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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MIND, v., n. Also mynd(e); min(e); mein(d); myn(e). [mɑend, məin(d)]

I. v. 1. (1) tr. To remember, recollect, call to mind (Sc. 1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 57, 1808 Jam.). Also ppl.adj. Gen.Sc. Arch. or dial. in Eng. Phr. that's weel min(di)t, it is well that that has been called to mind, I'm glad you reminded me. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1702 Atholl MSS. (8 Feb.):
I shall mind what yor Lo[rdship] has writ of a Stewart and Cook. But it will be hard to gett ane out of a Tavern or Edinbr. not given both to drink and Swearing.Kcb. 1730 Session Bk. Minnigaff (1939) 538:
He was in liquor . . . and does not mind the time of it.Edb. 1735 Session Papers, Process Wright v. Din 56:
Remember you have an appointment . . . after 4 of the Clock this Afternoon . . . to which Mr Donaldson answered, that was very well minded.Ayr. 1786 Burns Death of Mailie x.:
An' when ye think apo' your mither, Mind to be kind to ane anither.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality viii.:
The family hae had eneugh o' your testimony to mind it for ae while.Slk. 1817 Hogg Tales (1874) 154:
It's a queer thing, but it's perfectly true; sae ye maun mind no to forget.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxx.:
Eh, ay; that's weel min'et . . . an' foo mony o' yer tacks rins oot at this turn?Uls. 1897 A. M'Ilroy Lint in the Bell v.:
Wur rooted an' grundet in the faith — har'ly minin' a time whun we were outside the fold.Ork. 1907 Old-Lore Misc. I. ii. 62:
I cinno min dem a', bit dere waas Tam Aglath wi' 'is mither's bismar, min's du him?Ags. 1922 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden ii.:
Criky me, 'oman, that's weel mindit.Cai. 1929 John o' Groat Jnl. (13 Dec.):
A wonder will he min' 'e auld man A kent aince.Sc. 1954 Scots Mag. (Jan.) 316:
The wind was just getting into its stride, and I can mind yet how it roared in the trees.Gsw. 1985 Michael Elder Stookie 28:
" ... Yon pub the polis closed three months syne. Try there. I mind the place and there should be plenty rubbish comin' oot o' that to burn." Gsw. 1987 James Kelman Greyhound for Breakfast (1988) 227:
Ronnie minded well as a boy when he used to hang over the side and see if he could see any fish, and he couldnt see anything it was so cloudy, so fucking mawkit. m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 50:
But no the face. Twesna the man I kent,
weel loed bi bairns an dugs, an auld yins tae.
Ma tears cam no for this but the mindit man. Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 22:
Far war his leaders?
History buiks micht tell;
Sune there'll be nane alive that even myne. Sth. 1996 Eddie Davies in Timothy Neat The Summer Walkers: Travelling People and Pearl-Fishers in the Highlands of Scotland 35:
I mind us meeting the MacPhees up at Laid, on Loch Eriboll, at Eriboll farm. It's deep water there in the loch. m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 17:
At Jan Palak Square
A mindit on oor ain martyrs,
A thoosan mile awa.
Twa wummin, young an auld
Droont ower the heid o releegion
In Covenantin times. Gsw. 1998 Alan Spence Way to Go (1999) 214:
'Naw! I want a box, but just a simple white job. And I want everybody to write on it, wee messages and that, drawings.'
'Like a stookie. Right.'
'I always mind it when I broke my arm. The things people wrote on it! So that's what I want.' em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 2:
Mitchel minded where he was.
He was Maister James Mitchel, MA, preacher, tutor, soldier and sword of Christ, prisoner of the King.

