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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

DOWFART, adj. and n. Also doof(f)art, -ard, dofart, douffart, -ert, duffart, -ert, duifart, . Obs. exc. poet.

1. adj.

(1) Dull (lit. and fig.), spiritless, feeble, ineffective; stupid.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
Applied to any thing that does not answer the purpose for which it is used. Thus, a candle that burns dimly, is called a duffart candle.Abd. 1785 R. Forbes Ulysses' Answer in Sc. Poems (1801) 35:
The silly dofart coward.Abd. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm I. xxii.:
But it maks me dowfart like, i' the inside.Lnk. 1893 J. Crawford Sc. Verses 71:
Despair may fit saft foreign gowks, We're no' sic duifart cuifs, Scotch fowks.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables frae French 52:
Gleg Captain Tod, past Maister in deceit, Happen't ae day a dowfart Gait to meet.

Hence dowfartness, dullness, stupidity.Sc.(E) 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. xxiii. 38:
O the dowfartness an' dourness o' man's hert whilk thinks allenarlie o' the noo, an' leuks-na forrit tae the future.

(2) Melancholy, “so much under depression of spirits as to be in a state bordering on that of an idiot” (Sc. 1808 Jam.).

2. n.

(1) A dull, stupid or faint-hearted person (Ayr. 1825 Jam.²; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 187, duffart).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems 202:
Then let the Doofarts fash'd wi' Spleen, Cast up the wrang Side of their Een.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 165:
Come on, ye dowfarts! ilka ane: Fecht me wi' swerd, or stick, or stane!Edb. 1821 W. Liddle Poems 138:
Wha in season lears t'apply yer store They're no great dooffards.Hdg. a.1801 R. Gall Poems (1819) 95:
Wha could refuse the lassie's fair demand? A dowfart might.Lnk. 1881 D. Thomson Musings 43:
But tent ye, I'm no sic a duffert As mak' tae ye ony fraca; I'll no blaw ye up, ca' ye bonnie, Nor say that I'll keep ye aye braw.

(2) Dull-burning coal (Ayr. 1825 Jam.², duffart).

(3) A dull blow, a buffet, prob. orig. an altered form of doufer, s.v. Dowf, III. 2. (2). Cf. Bluffert. Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin 50:
He lent Andrew a douffert i' the haffets, whilk sent him whirlin' ower a furm. Fif. 1879 W. D. Latto Song Sermons 11:
A man who, in a momentary fit of passion it might be, gave his wife a douffart i' the lug for saying very unreasonable, aggravating things.