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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PROD, n.¹, v.¹ Also proud. Sc. form and usages:

I. n. 1. A wooden pin or skewer used in a variety of ways, esp. as a thatching-pin (Ags. 1808 Jam.; Per. 1966). Also in n.Eng. dial. Comb. craw-prod, see 1808 quot. and Craw, n.¹, IV. D. 13.Abd. 1742 Powis Papers (S.C.) 291:
For a hundred and a quarter of 2 hundr long prods to the two howses. For fowr hundred short prods to the diwats at two shilling per hundr.n.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Craw-prod. A pin fixed in the top of a gable, to which the ropes, fastening the roof of a cottage, were tied. It was also used as a prognostic of the weather. If on Candlemas day, this pin was so covered with drift, that it could not be seen, it was believed that the ensuing spring would be good; if not, the reverse.Ags. 1889 Brechin Advertiser (23 April) 3:
Held doon wi' prods stuck in the clods Alang the crap i' wa'.

‡2. By extension; a tradesman who uses prods in his work, a thatcher (Abd. 1966).Abd. 1903 E.D.D.:
That's the prod; he's comin' to put a few han'fu's o' thack on the riggin' o' oor hoose.

3. A thorn, prickle (Kcb. 1966).Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 58:
Prickles of hawthorn in our hands and feet, whiles are eaten by the kintra-folk; for, they say “Eating the prod hinners the wound to beel.”Wgt. 1877 R. D. Trotter Gall. Gossip 217:
A boy wi' a prod in his fit.

4. A prick, stab (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 387, proud; s.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Gall. 1966); the sting of an insect (Wgt. 1966). Phr. to gie a prod, to cheat in a matter of business, to “sting” someone (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.).Slk. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man I. 247:
Ane may ward a blow at the breast, but a prod at the back's no fair.Fif. 1899 J. Colville Vernacular 49:
The quiet but thorough prod of the clegs.

II. v. As in Eng., to poke, stab. Freq. form proddle, gen. in ppl.adj. proddled, poked, stirred up, jabbed at; pricked, as by a prod or thorn (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 387; Gall., Uls. 1966).Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.:
Your eyes are like a proddled cat under the bed.