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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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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.

FRICHT, n., v. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. fright. Also fre(i)cht. [frɪçt]

I. n. As in Eng. Hence frichtsom(e), fearful, terrifying. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 67:
Frae the hill heads burns tumbl'd on ilka side Wi' sick a frightsome hurle an reefu' rair.Cai. 1776 Weekly Mag. (25 Jan.) 145:
She says the time, the frightsome time's at hand, Whan Tammas Rymer's prophecy maun stand.Sc. 1832 Tait's Mag. (Dec.) 376:
It's frightsome to look down on them, sirs.wm.Sc. 1835 Laird of Logan 281:
Their partners gaed round and round about like tee-totums, at sic a frichtsom rate.Ags. 1891 Barrie L. Minister xxxv.:
There has been frichtsome rain among the hills.Lnk. 1923 G. Rae 'Mang Lowland Hills 36:
It's frichtsome when the dark dreeps doon, An' hides far yont the happy day.

Phrs.: 1. na(e) frichts, no fear (Fif.¹⁰ 1943); 2. to put in fricht, to frighten, scare (Abd. 1953).1. Cai. 1871 M. McLennan Peasant Life 298:
Na frichts o' yer deein'!Edb. 1876 J. Smith Archie and Bess 7:
Nae frights but we'll get what we want.Lnl. c.1890 R. Steuart Legends from Lth. 191:
Ma fether! nae frichts o' him.2. Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 20:
O, be na put in fricht.

II. v. To frighten, to terrify, scare (off); to dispel, keep (cold, etc.) away as by fear. Gen.Sc. (Bnff., Ags., Fif., Ayr. 2000s). Now only dial. or poet. in Eng. Ppl.adj. frichtit, frightened, afraid. Frichtit for = afraid of (m.Sc. 1953). Cf. Fear, v., 3.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 23:
To get a Mends of whinging Fools, That's frighted for Repenting-Stools.Abd. 1752 Session Papers, Irvine v. Irvine (8 July) 15:
When he heard a knock at the Door, he would start and look frighted like.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 78:
Or whan the dead-deal, (awful shape!) Makes frighted mankind girn and gape.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck xii.:
They're frightit at the very look o' him.wm.Sc. 1854 Laird of Logan 476:
I was on board a man o' war for seeven years, an' it's no very likely I wad be frichtet for the like o' yon.Abd. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer ii.:
Me fricht him! What for suld I fricht him, laddie? I'm no sic ferlie that onybody needs be frichtit at me.Knr. 1891 “H. Haliburton” Ochil Idylls 66:
It may be that by some device We'll maybe fricht the snaw.Kcb. 1893 Crockett Stickit Minister 13:
How is he to fricht them when he comes to catechize them?Sc. 1931 “J. Bridie” The Anatomist (1932) 36:
I dinna like his looks, Mary. He's got a face like a warlock. I'm frichtit.m.Sc. 1932 Matt Marshall in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills (1982) 10:
Were ye boggit to the buttocks?
Did ye hear the eagles yell?
Were ye frichted by the adders when they hissed? m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
A'thing unco quaet - deil's wark doon the wynd
Syne, ower the causey, tae yer frichtit een
The gantin Palace wa', rowed in deid-licht ...

Hence n.phr. fricht-the-craw, a scarecrow; a guy, a simpleton.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 206:
For his favourite theme, The fricht-the-craw.Abd. 1931 D. Campbell Uncle Andie 28:
A doot Dooglie's been makkin' a fricht-the-craw o' ye.