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A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)

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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

(Sithe,) Syth, n.² Also: syith. Pl. sythis; sis, sys(e, syce, syis, sies, sayis. [ME and e.m.E. sith(e (12th c.), sythe (c1250), OE síþ; cf. Cyse n.] Time, occasion. a. With ordinal numbers, adjectives or adverbs denoting frequency of occurrence.For many further examples with fele and oft, see Fele adj. 2 and Oftsys(e adv.sing. a1400 Leg. S. xxi 252.
Scho … kyssyt hyme ful mony syth a1400 Leg. S. xxiii 435.
Ilkane of thame … In armys he hynt & kyssit fele syth 1501 Doug. Pal. Hon. 1008.
Thankis ane thousand syith For sa hie freindschippl. (a) 1375 Barb. iii 58.
Quha-sa-euer had seyne him … turn sa oft-sythis the wisage(b) 1375 Barb. xx 225 (C).
Of mony large and gret bounte That ȝhe haf done till me feill sis a1400 Leg. S. ix 59.
A hundre syis one day kneland a1400 Leg. S. xviii 203.
He sewine syse mad arest, To pray to God ?1438 Alex. ii 7935.
Lordingis ane hundreth thousand syce I thank ȝow of ȝour lele seruyce ?1438 Alex. ii 2245.
Sys ?1438 Alex. ii 2386.
Sis 1460 Hay Alex. 1125.
I haid levir thole dede ane hunder sys Na consent till his damnage or dispris a1500 Henr. Fab. 1882 (Bann.).
Thus it happinnis oftin [Ch., H. mony] syis 1513 Doug. iv i 6.
The large wirschip feill sys remembris sche Of his lynnage and folkis 1513 Doug. xiii iii 40.
Quhou oftsys interchangit and variabill Beyn the actis and dedis of man! 1535 Stewart 55826.
Rycht oft thair haif I bene And of sic danger sindrie syis hes sene c1550 Lynd. Meldrum 788. c1550 Rolland Ct. Venus ii 760.
Sis [: wis] 1560 Rolland Seven S. 532.
Syse(c) a1585 Maitl. Q. 254/42.
But for to satefie ane whore Fiftene sies I can not induire(d) 15.. Clar. iv 44.
Meliades … recommendis hir ane thowsand sayis Unto ȝour grace 15.. Clar. iv 1956.

b. In (ane) sithe, at once. a1500 Gol. & Gaw. 382.
[They] salust the souerane sone, in ane sith a1500 Gol. & Gaw. 1315.
Than said the senyeour in syth semely in saill [etc.]

c. Used, in the pl., to express the multiplication of numbers. ?1438 Alex. ii 4037.
Our men [ar] … Seuin syse ma than he hes brocht c1515 Asl. MS I 153/20.
The roundnes of the warld about is iij^cxv syis c^m pase 1626 Garden Worthies 83.
Swaden … more savage by a hundered sise … Nor what the witt of wisdome could divyse