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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PAIRT, n., v., adv. Also peart, pert (Wgt. 1794 G. Fraser Lowland Lore (1880) 69); and ? misprint pourt (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. part:

I. n. 1. Sc. forms:m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 6:
Ye glowered frae yer ain hill rise
An I frae mine -
Mair pairt o' the Borderlan'
Nor ony corbie speirin whaur tae dine!m.Sc. 1998 Ian Cameron The Jimmy Shand Story 76:
'... But it's no just that Jimmy's a braw box player - here for a whilie an then awa - Shand's pert o Scottish history. He'll live lang after he's deid.'

Sc. phrs.: (1) airt and pairt, see Airt, n.¹; (2) bairn's part (of gear), see Bairns' part of gear n.; (3) dead's part (of gear), see Dead's part n. phr.; (4) for the pairt o', for — ('s) pairt, for that pairt o't, for the matter of —, in regard to —, as far as concerns (Ork., Cai., Ags., Kcb. 1965). Used in Eng. only of persons; (5) lad o' pairts, a promising boy, a talented youth. Now Gen.Sc. and adopted by St. Eng. from its well-known use by Ian Maclaren in Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush, the first of the Kailyard school of novels, see quot.; now also lass o' pairts, see 1960 quot.; (6) of part, = apart. Cf. obs. Eng. on part. See O, prep.; (7) parts and pertinents, see Pertinent; (8) to be guid (weel, ill) one's pairt, of an action, thought, etc.: to be (in)consistent with one's duty, (un)becoming in one, (un)worthy of one (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bnff. 1965); (9) to keep one's ain pairt, to look after one's own interests, “keep one's end up” (Ork., Ags. 1965); (10) to tak pairt in, to side with, take a benevolent interest in, support (someone). Cf. Pairt-Tak.(1) Sc. 1724 Session Papers, Crombie v. Earl of Rothes (22 June) 1:
He was concerned Art and Part in the Tumult and Riot.(4) m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 140:
I could say a' my say here, for that part o't.Per. 1888 R. Ford Glentoddy 9:
Mr. Blawhard and his choir could droon a sawmill for heichts pairt.Abd. 1892 Innes Review VII. ii. 88:
For length and height pairt it was some like the cottage at Corrybeg.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) iii.:
Nae kirk has a monopoly o' gude fowk — or o' gude ministers either for that pairt o'd.wm.Sc. 1906 H. Foulis Vital Spark xxv.:
“Do you think it [bride's-cake] would keep till the Gleska Fair?” “It would keep a year for that part o't.”Cai. 1909 D. Houston 'E Silkie Man 14:
'E Roogs wis fowk a' weel anyoch t' be seen, an' Kirsty wis behin' nein o' 'em for looks pairt.(5) Per. 1894 I. Maclaren Brier Bush 5, 17:
A Lad o' Pairts [Title]. Gin ye hed the heart to spend it on a lad o' pairts like Geordie Hoo.Rxb. 1924 Kelso Chron. (8 Feb.):
It [parrot] was “a lad o' pairts,” quick at the uptak', and it soon acquired a vocabulary that astonished the natives.Ags. 1929 Scots Mag. (March) 414:
I think I am right in what I say. He's a lad o' pairts.Abd. 1960 Stat. Acc.³ 334:
The tradition is for the “lad or lass o' pairts” to go to Aberdeen University.Gsw. 1985 Anna Blair Tea at Miss Cranston's 162:
...and to riddle out the lads and lasses o' pairts clearly destined for higher things. Sc. 1998 Scotsman (13 Jul) 19:
Visiting Aberdeen again, I realise, has made a lot of things come clear, things I didn't know I was learning, and even things I learned elsewhere. Like a good "lass o' pairts" I went south after Aberdeen, did what I should, went to Oxbridge. Sc. 1998 Andrew Lothian in Conrad Wilson et al. Books in Scotland 66 33:
All this viciousness appears to be justified by its encouragement of that mythical figure, the lad o' pairts. If such a creature ever did exist, which I doubt, he probably went abroad to make his way in the world out of range of the tormentors of his youth. Of the lass o' pairts there is little mention, but her grown up equivalent, tawse in hand, is there: 'even the slightest of lady teachers could command respect from the toughest of teenage gangs, especially if she just happened to be known to have a low handicap at the golf course.' Sc. 2003 Scotsman (27 Mar) 3:
Unfortunately, history will record this as the election of "Mr Meccano", which is how Dame Hickory Steel, master of ceremonies, referred to Jack, clearly thinking, as a colleague quipped, that he was a lad of parts.(6) Bte. 1709 Rothesay T.C. Rec. (1935) II. 591:
The persones following . . . who removed themselfes to a place of part.(8) Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shep. i. ii.:
He's get his Will: Why no? 'tis good my Part To give him that; and he'll give me his Heart.Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 338:
Excuse me, Sir, the wish is leel, And guid my part.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xi.:
The cook has soopit them up, as was weel her part.Dmf. 1826 A. Cunningham Paul Jones I. xii.:
We'se drink his health, Gibbie, it's weel our parts.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxvi.:
It wud be ill Dawvid Hadden's pairt nae to dee a' that he cud for them that's coontenanc't him as we've deen.(9) Sc. 1849 M. Oliphant M. Maitland ii.:
The wee leddy can keep her ain pairt.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) xii.:
If a body didna keep their ain pairt in this world noo-a-days, weemin wud be fairly trampit on athegither.(10) Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel xxxiii.:
Tell him what we have done for Lord Glenvarloch, in whom he takes such part.

