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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SOUTH, adv., adj., v.¹ Also sooth, soth-; soud (Peb., Slk. 1870 R. Chambers Pop. Rhymes 377); sood, sowd-, sud, sudd- (Sh.). Sc. forms and usages. For comb. besouth see Besooth. [suθ, Sh. sud]

I. adv. Sc. form of Eng. south.Abd. 1991 George Bruce in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 22:
He struck oot sooth. The lift gaed the wrang wey,
turned aff tae a side-road, syne intae a sma glen.

Sc. Combs. and derivs.: 1. sooth about, (1) adv., in the south; (2) adj., southern, coming from or belonging to the south; 2. sooth awa, = 1. (1) (I. and ne.Sc., Ags., Fif., wm.Sc., Wgt. 1971). See Awa, 9. (7); 3. south by(e), id. (I.Sc., Kcd., em.Sc.(a), wm.Sc., Wgt. 1971); 4. southen, -in, (1) adj., esp. in ballad usage, south, southern; (2) n., the south, southern part (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., sowden, 1908 Jak. (1928), sudin, Sh. 1971). Cf. Norden; 5. sudderly, southerly; 6. suddern, -ren, southern, from the south. Comb. suddren wud (†Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.), sudderin wid, southernwood, Artemisia abrotanum (n. and sm.Sc. 1971); 7. southert, -art, sothert, suddard (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; I.Sc. 1971), suddert, reduced forms of Eng. southward; 8. southlins, southward. See -Lins; 9. sooth ower, id.; 10. sooth-troo, -trow, (1) adv., id. (Sh. 1971); (2) adj., southern.1. (1) Abd. 1963 Huntly Express (15 Nov.) 2:
Awa sooth-aboot, noo, they eesed tae be afa suspeecious o' Irish tramps.(2) Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxxii.:
Bringin' his guidwife alang wi' him, to see her soothaboot freends.2. Abd. 1952 Buchan Observer (2 Sept.):
A Buchan laird who had been sooth-awa' picking up tips for improved methods of farm work.3. Sc. 1762 R. Forbes Jnls. Visitations (1886) 216:
He asked me how the not-swearing clergy lived now South-by.s.Sc. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems 246:
Our neebers south bye too.Sh. 1879 Shetland Times (22 March):
Did doo no see Johnnie gaein' sooth by?4. (1) Sc. c.1800 Gay Goshawk in Child Ballads No. 96. E. xvii.:
If that I die in southen land In Scotland bury me.Bnff. 1858 National Mag. III. 198:
Ower to the minister's hoose, And awa' by Soothin toon.5. Sh. 1949 J. Gray Lowrie 156:
If da wind gengs sudderly.6. Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains & Hilly 134:
Aul-fashion't thyme an' sudderin' wid.Sh. 1931 Shetland Times (14 March) 7:
Som o' yun graand towrists and suddern-folk.7. ne.Sc. 1723 W. Macfarlane Geog. Coll. (S.H.S.) I. 71:
Cairnbulg, which is a fisher toun two miles to the southert of Fraiserburgh.Ags. 1856 W. Grant Poet. Pieces 56:
Sol he's crawlin' to the southert.Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 175:
The wind it cam' saft frae the southart.Sh. 1933 J. Nicolson Hentilagets 25:
Da wart ta da suddert pat on its white höd.Abd. 1961 Buchan Observer (31 Oct.) 3:
Broch shuitit 'im doon tae the grun, it bein' tae the norret o' sooth an' the sothert o' north.8. Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry 87:
Some ran ae gate, some anither; Some northlins, southlins.9. s.Sc. 1834 Wilson's Tales of the Borders I. 185:
They cam frae south owre some way.Sh. 1901 T. Ollason Mareel 43:
Driftin' aimlessly sooth ower.10. (1) Sh. 1899 Shetland News (1 April):
As we guid sooth-troo tagedder.(2) Sh. 1900 Shetland News (10 March):
Hit wid set some o' da soothtrow folk better, if dea'd cleaned da beach stanes aff o' der rigs.