Vbl.n. mindin, minding, memory, recollection, remembrance; a reminder. Gen.Sc. Phr. aa ma mindin', for as long as I can remember.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 147:
Shü's been apo' wir coast a' my mindin'.Lnk. 1923 G. Rae Lowland Hills 24:
“Coleshill” brocht mindins o' auld Scotia's woe.Sh. 1955 New Shetlander No. 41. 15:
I axed da young shield foo lang hit wis bune lik yon. Agen he looked at me kinda curiously an' said, “Aa my mindin'.”wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 5:
Presently he asked to leave the table and, without waiting for a reply, swung his legs over to the back of the bench, pushed past his brothers and through the doorway, heedless of another minding from Jamie about clearing the rig. wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 39:
Actually I got Moira's wee minding then as well. We just tend to exchange a wee token thing, just to be neighbourly, nothing pricey ... Ork. 1995 Orcadian 2 Feb :
I have attended about three Burns' Suppers in my mindings I believe;... Ork. 1995 Orcadian 30 Mar 4:
In the days before my minding, my grandfather had been a lover of all feathered creatures. Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 82:
Spite o its dreich mindins, the Muster Cairn bi the Piper's Roadie wis a bonnie airt, ringed aboot wi sweyin laricks, an bairnies lued tae play aroon it, nearhaun the Dubh itsel. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 124:
'James Graham's heid was prickit on the Tolbooth eleven years, and a cross-pick pit in it so his freens couldna steal it awa. That wasna senseless - it was an example and a constant mindin tae the people.'

(2) intr. with o, of, (up)on, or occas. refl. Gen.Sc. Dial. in Eng.Fif. 1712 Two Students (Dickinson 1952) 18:
I do not mind of broth any wise turned or sowr set before us save once.Dmf. 1810 R. Cromek Remains 219:
O ask your heart gif it minds o' me!Mry. 1830 T. D. Lauder Moray Floods (1873) 18:
I minded me o' something I wad ha'e done ill wantin'.m.Lth. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller 79:
“Do ye mind o' her, Nelly?” . . . “Mind her! . . . Aye, that I do.”Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xliv.:
Weel, fa wud 'a minet upo' that but yersel' noo?Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 67:
I can mine of the terror yet with which we saw the auld lowin' heuch.Sh. 1892 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 242:
I sall be ower blide ta tell you a' 'at I can mind apon.Dmb. 1894 D. MacLeod Past Worthies 179:
Weel I min' o' buryin' a box that they said he was in.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders ii.:
Ilka time ye hear it, laddie, ye'll mind on yer faither.Ags. 1918 V. Jacob Songs 15:
I mind me o' Strathmore.wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 34:
My, I haven't seen you since school. I have not clepped eyes on you since the Sixth Year Leavers' Social. I mind of you diving around in bleck tights and a big fisherman's jumper shoogling up esperins in Coca-Cola and eating the insides of Vick inhalers trying to get stoned. m.Sc. 1997 Liz Niven Past Presents 11:
Pickin oot ilka row
The lass wid mind
Oan this the morra
An in the lang time tae come
Think o this day
Till ilka stitch unpickt
Wis the unravellin
O her faith.

2. To remember (a person) in a will, to give (someone) a small gift to show that he has been in one's thoughts. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1706 Earls Crm. (Fraser 1876) II. 13:
I thank your Lordship for minding so small a person as my poor nevoy Stuart.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 16:
And to keep a' Things hush and low'n He minds the Poor.Peb. 1726 C. B. Gunn Cross Kirk (1914) 107:
A boy in great bodily trouble to be minded with the money from the sacrament.Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 143:
Aboot twenty o' the leadin' inhabitants had been mindit by Ebenezer to the extent o' sums ranging frae seventeen pounds to fifty-five pounds.Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 14:
Keep in wui um; ei'll mebbies meind ee in eis wull.Dmb. 1931 A. J. Cronin Hatter's Castle ii. vii.:
She thought he might have minded her with a keepsake.

Vbl.n. mindin(g), a small gift made by way of remembrance, a memento, a token of goodwill. Gen.Sc.Dmf. 1817 Carlyle in Early Life (Froude 1882) I. 48:
We sent you a small piece of ham and a minding of butter.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr. Duguid 227:
Dinna scart a hole in your plate that way, lassock! lea' juist a min'in' in't for t'e cat, ye ken?Ayr. 1896 D. Mackie Village Sk. 21:
A snap pistol and elephants, which were often bought to be carried home to “expectant wee things” as a “min'in' frae the Fair.”Abd. c.1930 B. R. McIntosh MS. Verses:
An' though I'm nae terrible willin' I'll leave him a mindin' as weel.Gsw. 1951 H. W. Pryde M. McFlannel's Romance 121:
Dozens of old and new friends calling at all hours of the day and night with “wee mindin's” for Maisie.

