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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

EAST, adj., adv. Also aest, est (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; 1914 Angus Gl.); yest. Cf. Aist. [ist, est, ɛst]

I. adj. Used as in Eng. and with comparative easter (see separate art.), superlative eastmost.Sc. 1772 Edb. Ev. Courant (11 Jan.):
The two eastmost houses have cellars below them.Sc. publ. 1856 Lord Cockburn Memorials 2:
My father purchased the eastmost house on the south side of the Meadows.Sc. 1948 Scotsman (8 April):
Top flat, east most house at 72 Promenade, Portobello.

II. adv. Only Sc. usages illustrated.

1. Used with prep. force in the following ellipt. phrs.: (1) east the coast, in Fife, along that part of the coast lying between Largo and Crail or in the neighbourhood of Elie (Fif. 1949 (per Abd.²⁹)), in Rs., along the Black Isle coast towards Chanonry; (2) east the gate, east the road, etc., orig. in an easterly direction along the road, etc., but later purely adv.phr. = eastwards, cf. Eastle, adv.; known to Cai., Rs., Ags., Fif., Knr., Slg., Edb., Rxb. correspondents 1945; (3) east (th)e toun, towards the east of the town (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 224; Rs., Ags., Fif., Knr., Slg., Rxb. 1945).(2) Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 52:
Content am I — But east the gate is The sun, wha taks his leave of Thetis.s.Sc. 1829 Hogg Shepherd's Cal. I. 168:
Thou maun awa yest-the-gate and speak till Mistress Wulsin.wm.Sc. 1868 Laird of Logan 482:
Ye maun excuse him for a wee; he's thrang as I passed, choking some geese east the road a bit, but I hae nae doubt he'll be wi' ye immediately.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays (1908) 94:
Dame Vanity frae morn till nicht Tript east an' west the brae, To say what ilka ane should wear Upo' the weddin' day.Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 47:
Down the stair she ran, and lookit east the road and west the road.Sh. 1949 New Shetlander No. 19. 26:
Dan I medd aest da rodd again as fast as I cood.(3) Hdg. a.1801 in J. Miller Lamp of Lothian (1844) 509:
O but it was right droll to see, At e'en, come east the town the three.Per. 1846 Justiciary Reports 203:
The prisoner answered that she did not want to go east the town.Ags. 1889 J. M. Barrie W. in Thrums v.:
I can assure ye the Earl's son gaed east the toon lauchin' like onything.Ags.¹⁷ 1942:
“East the toun, an' wast the toun, an' doon the Spoot, an' hame” was a favourite Forfar walk.

2. Indicating direction, in the same way as right and left are employed in St. Eng., or in a vague directional sense = in one or other direction, sometimes implying homewards (Rs., m.Lth.¹, Bwk.² 1950).Sc. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Shepherd Act II. Sc. iii. in Poems (1728):
When Mungo's Mear stood still, and swat with Fright, When he brought East the Howdy under Night.Sc. 1858 in Sc. Haggis 80:
The terms east and west are as common with the country people in the Highlands, and are used in the same manner as right and left are in the south.e.Sc. 1900 E.D.D.:
My next-door neighbour after calling will leave, saying, “I maun be steppin' east; it's gettin' late.” A husband in bed gave his wife a dig in the ribs bidding her lie east an' gie him mair room. A ploughman went to a tailor and asked him to shift this coat button “a wee east.” This usage prevails all along the Forth basin.Inv. 1905 E.D.D.:
West and East are used often not so much in the strict sense of the words, but of two opposite directions, one being that half of the heavens where the sun rises, the other being where it sets. Thus east includes north and west south.Sh. 1914 Angus Gl. 40:
Set it farder est.Fif.¹⁰ 1942:
Move that ashet a bittie east an ye'll hae mair room for the scones.Rs. 1991 Bess Ross Those Other Times 78:
"Chase home now. Away east with you," their Uncle's words rumbled behind them.

Hence east by, east-bye, in an eastward direction (Bch., Ags., Fif., Bwk. 1950).Ags. 1887 A. D. Willock Rosetty Ends 71:
Ae ootlyin' cottage that was built in a hollow east by a bittie.Fif. 1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 113:
He'll land ye east-bye before an hour.Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 118:
In the painting it was blowing a full gale of wind from the west. The whole firth was a single white sheet of spray and scores of sailing boats were turning up the Forth from east by.

3. Phrs.: (1) to bring someone east and wast the jaws, to slap someone on both cheeks; (2) to go east and west upon someone, id.; (3) to gie someone east and west, id. (Bwk.² 1949).(1) Ags.¹⁷ 1942:
Ee wis that impident tae me, 'at I jist brocht 'im east an' wast the jaws wi' a floonder.(2) Fif. 1938 N. A. M. Rowlands in Daily Record (23 June):
The indignant parent may threaten to “gang east an' wast upon her” (child who has soiled her frock).