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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HAMEOWER, adv., adj. Also hameo'er, -(come-)owre, †hame aur, haim-ower.

I. adv. Homewards, towards home (n.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh., Ags. 1956), at home.Abd. 1739 Caled. Mag. (1788) 505:
Gin he shoud rise and hame o'er gang, Lang was he in a swidder.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (1925) 53:
Hame-o'er langsyne you ha'e been blyth to pack Your a' upon a sarkless soldier's back.Sc. 1774 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S.) III. 328:
The bonniest lass in a' the wardle, whom may God bless and preserve, and her ain guidman, and send them hame aur to their ain fireside.Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 152:
The weel kend gate They're on the nick o' takin' Hame owre this night.Knr. 1832 L. Barclay Poems 107:
Wha twa-fauld hame o'er creeping gaed, To nurse the random hit.Sh. 1954 New Shetlander No. 40. 7:
I kaa'd wir twa-tree lammin yows Hemm-ower ta near da Klings.

II. adj. 1. Of speech: homely, everyday, simple, in the vernacular, Scots (Ork., Bnff., Abd., Ags., Arg. 1956).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 214:
That is to say in hame o'er Phrases, To tell ye, Men of Mettle praises Ilk Verse of yours when they can light on't.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 106:
There I was deaved a' afternoon Wi' orra hame-o'er blether By these twa carls.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 23:
An' sae hame-come-owre he was too.Abd. 1863 G. Macdonald D. Elginbrod vi.:
Who, she feared, might be offended at what she called her “hame-ower fashion of speaking.”Ags. 1945 Scots Mag. (April) 39:
Och, juist a hameowre wee sang I made for Angus. It pits him owre to sleep.

2. Of habits or manners: plain, simple, natural, unaffected, without reserve (Ork., Bnff., Abd., Ags. 1956). Also hame-come-owre, id.Abd. 1827 J. Imlah May Flowers 10:
We're nane o' Fashion's modish fules, . . . But heartie, hame-owre, social souls.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 23:
Eh! fat fine words my faither spoke, an' sae hame-come-owre he was too.wm.Sc. 1903 S. Macplowter Mrs McCraw 48:
The Yerl 'umsel' was a hame-owre, sonsie, plooman-lookin' chiel', that spak' tae the fowks as free as ef he wis the nex'-door neebour.Bnff. 1930 E. S. Rae Waff o' Win' 39:
His wife was a real leddy body, an' sae couthy an' kind an' hameowre.m.Sc. 1998 Ian Cameron The Jimmy Shand Story vii:
For some of us, too, there is an added pride in being accepted to share in the hame-ower family life that surrounds Windyedge at Auchtermuchty.

3. Of food: plain, homely (Ags. 1825 Jam.; Ork., Abd., Ags. 1956).Sc. 1820 A. Sutherland St Kathleen III. vii.:
Will ye tak' a cup o' tea? for ye'll no like our hame ower meat, I doot.

4. Rough and ready, crude (Abd., Ags. 1956).

5. Familiar, intimate (Ags. 1956).Ags. 1872 J. Kennedy Jock Craufurt 36:
To hae a guid twa-handed crack Wi' a young, dainty hameoure frien'.Ags. 1932 A. Gray Arrows 70:
And though he seemed a stranger, Yet was his face hameower.