II. adj. 1. As in Eng. Combs.: (1) South Country lads, see quot.; †(2) South firth, the Firth of Forth; (3) soosider, a person from the Sou Side; (4) Sou Side, the parts of Glasgow south of the River Clyde. Also attrib; (5) soothie, adj., left-handed (Ayr. 1923 Wilson D. Burns 186, Ayr. 1971). Cf. Eng. slang southpaw; n., a Lowlander (Cai. 1971); (6) southlan(d), southlin, southern, coming from the south (Sc. 1825 Jam.); as a n., one who comes from the south country (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., soudland); (7) sooth moother, in Sh., one who comes from mainland Scotland and enters Shetland by the south mouth of Lerwick harbour on the steamer from Aberdeen (Sh. 1971); (8) south shearing, see quot.(1) Mry. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XIV. 76:
Our young men, how soon they are fit for labour, go to the south country, or elsewhere, for employment; where they remain some part of the spring, together with all the summer and harvest. . . . Those partial emigrants, or, as they are called, the “South Country lads,” live with their parents or relations during the winter upon the common stock of the family.(2) Inv. 1716 Steuart Letter-Bk. (S.H.S.) 30:
The Ship Helen of this place, with Convoy from the South firth.(3) Gsw. 1994 Herald 28 Oct 10:
I wrote about it for years and the impertinence I used to receive from the so-called owners of this property, who allowed this grand piece of confectionary, close to every Soo-Sider's heart, to fall into ruin.Gsw. 1998:
Soosider = a resident of one of the parts of Glasgow south of the Clyde. (the Sooside)Sc. 2003 Times 15 Jun 4:
Here I have to make an admission about the West End: I envy it. As a southsider of course I do. The sheer range of specialist shops in the West End is an object of envy and resentment on the part of soo-siders.(4) Gsw. 1990 John and Willy Maley From the Calton to Catalonia 25:
Ye remind me ae a manager ae a midget fitbaw team ah used tae play fur. Wan day we wur playing a team fae the Sou Side. They hudnae loast a gemme. So the manager gies us this big pep talk in the dressing room. Wavin his fist. Shoutin the odds. Go oot ther and hammer them boays.Sc. 1997 Herald 31 May 15:
And you'll not find Fred playing the superstar in any of his walks of life. Whenever he gigs in Glasgow, for example, he's always noticeably supported by his non-showbiz sou'-side neighbours.(6) Sc. 1724 Ramsay T.-T. Misc. (1876) I. 192:
A Southland Jenny that was right bonny.Edb. 1796 H. MacNeill Waes o' War 21:
Saft, the southland breeze was blawing.Slk. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 9:
Her ringlets pale Wide waving in the southland gale.Sc. 1819 Scott Bride of Lamm. xxiv.:
A likely lass she was then, and looked ower her southland nose at us a'.Dmb. 1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 70:
The southlin crofts ha'e whiles been sawn wi' corn.Sc. 1907 D. MacAlister Echoes 31:
The southlan' sailors a' Buskit braw an' fairlie.Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verse 92:
The southlan' win' in my face.(7) Sh. 1962 Abd. Press and Jnl. (23 March):
“Sooth moothers” who have recently arrived in Shetland.Sh. 1991 Independent 2 Feb 29:
They were honoured among ''sooth moothers'', the island name for incomers, so called because the P & O ferry from Aberdeen goes in through the south mouth of Lerwick harbour. Sc. 1993 Herald 11 May 11:
Certainly in Orkney, where some indigenous communities have been inundated almost to saturation point with sooth-moothers, there is still generosity of spirit towards the incomer. Sc. 1995 Scotsman 22 Feb 15:
If the mainland sooth-moothers can go back on 300 or so years of rule from a London Parliament, so the islanders say they have a right to return to the destiny and independent spirit of their Viking forebears. Sc. 1996 Orcadian 4 Jan 26:
The subliminal message was that people who had not prepared themselves for a week's isolation from the outside world, during the worst disruption caused by snow for almost half a century, were not sturdy, self-reliant islanders but feckless Soothmoothers who deserved all they got. ... In the end, most community councils ... organised twatree o' da boys, Soothmoothers included, to sort it all out with Land Rovers, tractors and workboats. Sh. 2003 Daily Telegraph 27 Sep 1:
Only a "sooth-moother" (ie, a southern-speaker) from the distant, outside world ... (8) Bnff. 1961 Stat. Acc.³ 407:
Until about 1880 Kirkmichael people were themselves for long accustomed to a similar migration for the “south shearing,” as it was called, when parties of men and women, with sickle and bag on back, would cross the Lecht and walk by Glenesk, Clova and Kirriemuir to Forfarshire farms to take part in the harvest.

2. Pertaining to or characteristic of the south.Sc. 1821 Scott Kenilworth i.:
For what says the south proverb.Ags. 1901 W. J. Milne Reminisc. 196:
That's no' a sooth fashion.Abd. (coast) 1969:
That's a south boat. I ken by the rig o' her.

3. Simple-minded, naive, the opposite of North, I. 2.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xviii.:
“Did he really and actually boil siccan trash to his dinner?” “Nae sae far south as that yet, friend. Duncan was not so bowed in the intellect.”

III. v. To go southwards. Rare and obs. in Eng. Vbl.n. soothin in nonce comb. a soothin, going south, analogous with a-coming, etc.Bnff. 1895 W. Cramond Ch. Grange 17:
The maiden o' Millegin she gangs sae braw A soothin, A soothin.

IV. n. Sc. form of Eng. south. Ork. 1995 Orcadian 12 Jan 15:
I went on to mention the possibility, suggested by a history reading visitor from the "sooth" Laurie Taylor, that we should repeat that event as it was 200 years on, to the day (early on New Year's morning) since it was last reported.