Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1768-1996
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SIDELIN(S), adv., adj., n. Also -ling(s), -lan(s); sidlins, sidlings. Now chiefly dial. in Eng., having been replaced in standard usage by sidelong. [′səidlɪn(z), ′sɪd-]
I. adv., gen. in form with -.s: 1. Sideways, side on, to one side (Sc. a.1813 A. Murray Hist. Eur. Langs (1823) II. 10, sidlins; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 230; Kcb.4 1900; Ayr. 1926 Wilson D. Burns 183; Ork., ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Slg., Kcb. 1970).Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 45:
Sidelin to the fight they both come on.Sc. 1823 Scott Letters (Cent. Ed.) VII. 320:
The snaw was an awsome depth and there was just room for twa folk to pass one another sidlings.Mry. c.1850 Lintie o' Moray (1887) 30:
Sidlins upon the mare's hurdies he sat.Lnk. 1883 A. R. Fisher Poems 12:
His bannet sidelin's stauns awee.s.Sc. 1925 H. M'Diarmid Sangschaw 41:
Syne he hings sidelins Watchin' hoo lang.Gall. 1932 A. McCormick Galloway 153:
The eagle fell "sidelins," but righted itself and flew away.
2. Indirectly, obliquely, of speech or look (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh., Ork., Abd., Kcb. 1970).Ayr. 1785 Burns To W. Simpson ii.:
Ironic satire, sidelins sklented.Edb. 1866 J. Smith Merry Bridal 66:
Sidelins he meets the cauld averted gaze.Ags. 1872 J. Kennedy Jock Craufurt 21:
Though whiles at ane he'd sidelin's glance.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 8:
Whiles a skime she sidelins ga'e him.Sh. 1966 New Shetlander No. 79. 10:
Da door at noo da younger fokk look sideleens at in scoarn.
II. adj. 1. Sidelong, oblique, moving or glancing sideways (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh., Abd., Kcb. 1970).Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 113:
For Nory's cause this sidlings cast he gae.Edb. 1786 Edb. Ev. Courant (12 Dec.):
Weel, Rab, I conn'd a' o'er your beuk, Yestreen, nor coost a sidelin' look.Rxb. 1808 A. Scott Poems 98:
But Grizzie, on their neibour rig, Wi' sidelins, oglin ee.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 56:
Although she travels wi' a sidelins houd.Bnff. 1852 A. Harper Solitary Hours 87:
Gin he girnt, wi' sidelins neck, An' flirr'd his tusks in disrespect.Ags. 1872 J. Kennedy Jock Craufurt 114:
The ship cam wi' a sudden kind O' sidlin's cowp.e.Lth. 1882 P. McNeill Preston 76:
He cuist a sidelan' glance at Bess.
2. Sloping, on an incline or declivity (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ork., Abd., Kcb. 1970). Also in Eng. dial.Kcb. 1815 J. Gerrond Poems 153:
O what a flutter! Or sidlins brae in o' a gutter.Gall. 1904 E.D.D.:
'I wus ploughing a sidlans brae' means that man and horses were going neither up nor down hill but across the slope — leaving one foot higher than the other.Abd. 1969 Huntly Express (10 Feb.) 3:
A sloping field, running from top to bottom, might also slope to one side. The horsemen would say, "It's nae gweed tae dreel: it's that sidelins."
III. n., from adj. used subst.: a sloping piece of ground, a declivity, hill-side (Sc. 1808 Jam., sid(e)lin(g)s; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; m.Sc., Rxb. 1970, sidlins), by some thought of as sidelan(d)s. Also in Eng. dial.; also road-scrapings accumulated at the sides (‡Per. 1970).Kcb. a.1914 J. Matthewson MS. Poems 55:
He on the sidlans tripped Stumbled, and laigher slipped.wm.Sc. 1957 Glasgow Herald (2 March) 3:
Between the burn and the fence are "sidlings" — foothills too steep for the plough.ne.Sc. 1996 Ronald W. McDonald in Sandy Stronach New Wirds: An Anthology of Winning Poems and Stories from the Doric Writing Competitions of 1994 and 1995 66:
E fairies Knowe wis an oot-o-e-wye, flat tappit hillockie; a dreich place, wie e sidelings sair owergrown wi scrog it raxed fir e sky wi scruntit beuchs an twistit cleuks.
