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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

†GAIR, adj., n.² Also gare, ge(a)r.

I. adj. 1. Sharp, keen.Sc. 1740 Scots Mag. (Oct.) 462:
When e'er we venture out, the air Upon our bouks is turn'd sae gair, That ilka face turns black and blue.

2. Greedy, covetous (Rnf. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.), very eager. Also derivs. ¶gairly, garesome, id.Sc. 1719 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 134:
Thy raffan rural Rhyme sae rare, . . . Sae gash and gay, gars Fowk gae gare To ha'e them by them.Sc. a.1758 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 297: 
'Mang mony things the garesome harlot Fand a gay mickle deug of scarlet.Edb. 1791 J. Learmont Poems 198:
Whare the gamester sits wi' features gair, To spulzie her o' her pang'd pouches there.Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems 17:
Thy Mither's gair an' set upon the warl, It's Muirland's gear that gars her like the carl.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 46:
Ye ken they've little for to spare, You really sudna be so gair.Slk. 1832 Hogg Queer Book 31:
The greedy gleds and gairly fowls.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 136:
. . . gair Cumclutch, 'mid his satellites, Wi' brazen lungs and trumpet-roaring throat.

Hence gairly, adv., greedily.Hdg. 1787 in Farmer's Mag. (Mar. 1810) 57:
Ye've garely seiz'd men's occupation An' ta'en their bread.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 87:
“What is gairly gathered is roundly spent,” says the proverb.

3. Parsimonious, niggardly (Dmf. 1825 Jam.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); thrifty, careful. Also deriv. ¶geary, rather mean.Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems 114:
Gair bodies a', now mak' yer mane, Auld honest Harry's dead an' gane.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xxv.:
He's a wee gair, I aloo; but the liberal man's the beggar's brother.Lnk. a.1832 W. Watt Poems (1860) 36:
Bare, braggin' beggars, whase hale study is To twine ger thrifty folk out o' their gear.Bwk. 1856 G. Henderson Pop. Rhymes 91:
Ye're the gairest folk in a' the raw.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 98:
We never wantit, wife, For ye were aye sae gair.Ags. 1898 A. H. Rea Divot Dyke 83:
I ne'er changed my style yet, though maybe it's odd — I'm geary at hame, and I'm geary abroad.

Hence gairness, carefulness (in money matters), parsimony.Sc. 1812 The Scotchman 62:
The gairness I learnt frae my dadie wad hae hindert me frae sellin my chukie on a scourie day.Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 180:
An' yet she grudges me my meat . . . What does ane live for but to eat? This gairness is a perfect staw.

4. Used adv. in combs.: (1) gair-gathered, accumulated by greed; (2) gare-gaun, gair-, rapacious, greedy (Rxb. 1825 Jam.).(1) Lnk. 1847 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 319:
Gair-gathered siller Will no haud thegither.

II. n. Greed, covetousness.Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 111:
Your face is so weel braz'd wi' gare, An' heart sae harden'd.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. xv. 22:
Aften yon leuks tae be luve whilk is raither carnalitie, sith it haes its rute i' naitiral inclination, self-wull, houp o' repetition an' gair.