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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GENTRY, n. Also †gentrie. Sc. usages:

1. (1) Good birth, rank of a gentleman (Ags.¹⁸ 1954). Obs. since 17th c. in Eng.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 124:
Upon our side we need na ly an' lippen To what to us may frae our gentrie happen.Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxviii.:
Mr Mac-Casquil only replied with a nod, feeling the propriety of asserting his gentry in the presence of Mr Pleydell and Colonel Mannering.Sc. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xvi.:
The Provost told me . . . that our acquaintance, the Devil's Dick, was to wave his gentry, and take up the cause for Douglas and the nobles.

(2) A practice or characteristic of gentlefolk, good breeding (Abd., Ags.¹⁸ 1954). Also phr. tae pit on the gentry, to affect good breeding, to give oneself airs.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. ii.:
Peg — If this is Gentry, I had rather be What I am still — But I'll be ought with thee. Pat — No, no, my Peggy, I but only jest With Gentry's Apes; for still amangst the best, Good Manners give Integrity a Bleez.

2. Used as (1) quasi-adj. = of good birth; Gen.Sc.; sometimes used in a depreciatory sense like Eng. genteel; (2) quasi-adv. = in the manner of gentlefolk (Abd., Ags.¹⁸ 1954).(1) Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xiv.:
Saying he supposed I would set up to be gentry.Edb. 1926 A. Muir Blue Bonnet 32:
Kiddin' on he's gentry.Gsw. 1930 F. Niven Three Marys xv.:
Mr Dewar's father was gentry and he born gentry.(2) Ib. ii.:
“Never mind”, not “never heed.” Think of the boy. His mother and faither spoke gentry.

3. Comb.: gentry's horn, see quot. Hist.Ork. 1905 Dennison Wedding Customs 32:
The geud-man's and the priest's cogs were provided with a third handle, or rather a wooden tube, which also formed a stave of the cog. This tube or handle was sometimes called the “gentry's horn”, because the gentry were expected to drink from it while all the rest drank in the ordinary way.