Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

†AWEBAND, AWBAND, AWEBAUND,  AWBUN, n. (See quots.) [′ɑ:bɑn(d), ′ǫ:bɑn(d), ′ǫ:bʌn]

1. Lth., Lnk. 1825 Jam.²:
A band for tying black cattle to the stake; consisting of a rope on one side, and a piece of wood of the shape of a hame-blade, or half of a horse's collar, on the other. It is used to keep in order the more unruly animals, or to prevent them from throwing their heads from one side of the stake to the other.Sc. 1895 H. Ochiltree Redburn viii.:
Aucht [= £8] wull never tak the awbun frae her neck.

2. A check or restraint; esp. used in a moral sense.Sc. 1728 Ramsay Poems (1800) 258:
The mimmest now, without a blush, May speer if any billy sprush Has fancy for her beauty — For since the awband's tane away [etc.].1825 Quot. in Jam.² (without a reference):
The dignified looks of this lady proved such an aweband on the giddy young men, that they never once opened their mouths.Sh. 1932 J. M. E. Saxby Trad. Lore 66:
But he never telled what he heard or saw as lang as he bed wi' da Trows. Dey were an awebaund upon him.Mry. 1722 Session Rec. Drainie MS. (14 Nov.):
When it was shutt it was ane awband on children for scaring them from playing on the sabbath day.