3. To mention in one's prayers, to pray for (Sh., Abd., Ags. 1963). Obs. in Eng. since 15th c.Sc. 1854 D. Vedder Poems 52:
They mindet us in prayer When “the books” were ta'en at e'en.

4. To remind, to bring to one's notice, to jog one's memory (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 89). Gen.Sc. Deriv. minder, a reminder. Rare or obs. in Eng.Sc. 1705 Seafield Corresp. (S.H.S.) 385:
It is to mein him of a letter I had from his Lordship upon my being made on of the Lords of Treasury.Fif. 1708 Two Students (Dickinson 1952) 6:
The Lads . . . desire me to mind ye of their hats and stockings.Ork. 1770 P. Fea MS. Diary (Dec.):
Mrs. Eliz^th gave me a Guinie minder to pay Mr. Ross for their Cloak.Ayr. 1790 Burns Of a' the Airts ii.:
There's not a bonie bird that sings, But minds me o' my Jean.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xiii.:
I must mind you, that it is contravening the terms of your tack.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlvi.:
It has a closin'-in-heid-piece concern that min's me . . . upon a mutch that my wife hed ance.Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.:
Now mind me of that tomorrow.Fif. 1894 J. Menzies Our Town xxii.:
He minds him mair o' Doctor Chalmers than ony young man he has heard preach for twenty years.Rxb. 1917 Kelso Chron. (16 March) 2:
That minds me of an incident of twenty years ago at this same hiring fair.Sc. 1951 Scots Mag. (Jan.) 261:
“I'll sit here and watch the birds,” she said. “It minds me o' the country.”Edb. 1998 Gordon Legge Near Neighbours (1999) 39:
'Mind me to take the bin-bags out in the morning, will you?' wm.Sc. 2000 Liz Lochhead Medea 40:
and took his leave
mindan the company how in the great hall
there wad be feasting later

5. To recall a person to another by conveying greetings for him, to remember one mutual friend to another (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Uls. 1963).Sc. 1709 J. B. Pratt Buchan (1858) 384:
If you chance to see Sandy Strachan, . . . and the lads about Rosshearty, mind me to them.Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 249:
Mind me to a' that ask for me. but blad me in naebody's teeth.Abd. 1993:
Min on's till im fin ye see im. Edb. 1995 Irvine Welsh Marabou Stork Nightmares (1996) 189:
Sounds like um! Mind me tae um! Eck Lawson!

‡6. With refl. pron.: to admonish, recall to, bethink oneself, ponder (Abd. 1963).Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS.:
I sat and min't mysel up and doon fat I wad best dee.

7. With inf., now only dial. in Eng.: to have a mind to, to intend, to incline to, to desire, to wish, to feel disposed to (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1707 Analecta Scot. (Maidment 1837) II. 148:
A catalogue of a part of my books I mynde to expose to seal sometyme in January.Gall. 1710 Session Bk. Penninghame (1933) I. 271:
Without asking their consent to part with it or informing them they minded to take it.Gsw. 1711 Uls. Jnl. Archaeol. IV. 116:
Take your orranges, mo or fewer as you mind to make the quantitie of marmoled of.Cld. 1880 Jam.:
I don't myne to see him ava.

8. With direct obj.: to intend, to have in mind to give. Rare.Sc. 1705 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) 187:
When the Lord minds a mercy to a people, he helps them before hand to pray for it.

¶9. To care, have a liking for.m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 149:
I dinna mind muckle for that watery trash.

II. n. 1. That which is recalled or remembered, memory, recollection (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Lth., Ayr. 1923–6 Wilson; Abd. 1963). Obs. in Eng.Sc. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms ix. 6:
Themsels an' a' min' o' them's dwafflet.Per. 1898 C. Spence Poems 70:
My first mind is my mother's knee.Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains & Hilly 113:
It's my langest min' o' ma fader buyin' a pair o' beets to ma in Sin Sairs.Edb. 1992:
I've a mind that we took the bairns tae the pictures last weekend.