2. As in Eng., now obsol.: a possession, property, allotted portion; an interest, a “holding”; specif. a share in the stockholdings of a company or business; a marriage portion.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 108:
Indeed we've seen the warld leave wealthy fouks, But they butt part that marry are but gouks.Ayr. 1823 Galt Gathering of West 40:
The parts both of the America and the Kilmun hae scarcely brought in a black bawbee. . . . I will ye would sell your parts.

3. (1) In sing. where Eng. uses pl.: a place, district, area, neighbourhood (I. and ne.Sc. 1965). Also dim. pairtie, id. Hence phr. the guid or ill pairt, an expression for Heaven or Hell (Sc. 1825 Jam.; ‡Abd. 1965).Ayr. 1793 Burns Grose's Peregr. iii.:
It's ten to ane ye'll find him snug in Some eldritch part.Abd. 1809 J. Skinner Amusements 26:
'Twill come in course, ye need na fear, The part's weel kent.Sc. 1819 J. Rennie St. Patrick II. x.:
The Ill Pairt! my fegs, it's owre gude for the best o' you.Abd. 1875 W. Alexander My Ain Folk ix.:
He's been an eesfu' man i' the pairt.

(2) A site, a clearly-defined spot, point (Sh., Ags., Kcb., Uls. 1965).Sc. c.1800 W. Motherwell Minstrelsy (1827) 232:
She bored the coble in seven pairts.

(3) Specif., a small-holding, croft, or small farm. Also dim. pairtie, id.Abd. 1809 J. Skinner Amusements 96:
I hope ye fin't as braw a pairtie As mill o' Rora.Ags. 1888 Brechin Advertiser (10 July):
[He] nae doot got wark fae the neeporin farmers fan he had ony time tae spare fae's ain bit pairtie.

4. A working-place in a coalmine (Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 49).

II. v. 1. tr. (1) To divide into parts or portions, share or apportion (Gen.Sc.), also with oot (Rxb. 1927 E. C. Smith Braid Haaick 17), now rare or obs. in Eng.; specif. of food at table (ne.Sc. 1965). Comb. parting-spoon, a serving spoon (Sc. 1787 J. Elphinston Propriety II. 207). Vbl.n. pairting, divisibility, a sufficiency or amount which permits sharing, the distance to which money, food or the like will go; ppl.adj. pairtit, as in ill-pairtit, badly divided, shared out in an inequitable manner. Gen.Sc.Ags. 1833 J. S. Sands Poems 89:
I never saw a covey fatter, . . . It'll tak's, I'm sure, to get them partit.Lnk. 1858 G. Roy Generalship 172:
She said there was great parting in her siller since Mr. Gilmour had been buying the things for the house in the wholesale way.Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 86:
Whin shü deid her claes wis a' pairted; da eldest dochter got some, an' her sisters got some.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 62:
The geudman oot wi' a gullie tae pert de mulls amang them.m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick xix.:
We'll hae to be thinkin hoo we'll pairt them amang us.Sh. 1898 Shetland News (9 April):
Hit's true 'at's said, da world is ill pairtid.Abd. 1900 Weekly Free Press (1 Sept.):
The warl's wark his been, like the warl's siller, ill pairtit.Wgt. 1903 E.D.D.:
Pairt sma', sair a'.Sc. 1927 J. Millar Scotland Yet 56:
Wi' fork and knife, and spin as weel, I'd parted beef or guid cooheel.Abd.² 1947:
There's sma' pairtin in a half loafie.Abd. 1955 Abd. Press & Jnl. (18 May):
An old farmer was called on by his guidwife to “pairt oot” a fowl at the dinner table.

