Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

FAINFU, adj. Affectionate, kind, likeable (Ork. 1887 Jam.; 1929 Marw.; Ork.⁵ 1950).Ork. 1914 Old-Lore Misc. VII. 35:
If a child that exhibited an unusually affectionate disposition or great precocity died in early life, one often heard such remarks as, “We might hae kent hid wad be taen, for it was sic a fainfu' ting.”