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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FECK, n.¹, v.¹ Also †fek, ¶faik, fake.

I. n. †1. Value, worth, return, result (e.Sc. 1825 Jam.).Ayr. 1789 Burns Elegy on 1788 21–22:
E'en monie a plack and monie a peck, Ye ken yoursels, for little feck!Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize III. xviii.:
Your laddie there's owre young to be o' ony fek in the way o' war.wm.Sc. 1837 Laird of Logan 303:
The eistlan win is unco dour, and gin it haud frae this airt, nae 'feck wad come frae our prayers.Inv. 1865 J. Horne Poems 65:
An' a' your keepers here be't kent, Are o' sma' feck.Mry. 1889 T. L. Mason Rafford 32:
Bits o' bonneties on their heids sae sma' that they micht as weel gang bareheided for a' the 'feck o' them in keepin caul' frae the heid or lugs.

2. A (large) amount, period. quantity, number, portion (Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; Abd., Ags., Per., Fif., Lnk., Slk. 1950). Gen. with qualifying adj., little, great, muckle, maist, best, nae, what, etc. Also construed as a pl., and sometimes found in pl. form fecks (Uls.² 1929). The word is also occas. used quasi-adj. = many.Sc. 1740 Ramsay T.T. Misc. 317:
[I] kiss'd and clapp'd her there fou lang; My words they were na mony feck.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 37:
Great feck gae hirpling hame like fools, The cripple lead the blind.Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems 104:
Tho' in the bustling town, the Muse Has gather'd little feck o' News.Lth. 1813 G. Bruce Poems 64:
He blessings mony feck implores, Upo' the happy twa, now.Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley xiii.:
I hae been through France . . . and maist feck o' Germany.Slk. 1829 Hogg Shep. Cal. vi.:
George . . . went ben to his stepmother, and inquired what feck o' siller she had about her?s.Sc. 1873 J. A. H. Murray D.S.C.S. 178:
What feck o' folk wad there be there? Is there onie feck o' waitter i' the loch?Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 117:
Robin didna lea' ony feck, and his twa maiden dochters were very thankful to me for the sma' soom.Abd. 1893 G. Macdonald Sc. Songs 96:
But a better sang it wud tak nor yer ain, Though ye hae o' notes a feck.Fif. 1895 “S. Tytler” Kincaid's Widow xv.:
The whole feck of them could not bring back the dead.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 67:
A feck o' sodgers passed that way And garred me often straucht my back.

3. With the def. art.: the majority, the bulk, the greater part or number. Gen.Sc. Also in n.Eng. dial.Ayr. 1786 Burns Holy Fair iv.:
Ye, for my sake, hae gien the feck Of a' the ten comman's A screed some day.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xl.:
I dinna see how that can be, if ye begin by gieing maybe the feck o' twal shillings Scots for your supper.Dmb. 1846 W. Cross Disruption xiv.:
Fegs, I doot I've haggit the feck o' my chin awa'.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Raiders xvii.:
There's no a Faa that wadna mak' a guid man, leal and true-hearted, kind too at the feck o' times.s.Sc. 1927 “H. M'Diarmid” in Scots Mag. (April) 1:
Nae wicer, the feck o' them, at forty than they were at fourteen.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 18:
This is whit he gies,
and waur, the feck wad hae that ease
raither than swite i the warsle tae see
Scotland as it is and as it micht be Sc. 1991 John McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 88:
The feck hae notions o an auld carle
daffin 'kypes', an plunkin planets.
I lou the unkent virr
that brenns me as yon caunle brenns

†4. An appearance, phenomenon, sight. Cf. obs. Eng. effect, id.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 93:
Yon be a fearfu' like fake indeed, it would fright ony living creature out o' their senses.

II. v. To shape, fashion, make; to contrive (Sh.¹¹ 1951).Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 31:
I hae fesen a puckle duds in ma aapron. Ye mith help tae gi'e them a shape; I am sae ull at faikin things. [p. 26 fakin']