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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PROUD, adj. Also prood (Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xix.; Edb. 1900 E. H. Strain Elmslie's Drag-net 50; Rxb. 1915 Kelso Chron. (24 Sept.)), prud (Jak.), prude (Bnff. 1887 W. M. Philip Covedale ii.). Sc. forms and usages. [prud]

1. Sc. form of Eng. proud.Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 87:
Oor shared deceit:
we're baith camsteery and, for me, I'm prood,
an' that clock's tick, gin it were a hairt-beat,
wad dootless hae doctors skartin their pows.

As in Eng. (Sc. 1880 Jam., prood). Derivs. proudfu, prood-, haughty, full of pride, prideful (Sc. 1880 Jam.; Bnff., Ags., Kcb. 1966). Hence proudfully, adv., in a proud or haughty manner; proodly, proodlie adv., proudly.Edb. 1839 W. McDowall Poems 30:
As it is, nane can deride For proudfu' swell.Sc. 1881 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) III. 243:
She leaves his proudfu' mither Draggin through the dowie heather.

Sc. form of Eng. proudlym.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 45:
Proodlie he bure the wee croun on his heid,
an on the wale o corn an meal wad feed,
o aw the gentrie thare the maist fantoosh.

2. Of persons: pleased, gratified, glad (Cld. 1880 Jam.). Gen.Sc. Also in Eng. dial.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlix.:
Young fowk aboot 'im as prood o' atten'in' 's comman's as gin he war the laird.Lth. 1871 Stevenson Memoirs v.:
His heart grew “proud” within him.Lth. 1915 J. Fergus The Sodger 31:
Ye tellt me something, your leal voice ringin', Something that I was richt prood to hear.Abd. 1965:
I'm richt proud tae see you.

3. (1) of fish: slow to take the bait, difficult to catch, elusive (sm.Sc. 1966).ne.Sc. a.1897 M. M. Banks Cal. Customs (1939) II. 200:
For the first six days of May fishermen say they [haddocks] are “prood”, i.e. less keen in taking the bait, and that they will not catch at all during daylight.

(2) of coal at the coal-face: having a tendency to splinter, not cohesive, liable to break off in small pieces.Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 52:
Coal is said to be of a proud nature when it bursts off the working face.

4. Applied to a variety of things in the sense of over-grown, full-bodied, of luxuriant growth, characterised by unusual vigour, size or the like, specif.: (1) of skins or leather, in derivs. proudfull, adj., swollen and bloated after treatment with lime (Sc. 1825 Jam.); proudness, n., the puffed or swollen condition of skins which have been so treated (Ib.).; (2) of growing crops: (over-)luxuriant, well- or over-grown (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), prud; Abd. 1915; Sh., Mry. 1966). Also in comb. winter-proud, too advanced for the season. Now obs. or dial. in Eng.Per. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Per. 146:
When the wheat is winter-proud, which commonly happens after a mild season . . . that luxuriance . . . ought to be checked by eating it down with sheep.Sc. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 515:
If the winter has been open and mild, the autumn-wheat plant will have grown luxuriantly . . . so . . . that it may have become proud, that is, in a precocious state of forwardness for the season.

(3) of the sea or a river: running high, in spate, swollen (Mry. 1966). Also used adv. Rare or obs. in Eng.m.Lth. 1770 Session Papers, State of Process, Henry v. Clerk 29:
What he judged to be the reason of the water's running so proud?Abd. 1828 P. Buchan Ballads I. 247:
The wind was loud, the stream was proud, And wi' the stream gaed Willie.Abd. 1885 Folk-Lore Jnl. III. 307:
Fishermen agree in saying that during this season (May) the sea rises much more quickly and under less force of wind than at other seasons . . . The fishermen of Pittullie and other villages say that “the sea is prood in May.”

(4) of an object or surface set higher than or not flush with its immediate surroundings, e.g. of a high-relief pattern on material, a high-pitched roof on a building, a projecting or protuberant corner on a haystack or the like. Gen.Sc. Also used adv.Sc. 1825 Jam.:
Proud. Applied to a projection in a haystack, during the act of rearing it, when it needs dressing in a particular quarter.Sc. 1844 P. Chalmers Dunfermline 354:
The pattern of the double damask is much more distinctly exhibited, being more raised, or prouder, as it is termed, than of the single damask.Per. 1903 E.D.D.:
That house has a proud roof, but the prouder the better.Cai. 1966:
Local masons describe a wall which protrudes as it rises as “prood o' 'e line”.Kcb. 1966:
Common as a joiner's term: “Lea' it prood an' ye can rub it doon efter”.