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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.

‡FUIRSDAY, n. Also F(e)ursday, Fo(a)rs-, Foers-, Foors-; Feers-, Fiers- (ne.Sc.). Sc. forms of Eng. Thursday, once in gen. usage but now obs. in Lth., sm. and s.Sc. (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Fif., Ayr. 1953). [Sh., m.Sc. ′fø:rzdɪ, ′fe:rz-, †Gall., Dmf. ′fo:rz-, ne.Sc. ′fi:rz-, Cai. ′fju:rz-]Ayr. 1786 Burns Reply to an Invit. ii.:
But Foorsday, Sir, my promise leal, Expect me o' your partie.Rnf. 1791 A. Wilson Poems 234:
He gets the news, and tauld me that ye'd hecht A dawd o' goud, on this same Fursday night.s.Sc. 1822 Blackwood's Mag. (Feb.) 180:
This is Forsday, ye ken, an' we hae a diet the day.Hdg. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 294:
“Is't to be on Tiseday or Wadnesday, or whan?” . . . “On Foorsday,” I jerked back.Abd. 1900 C. Murray Hamewith 13:
Twa Fiers-days back she seem'd baith swak an' strang.Dmf. 1912 J. & R. Hyslop Langholm 620:
Our fathers said . . . “Forsday” for Thursday.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 81:
Da moorit hog it doo slachtered a Foersday.Abd. 1981 Jack Webster A Grain of Truth (1988) 184:
In the thirties, for example the day after Monday was Tyesday and two days after that was Fiersday, as surely as your ankles were your 'kweets', ... Cai. 1991 John Manson in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 76:
I sall dee in Paris - and I'm no rinnan -
Mebbe on a Fuirsday, in the back end.