Chiefly in phrs.: (1) to hae mind (o), to remember (Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson). Gen.Sc.; (2) to keep mind, to remember, to take heed, bear in mind (Sc. 1808 Jam.); (3) to lose min, to forget (Sh., n.Sc., Ags., Ayr 1963); (4) to tak mind, to remember.(1) Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 203:
I had no mind I was married, my Bridal was so fectless.Sc. a.1750 Child Ballads (1956) II. 216:
Have you not mind, Love Gregory. . . . When we changed the rings off our fingers.Ayr. 1785 Burns Twa Herds iii.:
The Lord's cause gat na sic a twistle Sin' I hae min'.Sc. 1823 Lockhart Reg. Dalton I. 232:
It's as weel I had mind of that, though.Ayr. 1833 J. Kennedy G. Chalmers 134:
“I hinna min' what I did,” replied the spoiled child of depravity.Edb. 1839 W. McDowall Poems 40:
Till some ane said, “Mac, hae ye mind, The morn's the first o' May.”Uls. 1879 W. G. Lyttle Readings 28:
I hae richt guid min' o' searchin' thro' an auld dickshunery that belanged tae my puir da afore me, fur the meanin' o' the word “Love.”Sth. 1884 Crofters' Comm. Evid. IV. 3224:
Have you any recollection of a famine in the year 1816? — No, but I have mind, after they were all put to the coast, that the tenants out of the strath were placed in amongst the old tenants, and they had no means to live.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xii.:
And many more of whom I havena mind.Abd. 1909 R. J. MacLennan Yon Toon 67:
“Tell's a story” . . . “I've nae mind o' ony the day.”Gall. 1955 Gall. Gazette (8 Oct.) 2:
Ha'e ye no' mind o' Nancy Whitterick?(2) Ayr. 1786 Burns Poor Mailie 55–6:
But ay keep mind to moop an' mell Wi sheep o' credit like thysel!Knr. 1895 H. Haliburton Dunbar 18:
Keep mind thou maun a reckoning gie.Gsw. 1898 D. Willox Poems & Sk. 194:
That is only hearsay tae him, as he was ower young at the time tae keep mind o't.Kcb.¹ 1942:
Noo see an' keep min' o' a' I've tell't ye, an' no' come hame withoot some o' yer erran's.(3) Cai. 1934 John o' Groat Jnl. (19 Jan.):
Me lose min' on 'e show? Na, na, nae mair than A'll lose min' til gang til 'e kirk or til Thirsa on a sale day.(4) Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality v.:
Tak mind about the putting out the candle.

2. A reminder, a hint (Cld. 1880 Jam.).

3. As in Eng.: purpose, intention, will.

Sc. forms:Sc. 1991 T. S. Law in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 33:
an colliers' pieces, lyke thur myns
were juist made-up in aa thur kyns

Sc. usages

Phrs.: (1) a (= on) mind tae, intending to, with the intention of (Dmb., Ayr., Uls. 1963). See Amind; (2) to tak one's (ain) min o', to please oneself about, to take one's own way with.(1) Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 212:
I'll begin wi' ye as I'm amind to end wi' ye.Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.:
I was a mind to ha' done it.Sh. 1904 J. Nicolson Tales of Thule 17:
“O, bairns,” inquired Granny, “did ye com' a mind ta chase da craws?”wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 4:
He threw away the rest of his chuckies, climbed crabways over to the footholds he knew were there and, grasping at an outcrop of stone overhead, gripped the first hold with his bare toes. But from behind a hand grasped his ankle and he felt himself pulled back and falling safely into the long arms of his father come to fetch him home to his supper.
"Had you a mind to crack your heid open?"(2) Rnf. 1813 E. Picken Poems I. 147:
She e'en may tak' her min' o't For me this day.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxxii.:
Ye can tak' yer mind o't hooever, but ye've heard my resolution on the subject.

4. A favourable or affectionate disposition, a bent or inclination of the feelings.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 48:
Ah! sure she guid an' fair maun be, Wha's win my Willie's mind.Kcd. 1844 W. Jamie Muse 13:
To him she was unkind, And bless'd anither wi' her mind.

5. Opinion, judgment. Obs. in Eng.Sc. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's W. xv.:
A lord! . . . it's my mind he will only prove to be a Lord o' Session.Dmf. 1824 W. McVitie Tales II. 108:
Keep your mind tae yoursel.m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 104:
I'm in the mind mysel' that it's a' that.Mry. 1898 J. Slater Seaside Idylls 52:
Weel, weel, than, I'm agreeable, but that's my mind.