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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

FARE, v., n. Also ¶fere.

I. v. As in Eng., mostly arch.: to go, travel, get on. Sc. forms in pa.t.: ‡foor, ‡fure [før]; ‡pa.p. forn (Sh.¹⁰ 1952).Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 60:
They that travel, monie a bob maun byde, An' sae wi' me, has forn at this tide.Ayr. 1788 Burns Duncan Davison ii.:
As o'er the moor they lightly foor.Sc. c.1800 Sir Patrick Spens in Child Ballads II. 29:
But eat an drink, my merrie young men, Eat, an be weel forn.Ags. 1826 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 139:
Far are ye gain? To Killiemuir! Faare never ane wiel fure, But for his ane penny fee.Abd. 1880 W. Robbie Glendornie iv.:
Weel, this fares on till ae day the doctor was to hae a gran' pairty.Abd. c.1900 in M. M. Banks Cal. Customs III. 213:
Yeel's come an' Yeel's gane, An' we've a' forn weel.Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
Fu is du forn da day?Gall. 1929 Gallovidian 38:
An' ask an alms — a bite o' breid Or sic-like ware — To help ye in a time o' need — “Na, aff ye fare!”

Used impers. in phr. sic (sae) fares o' (wi) (somebody) . . . (Abd. c.1870). Sc. 1747 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S.) I. 157:
What a deel could O'Neil do for the preservation and safety o' the Prince in a Highland country, where he knew not a foot of ground, and had not the language o' the people. And sic far'd o' him, for he was no sooner frae the Prince than he was tane prisoner.Sh. 1817 Gentleman's Mag. (1836) II. 592:
Dey nevvir ken rycht whaar ta leve aff, an se feres wi me.Ags. 1887 Brechin Advertiser (13 Dec.):
Ye see, sir, fouk cauna be aye spinnin'. And sae fares o' me.Bch. 1926 P. Giles in Abd. Univ. Review (July) 224:
"The peer haythen wid think him a Solomon I'se warran'." "Sic fares o' Sawtie. Hantles o' folk owre a' Buchan swore by Sawtie an' heeld 'im up t'be a Solomon."

†II. n. Fortune, condition, success. Obs. in Eng. since early 17th cent.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 10:
The wives about, envy'd the lassie's fare, And wiss'd her wraking, but begecked were.