Freit appears in the Dictionary of the Scots Language in quotations from the early fifteenth century onwards, and originally referred especially to a belief in omens.  That such beliefs were not always to be relied upon is indicated in John Bellenden's translation of Hector Boece's The History and Chronicles of Scotland (1531): “He had sic confidence in his fretis, that he belevit fermely nevir to be vincust”. And Habakkuk Bisset refers in his Rolment of Courtis (1622-6) to: “The fals responses of wiches … and dissaitfull freittis quhairon Makbaith lippynnit and dependitt”.

Freit could also mean a superstitious charm or saying.  For example, in Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor (1819) a character declares that: “If auld freets say true, there's ane o' that company that'll no be lang for this warld”. The fact that this character is one of ‘the three village hags' may express an opinion on the sort of person who might believe in such things.  We also find a comment on superstitious people in James Kelly's A Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs (1721): “He that follows Freets, Freets will follow him”.

From freit we also get the adjective fretty, to describe someone who believes in charms or omens or is addicted to superstition. Thus we find this somewhat sweeping statement in Robert Wodrow's Analecta (1842-3): “The people … as all the Highlanders generally are, wer reaconed credulous and fretty”.

In a more general sense, a freit can be an odd fancy, a whimsical notion or fad, giving rise to the expression ‘to stand on freits', meaning to make a fuss about trifles, or to be crotchetty or faddy.  Such faddiness is illustrated by the following statement from Archibald H Rae's The Divot Dyke (1898): “Lately I hae taen a fret For bubbly-jocks”.  Each to their own.  

Scots Word of the Week is written by Ann Ferguson of Scottish Language Dictionaries