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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LEN, v., n. Also len(n); lain, lane, laen (I.Sc.); †leane; lend. [lɛn, len; s.Sc. læn]

I. v. Forms: pa.t. len(i)t, lend; pa.p. lent, lend. Usages:

1. To lend, to give on loan. Gen.Sc. Hence lenner, a lender (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.).Sc. 1702 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.) 303:
I am to len my cart to bring coalls to him.Ork. 1721 P. Ork. A.S. XI. 42:
Rents of 25£ St he wes pleased to Leane me in Decer. 1718.Sc. 1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 206:
He len'd his lady to gentlemen, And he kist the collier lassie.Ags. 1812 R. Wighton Beggar's Son 48:
Sometimes losses too wi' lennin' But his purse he never hanks.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie vi.:
But gin we're speered to len' ye, Or askit to gie ye.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xxxv.:
To get's han's o' the siller that Gushets 's len'it 'im.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe 265:
I won'er at Mr Eyrlan len'in himsel' to sic queer ootlandish wark.Wgt. 1912 A.O.W.B. Fables 24:
She naethin' gied, an' aye was sweer to lennin'.

‡2. To deal, fetch, deliver (a blow on a person or thing). Gen.Sc., now only dial. in Eng.Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shep. i. ii.:
To lend his loving wife a loundering lick.Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 16:
I len'd him sik a dird.Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 150:
An' wi' his horns [a ram] lent her gude reels, Upo' her backside leather.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 127:
Upon the sash the vent'rous chiel Some twa three rousing raps soon lent.m.Sc. 1827 A. Rodger Peter Cornclips 182:
I'll lend you a reestle wi' this, owre your back.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin iv.:
Mrs Williamson … lent him a blenter ower the pallet wi' her crummie-stick.

II. n. 1. A loan, something borrowed or given in loan (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc.Sc. 1712 Chrons. Atholl and Tullibardine Families II. 141:
I have borrowed from several hands about 14 pound, and if I had not got that in len I would not possiblie have known what to have done.Sc. 1714 Polwarth MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 18:
Tho[mas] Kenady, not haveing his goun rady, gote a lain of Sir George McKinzies goun.Per. 1746 T. L. K. Oliphant Lairds of Gask (1870) 160:
I must beg the favour of a lend of 2 or 3 gu[ine]as, and I shall pay it as soon as possible.Ayr. 1821 Galt Annals viii.:
He got the lend of my best suit of clothes.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 52:
In fact, this life is but a len'.Abd. 1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes xxiii.:
It's a sang-buik that I want the len' o'.Edb. 1894 W. G. Stevenson Wee Johnnie Paterson (1914) 69:
She was ower tae me for the len' o' hawf-a-dizzen knives.Kcb. 1896 A. J. Armstrong Kirkiebrae 281:
But ye could tak' the lane o't, could ye no'?Sh. 1918 T. Manson Peat Comm. 57:
Bit I'll laekly get a laen o a pair fae some o da idders.Arg. 1947 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 190:
All it had been after from her was the lend of a horse and cart.Ork. 1952 R. T. Johnston Stenwick Days (1984) 26:
"An' yet thoo're comed all the wey fae Austrellia tae mak' a peur old man pey back a misserable hunder an' fifty pound that I got a len o' forty 'ear ago."

2. Phrs.: (1) borrowed len, a loan, what has been borrowed (m.Lth. 1960), esp. in proverbial usage; (2) to tak a lang len o, to borrow and fail to return, to borrow “for keeps”, to misappropriate (Ags., m.Lth. 1960); (3) to tak the len o (a bodie), to take advantage of (a person), to dupe, to impose upon, befool, cajole (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Gen.Sc.(1) Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 110:
Their ain but back, — he was a borrow'd Len'.Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Proverbs 29:
A borrowed lend should gae laughing hame.(2) Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 10:
I've an unco queer bookie I micht shew ye … I'm no ready lettin' ilka ane see it, ye see, for I'm fleyed they wad tak a lang len' o't.Ork. 1993:
Tak a lang len o.(3) Abd. 1888 Bon-Accord (6 Oct.) 5:
Lord preserves, ye're surely takin' the len' o' me noo.Gsw. 1895 A. G. Murdoch Readings I. 35:
She needna try to tak' the len' o' me wi' her “My dear Miss Kate.”Fif. 1909 R. Holman Char. Studies 41:
What! Gi'e ye a flo'er afore the show? Awa' man, wha' are ye takin' the len o'?Abd. 1959 Buchan Observer (8 Dec.) 4:
We've been ta'en the len' o' lang aneuch.