Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
SCABBERT, n., adj. Also -art, sca(w)bert, †scalbert, skalbert. [′skɑ:bərt]
I. n. 1. One suffering from scab; fig. “a low-lifed, scabby-minded individual” (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 421, scalbert), “a strong-made person of somewhat stubborn, disagreeable temperament” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 148).Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 228:
They that gae wi' the ska 'ill get wi' the scabbart.
2. A bare, shallow, stony piece of land (Abd. 1911 Abd. Weekly Jnl. (20 Jan.); Bnff., Abd., Ags. 1969). Cf. Scabbit.ne.Sc. 1921 Swatches o' Hamespun 10:
Mony a scattert scabbert o' a craftie.Abd. 1957 People's Jnl. (13 July) 10:
Fut eest tae be bare scabbarts o' knapps are a' noo muckle widds.
II. adj. 1. Scabbed, bare; fig. destitute, down-and-out. Deriv. skalberty, lean, gaunt, shrunken-looking (Ork. 1929 Marw.).Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 246:
Sae scalbert bodies limping spruce, And scurrs belike the gallows.Abd. 1832 W. Scott Poems 66:
Bat now I hear he's roupit to the crook, An' gaun as scabert as a pluckit rook.ne.Sc. 1996 Ronald W. McDonald in Sandy Stronach New Wirds: An Anthology of Winning Poems and Stories from the Doric Writing Competitions of 1994 and 1995 67:
On tap o e scabbert knoweheid, e flames lichtet up awye lik it wis daylicht.
2. Socially pretentious, snobbish, aspiring to gentility (Abd. 1825 Jam.).
[Mid.Eng. scabbard, a scabbed person, from scab + -ard, -art suff., with fig. extensions of meaning. The form scal- suggests confusion with Scaw, q.v.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Scabbert n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/scabbert>
