected Poems 32:
We stood by Clyde at the Broomielaw
and I spoke o steamers for Doon the Watter
and happy holidays at the Fair.Gsw. 1993 Herald 17 Jul 3:
Since they've shouldered it for all the country's other ills it seemed churlish not to blame yesterday's abysmal start to Ra Ferr on the Conservatives. The rain, it came down in stair rods.Sc. 1993 Herald 17 Jul 3:
Because of the Fair Holiday Monday the office will not re-open for normal business until Tuesday.Sc. 1996 Scotsman 19 Jul 18:
To have this great Scottish asset [Edinburgh Castle] out of commission on the Sunday of the largest "Fair fortnight" of the year was a prime example of how not to manage a tourist attraction. Why was this work not done during the hours of midnight to 9 am?(3) Kcb. c.1900 J. Campbell in Vale of Urr Verses I. 107:
An' gin ye wad dauble or come on them sair My Certes! you'd fin yoursel' taen to the fair.

II. v. 1. To hold a fair. Only in vbl.n. fairin. Rare.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 11:
Was there in Scotland ever seen Sic fairin' an' sic rantin' Sin Allan's Christ's-Kirk on the green.

2. To give presents from a fair, to treat at a fair. Also in gen., to welcome with gifts. Rare.Ags. 1790 D. Morison Poems 20:
To fair his lass a heart he'll shaw, Tho' he shou'd leg to France.Rs. 1944 C. M. Maclean Farewell to Tharrus 54:
I heard from him how generously “the old girl” [a farrowing sow] had faired him on his homecoming.

Vbl.n. fairin(g); fairen (Abd. 1872 J. G. Michie Deeside Tales (1908) 117), fair'n, faring, (1) a present from a fair or at a festive season. Gen.Sc., obsol. In gen. dial. use in Eng., but in Sc. often specif. of eatables, esp. gingerbread; any complimentary gift, a gratuity; a souvenir gift from a holiday; (2) in phr. to get, gie (one), tak one's fairin(s), to get, give (one), take one's punishment, deserts (Abd., m.Lth., Bwk., wm.Sc., Rxb. 1952).(1) Gsw. 1723 Records Trades Ho. (ed. Lumsden 1934) 86:
To Archibald Glen for his fairing . £1 10 0Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 20:
He'll tak the hint and criesh her loof Wi' what will buy her fairin, To chow that day.Ayr. 1826 Galt Last of Lairds xxi.:
The last sweetheart I had was a gingebread faring and I eat it.Edb. 1851 A. Maclagan Sketches 150:
Weel they ken the First-fit brings Them a' their fair'ns.Cai. 1872 M. McLennan Peasant Life 191:
Then he gave her half-a-crown as a fairing.e.Per. 1895 “I. Maclaren” Auld Lang Syne 279:
He wanted tae gie the lassie a fairin'.Dmf. 1912 J. L. Waugh Robbie Doo 52:
He was tellin' me o' the fairins his grandmither gied him on a Thornhill fair day.Abd. 1909 J. Tennant Jeannie Jaffray 241:
And though many had a dram, they had their pockets fuller of “fairin'” for that, in the form of sweeties, oranges, raisins, gingerbread, or any useful or ornamental nicknack.Gsw. 1991 Anna Blair More Tea at Miss Cranston's 29:
There were tea caddies, presents from everywhere, fairings, dresser-plates, crotcheted anti-mascassars and cushions.(2) Ayr. 1790 Burns Tam o' Shanter 201:
Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin, In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin.Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 9:
Let Bonaparte come when he will, I hope he'll get his fairin'.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxxvii.:
Mackay will pit him down, there's little doubt o' that; he'll gi'e him his fairing.Sc. 1823 J. G. Lockhart Reg. Dalton I. 262:
My certy, there was ane o' them got his fairin — he'll no fash us.Sc. 1926 “H. McDiarmid” Penny Wheep 21:
Blaefaced afore the throne o' God He'll get his fairin' yet.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 14:
He'd ha'e ae blink oot ower the cairn, An, syne for hame to tak' his fairin'.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 19:
"Nae hotchin an nae yabberin nou,
That aw mey lairn, baith wee an great,
The fairins that tae each is due.