†(2) To side or sympathise with, take the part of, champion. Cf. Pairty, v.Sc. 1715 R. Wodrow Corresp. (1843) II. 89:
The influence of High Church in England, who parted our disaffected party, and stopped all prosecution of them.

(3) As in Eng., to dissolve (a connection), sever (a relationship). Phr. to part pockets wi', to sever financial relations with, of a partner in a marriage.Per. 1774 Gentleman & Lady's Weekly Mag. (11 March) 207:
He resolved to get quit of her again; and in order to effect this, parted pockets with her, (as the saying is), giving her nothing, but what she earned, to live upon.

(4) To separate from, part from, take leave of, part with.Sc. 1800 W. Motherwell Minstrelsy (1827) 187:
It's time the Dead should part the Quick — Marjorie, I must be gane.Per. 1823 C.K. Sharpe Ballad Bk.(1880)2:
O we maun part this love, Willie, That has been lang between.Uls. 1899 S. MacManus Chimney Corners 73:
He wouldn't part his wife Molly at home for all the princesses in the world.Uls. 1965:
He wouldn't part a penny if a maik would do.

Phr. to part calf, foal, etc., of a female animal: to give birth prematurely to, to cast (calf, etc.). Rare. Cf. 2. (2) (ii).Lnk. 1845 Stat. Acc.² VI. 586:
There may still, however, be seen hanging in some byres, a phial of lee-penny water, to keep the cows from parting calf.

2. intr. (1) in pass. sense: to be divided or divisible (Sh., ne.Sc., Ags. 1965).Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxviii.:
Sae mony o' us as thought oursells sib to the family when the gear was parting.Abd. 1962:
I'm nae very keen on the broilers; they dinna pairt amang a big faimily.

(2) As in Eng., to part company, separate. Sc. comb. and phr.: (i) pairtin veesig, n., an extempore verse or song formerly sung in Shetland at the breaking-up of a social gathering. See quot. and Veesik; (ii) to pairt wi bairn (child), of a woman: to suffer a miscarriage, abort (Sc. 1752 Hume Polit. Discourses xiv. App.; Sh., ne.Sc., Uls. 1965). Cf. II. 1. (4).Sh. 1965:
Dem at's pairted wi wis — the dead.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 19:
To watch ye is a richt divert,
My een as by a lodesteen draan,
Siccar ye grip me, an I'm thraan
To turn to my ain thochts, to pairt
Fae you. em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 13:
Aw throu itsel the haill warld grues;
The stanes o its mountains shither an pairt;
Awfu tae hear its doolsome murn
An the rivin o its hert.(i) Sh. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. viii. 315–6:
The last time I shared in “da pairten veesig” was nigh on thirty years ago. As the custom was a very ancient and pretty one I mention this incident. . . . When the gathering [christening party] was about to break up a Norwick man suggested that we should “hae da pairtin veesig.” So we made a circle, holding each other by the hand. Then we moved slowly round to the measure of an old Norse tune, to which one chanted an improvised ballad. Allusion was made to each member of the party . . . The personal touch, humorous or complimentary, which was introduced into each stanza showed that the veesig was made on the spot.(ii) Sc. 1703 G. Turnbull Diary (S.H.S.) 433:
This same day Mrs. Glass fell unwell att my house, and in the night parted with child.Rxb. 1716 Stitchill Court Bk. (S.H.S.) 175:
Affirming that she had parted with bairne ane twelve months since.Ork. 1729 Merchant Lairds (Marwick 1936) I. 147:
I fear her too much fatigue hes ocasioned her pairting with child.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 20:
Maggy had parted wi' bairn.Sc. 1858 Justiciary Reports (1861) 96:
Causing yourself to abort, or part in an untimely manner with the foetus or child in your womb.

III. adv. In phr. pairt atween, -wi', “what with”, as a result of, “between” (Sh. 1965).Sh. 1899 Shetland News (13 May):
As fir wir flekkid whaik, pairt wi' puirta an' waarbiks, shü's oot o' liftin'.Sh. 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 105:
Pairt atween lambs, kye's suppers, grice an' hens, I tink I hed me haands foo.