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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

STRAND, n.2 Also stran, strawn, straun, strahn, stron. Dim. strandie. [strɑn(d), wm.Sc. strǫn]

1. A little stream or run of water, a rivulet (Per. 1925 J. Meikle Places round Alyth 191, strandie; Lnk., sm.Sc. 1971); also of other liquids, and fig.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 280:
Children oft with carefu' Hands, In Summer dam up little Strands, Collect the Drizel to a Pool.
Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 8:
In bonny hinni'd fields, by whose door-stane Braid strans o' butter rin.
Peb. 1815 A. Pennecuik Tweeddale 296:
The town of Peebles originally extended from Eddlestone water westward to the meadow well strand.
Dmf. 1830 W. Bennet Traits Sc. Life II. 29:
Didna the chaise gang ower the brow at the strawn'?
Rnf. 1838 A. Crawfurd Johnshill Lands 4:
A strand is a wee burn, or a streimlet fra rain.
Ags. 1879 G. W. Donald Poems 8:
Strands, and strypes, like burns, were Bockin'.
Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 61, 132:
The sweet rinnin doon his face in stran's. . . Up the burns tae naur the heid, whaur they were joost strauns.

2. An artificial water-channel or gutter, a street gutter (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rnf. 1962 Stat. Acc.3 319; n.Sc., em.Sc. (a), Rnf. 1971); the gutter behind the stalls in a cowshed (n.Sc., em.Sc. (a) 1971). Comb. ¶strand-scouring, searching the gutters for anything that may be picked up.Gsw. 1718 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1909) 12:
The sinks, strands and aqueducts under these covers do frequently stop and restagnat.
Edb. 1745 Session Papers, Cairny v. Husband (4 Jan.) 3:
He saw the Complainer instantly fall in the Strand on his Back.
Sc. 1786 Scots Mag. (Sept.) 461:
Not to encroach on the pavement, but to keep entirely upon the street, and within the strand or water-run.
Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems (1900) 108:
The strawns gush'd big — the sinks loud ruml'd.
Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel xv.:
They will help him bravely to grope in the gutters . . . if they have any luck in strand-scouring.
Sc. 1829 P. Halkerston Techn. Terms 257:
Salisbury Crags, St Anthony's Chapel, King's Park, Palace, Palace-yard, &c. to the strand at the foot of the Canongate.
Per. 1830 Perthshire Advert. (14 Jan.):
The Close be-north the Gutter Strand.
Fif. 1842 Justiciary Reports (1844) 317:
She came out of the front door . . . forward the length of the strand.
Peb. 1887 J. Veitch Nature in Sc. Poetry I. 273:
Strand is still used in Scotland for the bed of the open sewer in a town.
wm.Sc. 1917 H. Foulis Jimmy Swan 282:
The straun in front of a country shop.
Bnff. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (29 May) 5:
Oot cam Peterie heelstergowdie in the strahn.
Per. 1938 J. Macdonald Old Callander 152:
Instead of the modern kerb and gutter, the natural ditch or “strand” between the street and the side walk.
Mry. 1969 Northern Scot (15 Feb.) 4:
Walkin' on the pavement's rim Wi' ae fut in the straun.

Deriv. strandie, strannie, (1) a game of marbles played by progression along a street gutter (Abd. 1957); (2) the taw or line, orig. and freq. the gutter, from which the players fired their marbles across the pavement at the target at the foot of a house wall (Dmf. 1910).(1) Ags. 1934 G. M. Martin Dundee Worthies 177:
The “Noup” or “Strandie” was played in the gutter way or strand and was simply an effort to hit your nearest opponent's “bool.”

[Orig. somewhat uncertain. N.E.D. considers it to be a variant of O.Sc. strynd, a rivulet, a.1400, Early Mid.Eng. strunde, id. The irreg. vowel might be explained as due to confusion, esp. in sense 2., with Strand, n.1 O.Sc. has strand, a streamlet, c.1470, a gutter, 1558.]

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"Strand n.2". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/strand_n2>

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