A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1951 (DOST Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1375-1630
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Fain(e, Fayn(e, Fane, adv. [ME. fayn(e, early fein, f. Fain(e,a.] Gladly, willingly, with desire or longing.(a) 1375 Barb. i. 11.
I wald fayne set my will … To put in wryt a suthfast story 1375 Ib. viii. 20.
Tharoff fayne wengyt wald he be a1400 Legends of the Saints xviii. 267.
Sene thu fayne vald vith me spek c1420 Wynt. viii. 4794.
Hys folk wald fayne have bene away 1456 Hay I. 61/36.
He … fayn wald have done him plesaunce a1500 Golagros and Gawane 260.
Quham of is he haldand. Fayne wald I wit a1500 Doug. King Hart 456.
That wald I fayne war doun and it micht be c1500-c1512 Dunb. lxxxiii. 2.
Sum lord … Fra quhom faine kyndnes I wald clame 1567 Satirical Poems vii. 94.
Sum douts thair is, of quhilk rycht faine … I wald resoluit be a1578 Pitsc. I. 343/7.
The king of Scotland wald fayne haue keipit his promeis(b) a1400 Legends of the Saints iii. 515.
Of the land gadderit mony mane, That Androw wald haf losit fane 1456 Hay II. 93/8.
Dispisand men that fane wald copy his maneris c1500-c1512 Dunb. Tua Mar. W. 341.
Than wald I … sa fane haif bene wrokin 1570 Satirical Poems xx. 61.
At thame rycht fane, or els be slane a1605 Montg. Son. xxxvi. 1.
Fane wald I speir vhat spreit doth me inspire 1630 Misc. Hist. Soc. II. 258.
The rest of my childring … wold fane flie if I could furnish them fetheris
b. With addition of full. a1400 Legends of the Saints vi. 289.
Ful fane wald I Thare-of be portare anerly a1400 Ib. xxi. 223.
Ful fayne I wald myn self sla a1500 Buke of the Sevyne Sagis 1467.
Scho thankit him thairof full fane a1508 Kennedy Pass. Christ 695.
He wald full fane haue refreschit his bak 1513 Doug. iv. xii. 91.
Ful fane Assays scho to spy the hevynys lyght
c. In the superlative fainest. a1400 Legends of the Saints xlii. 174.
Mare delyt haf I … Thane ony man … To se the thing he fanest vald se 15.. Clariodus II. 482.
Those beine the tydandis fainest I wald have 1567 Gude and Godlie Ballatis 40.
He … wantit fude quhen he wald fanest dyne 1585 Thanes of Cawdor 187.
The man … at I wald fanest stuid in the warryld
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"Fain adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/faine_adv>
