Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

FIDDLER, n. Sc. usages:

1. The sandpiper, Tringa hypoleucos (Sc. 1842 W. Macgillivray Brit. Ornith. II. 97), “from the manner in which it continually vibrates its body, as if on a pivot” (Heb. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 197; Sc. 1915 S. Gordon Hill Birds Scot. 278).

†2. The crane-fly, daddy-long-legs (Ags. c.1890 per Abd.²⁷; Inv. 1920 per Cai.⁸). Comb. blind fiddler, the water-strider, Hygrotrechus conformis (Per. 1894 Trans. Per. Soc. Nat. Science 7).

3. Phrs. and combs.: †(1) fiddler-fou, very drunk; †(2) fiddler-pouched, with deep, bulgy pockets; (3) fiddler's biddin, a belated last-minute invitation (ne.Sc., m.Lth., wm.Sc. 1951);  also transf. anything happening at the last minute (Bnff., Gsw., Ayr. 2000s). See Bid, v., n.¹, 2., Biddin, vbl.n.¹; also fiddler's ca, id. (Kcb., Dmf. 1950), fiddler's invite (Ayr. 1950); (4) fiddler's news, stale news (ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Fif., m.Lth., Wgt., Rxb. 1950). Cf. piper's news, s.v. Piper; (5) fiddlers' tales, id.(1) Edb. 1864 W. Fergusson Poems 20:
An' she was dancin' fiddler-fou.(2) Dmf. 1822 Scots Mag. (May) 634:
I ken by his fiddler-pouch'd coat, and the neuk o' his mither's silk napkin fluttering atween the tails o't.(3) Abd. 1891 Bon-Accord (14 March) 18:
A young masher is up to the neck in despair at not getting an invitation in time to allow him to attend the ceremony. Fiddler's biddin's are very uncommon on the Hillock.wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 27:
Let oan yir fu' fae tap to toe wi' dochterly devotion
An' that ye 'gree till the hale jingbang o' a notion.
Then, when it comes tae the bit, the weddin'
Can aye be pit aff at a fiddler's biddin. Ags. 1990s:
Fiddler's biddin': last-minute invitation.(4) Slg. 1885 W. Towers Poems 69:
I hear ane crying, “Fiddler's news!” Fiddler's! or piper's if ye choose.(5) Sc. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 222:
I dinna wish to hear pipers' news and fiddlers' tales. . . . I ken you've tint your goodman.