Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
STURE, adj. Also stour(e), stoor, stur (Jak.); sturr, stare, steer; stoar. [stu:r, stø: r, ste:r, ne.Sc. †sti:r. See etym. note.]
1. Big, large, stout, burly, substantial (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1908 Jak. (1928); Ork. 1929 Marw., stoor.; Sh. 1971). Deriv. stourie, long, slender, gaunt (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 184). Hence stourness, bigness, large size (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.).Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie x.:
Thy twa bare feet, sae stoure an' burly.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 178:
A muckle stour man aboot six foot lang.
Combs.: (1) stour-fisk, “big-fish”, transf. a whale; (2) stour-mackerel, the shad, Trachurus trachurus. See also Mackerel; ¶(3) stoorworm, a monster serpent, a sea-dragon. Liter.(1) Sh. 1832 Old-Lore Misc. VIII. iv. 152:
He tuik da stour-fisk to da top of da Ness o' Hermaness but he fand no kettle to boil da whale in.(2) em.Sc. 1810 Wernerian Soc. Mem. I. 540:
Scad, Horse-mackerel or stour-mackerel, is said sometimes to have been found in the Frith.(3) Ork. a.1840 Sc. Antiquary V. 69:
The sea grew black with the blood o the stoorworm, for the ship had cut the monster clean in two.
2. Of persons: strong, sturdy, stout-hearted, valiant (Sc. 1808 Jam. Sh. 1971); of a blow: hard, violent. Hence stourly, forcibly, with vigour.Sc. 1783 Gil Brenton in Child Ballads No. 5 A. xxxix.:
The auld queen she was stark and steer; She gard the door lye i the fleer.Ags. 1819 J. Ross Ags. Chaplet 32:
Britons sture, aye kept the floor, An' Denmark hude in awe, man.Gall. 1832 J. Denniston Craignilder 60:
Though he was stalwart, stoor and stern, Yet that could nought avail, man.Edb. 1866 J. Smith Merry Bridal 155:
I'll gie them a claught mair siccar an' stour.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 121:
A stoorer he'rt might ha'e been yark.Dmf. 1898 J. Paton Castlebraes 49:
Swuftly an' stourly I laid on a heezel rung.Lth. 1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 186:
Folk young an' stoure, the tear an' wear O' toons may thole.
3. Rough in manner or appearance, grim, gruff, austere, stern, forbidding (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Slk. 1971); hard, determined, unyielding. Also adv. Adv. stourely.Sc. 1723 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) II. 102:
Minerva mim, for a' your Morals stoor, Ye shall with Billy Bacchus fit the Floor.Ayr. 1789 Burns Five Carlins xvii.:
Says black Joan frae Crichton Peel. A Carlin stoor and grim.Peb. 1793 R. D. C. Brown Comic Poems (1819) 116:
Stiff, still, stuir, hard-grown Bailie Brock.Sc. 1803 Scott Minstrelsy III. 115:
Up and spake lord Durie, sae stoor.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality iv.:
That dour stour-looking carle that sits by the cheek o' the ingle and turns his back on a' men.Lth. 1851 M. Oliphant Merkland I. ii.:
The bairn Alison is not used to such company as a sture auld wife like me.Dmf. 1877 R. W. Thom Poems (1883) 8:
There are, in our bleak waste o' sin, Stour natures.e.Lth. 1885 S. Mucklebackit Rhymes 91:
Thou wearie, estlin' blast Frae “Lumsden's Hole” that stormest stoure!Fif. 1897 S. Tytler Lady Jean's Son iv.:
There's his auntie, the Duchess, but she's a bauld stour wife.Ayr. 1913 J. Service Memorables 90:
Sir Fergus demanded from her, stourely, his son.Sc. 1936 J. G. Horne Flooer o' Ling 23:
Winds blaw snell Owre acres stare As Winter's sel'.
4. Of a sound, of the voice, etc.: deep and hoarse, harsh, gruff, rough (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; ‡Lnk., Rxb. 1971). Also in Eng. dial. Adv. stourly.Ayr. 1785 Burns Address to Deil viii.:
Wi' an eldritch, stoor, “quaick, quaick.”Rnf. 1790 A. Wilson Poems 89:
Nae mair we'll start to hear his knock, An' roaring stoor.s.Sc. 1793 T. Scott Poems 375:
I heard a horn fu' stourly blawn.Dmf. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (July) 386:
Ye may grane out yere ain auld sture and dour laugh.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 80:
She had a very stuir voice fan I kenned her.Rxb. 1880 T. Watts Woodland Echoes 48:
When half-way ower the Staney Mair, He heard a voice low, gruff, an' steer.Knr. 1894 H. Haliburton Furth in Field 9:
The farmer with the gravity of an officiating elder demanded in a stoor voice.Dmf. 1954:
The auld queen has a gey stour voice.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Sture adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 10 Dec 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sture>