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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

MISHANTER, n., v. Also misshanter, mischanter, mishaunter, meschanter, mechanter, muschanter; misanter, -ir, messanter. [mɪ′ʃɑntər, Sh. mɪ′s-]

I. n. 1. A mishap, an unfortunate accident, a disaster (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1903 E.D.D.; I. and n.Sc., Ags. 1963); a state of misfortune or hardship.Abd. 1754 R. Forbes Journal 27:
For fan they saw us a' in a bourich they had some allagust that some mishanter had befaln us.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 53, 210:
What black mishanter gart ye [Mons Meg] spew Baith gut and ga'? . . . The Priest, to bang mishaunters black, and cares, Has sought me in his closet for his prayers.Ayr. 1784 Burns Poet's Welcome i.:
Mishanter fa' me, If thoughts o' thee, or yet thy mammie Shall ever daunton me or awe me.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 39:
Or if she heard o' Rob's mischanter, That through the town began to canter.Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 184:
She'll gie me nae supper, but gollar an' flyte; Of a' her mischanters she'll gie me the wyte.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 247:
She met a sair mishanter yince at the hans o' Lord Kenmur.Ork. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. viii. 323:
He's hed a sair misanter an' cinna loot for hostan.Fif. 1939 St. Andrews Cit. (28 Jan.) 5:
Mischanters come at ony time Tae them that hannel rod and line.Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 31:
Trath, I tink I never hed sic a misanter i' me days.ne.Sc. 1952 John R. Allan North-East Lowlands of Scotland (1974) 187:
In the close there were constant mechanters. Plough socks, lying at the stable door, rose up and rapped you on the shins. Yokes and swingletrees lundered you across the shoulders. Ork. 1956 C. M. Costie in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 (1998) 5:
"Weel," said the Auld Man, "if thoo're coman wae me thoo'll mind I didno speir thee, for many a time een that geungs aff wioot an errand comes heem wae een, an if thoo comes at a misanter, thoo his cheust theesel tae bleem." Abd. 1980 David Toulmin Travels Without a Donkey xii:
Of course I had the odd mischanter and narrow escape, like the time I missed my gear when changing down on a steep hill, for you had to be very slick at this when double-declutching, and the car began to run backwards, until I secured the hand-brake. Sc. 1991 Kenneth Fraser in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 101:
The word o this mishanter tae the nation
Wad cause a michty stushie tae brek oot. Fif. 1991 Tom Hubbard in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 144:
Ithers hae peyed mair deirlie nor mysel
Fir weivin o mishanter an mistak, Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 63:
"Mebbe ay, mebbe no. Bit I winted tae owertakk, an I couldna. Yon's aa there is till't."
Still, efter yon mishanter, I gied up drivin an got engaged tae Ines.

2. A physical hurt or injury (Sc. 1880 Jam.; Sh., Bnff., Abd., Ags. 1963).Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 114:
He fell oot o' the cairt an' got a mischanter on's knee.Abd. 1875 G. Macdonald Malcolm I. xix.:
“I hae gotten a sma' mishanter, Miss Horn.” . . . When she had bathed and bound [his hand] up, she laid it in a sling.Gsw. 1884 H. Johnston Martha Spreull 40:
The Doctor, puir body, had met wi' a mishanter when he wis young, and wis hump-backet.

3. Also the mishanter, Auld Mischanter (Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems Gl.), used in imprecations = the devil.Sc. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 25:
What the mishanter, than cried John.Slg. 1804 G. Galloway Luncarty 77:
I gaed straight to the mishanter (When press'd frae the arms o' sweet Bell).Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xii.:
Mishanter on the auld beard o' ye!Dmb. 1844 W. Cross Disruption xviii.:
“The least discoont I can be justified in charging is five and a half per cent.” “Five and a half mishanters!” exclaimed Stiffrigs in a towering passion.Bnff. 1853 Banffshire Jnl. (23 Aug.):
Mishanter tak' his ourlach dame.Gsw. 1873 A. G. Murdoch Doric Lyre 44:
Mischanter lick me wi' a rung.

II. v. To hurt, to bruise, to meet with a painful accident (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 114). Hence vbl.n. mischanteran, a severe hurt or injury (Ib.); ppl.adj. mishantert, injured, badly hurt, also in comb. ill-mishanter't, id.Abd. 1918 W. B. Morren The Hert's Aye 8:
An' een wi' ill-mishanter't legs Upon a merchan's hurley lay.Bnff. 1937 E. S. Rae Light in the Window 9:
He has gotten his leg gey mishantert at a place caud Mons awa' out owre the sea.