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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ATWEEL, 'TWEEL, adv. [ə′twil, twil]

1. Orig. a phr., prob. contr. from "(I) wat weel" = "I wot well." (Also in a half-Anglicised form (rare): at well.) Assuredly, certainly, indeed. Gen.Sc. Sc. 1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance I. 31:
Oo' tweel he's had doctors eneugh, an' naething's been spared on him.Sc. a.1827 The Fause Knight in Ballads ed. Child (1904) No. 3, ii.:
What is that upon your back? . . . Atweel it is my bukes.Mry.(D) 1806 J. Cock Simple Strains 109:
I kent thy kindly heart, lang syn, Yes' [ye'se] ha'e my Bill, atweel!Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 148:
I mind it well enough, and well I may, At well I danced wi' you on your birth day.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 31:
Atweel, thare's monie that tak muckle tent
o gules an argent, sable, vair and vert,
the badge o deidlie wounds an jaggit thairms.Knr. 1891 “H. Haliburton” Ochil Idylls 127:
O fair atweel to strangers' een The glancin' waters glide.Lnl. 1864 J. C. Shairp Kilmahoe, etc. 36:
And, lasses, screech na here, but haste and hide our gear, In the house, atweel, there is wark eneuch.Edb. 1844 J. Ballantine Miller of Deanhaugh 100:
Her gudeman's foster brither has come hame wi' walth o' siller to her, an' she needs it, atweel.Hdg. 1902 J. Lumsden Toorle, etc. 43:
Naebody can catch trouts wi' a wae hairt an' tears, atweel!wm.Sc. [1835] Laird of Logan (1868) 48:
“Do you ken the auld kirk o' Dunscore?” “Atweel do I.”Rnf. 1876 D. Gilmour Paisley Weavers 39–40:
“Well,” answered his reverence, “that, you must allow, is an extreme case.” “Extreme? oo, aye, it's a wee extreme atweel.”Gall.(D) 1901 Trotter Gall. Gossip 81:
D'ye ca that a stream? That's the Black Water o' Dee, the graunest and auncientest water in Gallawa! A stream atweel!Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Trad. Tales II. 208:
Troth and atweel, and that's too true.

2. Used occas. as if = Aweel, used inferentially. Edb. 1894 J. W. McLaren Tibbie & Tam 19, 45:
Atweel, nae farther gane than yestreen. . . . Atweel, a week later. . . . Atweel, Tammas, ye hae my permission.