Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1707-1956
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HAMESUCKEN, n., adj. Also †haim(e)sucken; ¶hamesookin. [′hemsʌkən]
I. n. Sc. Law: (the offence of committing) a premeditated assault upon a person in his own house or dwelling place (Sc. 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 39), still known and understood but generally now termed assault, formerly a capital offence. Also used attrib.n.Sc. 1707 Fraser Papers (S.H.S.) 37:
The Rape, and hame sucken committed by him on the Person of the said Emilia Lady Dowager of Lovat.Rnf. 1717 W. Hector Judicial Rec. (1876) 218:
The defender . . . did by way of Hame Sucken within or near to the precincts of the said Alexr. Cochrans dwelling house, Assault him.Sc. 1754 Erskine Principles iv. iv. 32:
Haimsucken . . . is the assaulting or beating of a person in his own house . . . The assault must be made in the proper house of the person assaulted, where he lies and rises daily and nightly; so that neither a public-house, nor a private, where one is only transiently, falls within the . . . law.Sc. 1797 Aberdeen Mag. 206:
John Davidson, from Rathen, Banffshire, indicted for hamesucken, and beating Margaret Kerr and her Niece.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xiii.:
The essence of hamesucken is to strike a man in his dwelling-place . . . and so there's hope Plainstanes may be hanged.Sc. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders IV. 342:
A case o' hamesookin, Jenny — a decided case o' hamesookin.Fif. 1895 S. Tytler Kincaid's Widow xv.:
More by token she has been guilty of "hame-sucken" as well as murder.Ayr. 1913 J. Service Memorables 7:
A monk . . . called on Sanet Winnin' to avenge him richt speedily on their sacrilege and hamesucken.Sc. 1956 Sc. Daily Mail (27 March):
Sheriff John Macgregor, Q.C., told a man at Falkirk Sheriff Court yesterday that he had committed the old Scottish crime of hamesucken.
†II. adj. Greatly attached to one's home (Cld. 1808 Jam.); selfish, of a selfish disposition (Ayr. 1825 Jam.). Hence hame-sucken(n)ess, n., self-interest.Gall. a.1900 "Mulciber Veritatis" Gallowa' Herds 1:
When truth glents 'fore yer een, hamesuckeness mean Says "Calm souch winna tine ye yer stances."Gsw. 1888 A. G. Murdoch Readings II. 76:
Like some hamesucken weaver that had never been twa mile west o' Camlachie in his life.
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"Hamesucken n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/hamesucken>
