Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

THE, def. art. Also tha (Ork. 1911 Old-Lore Misc. IV. iv. 186), ¶thi'; te (Ayr. 1822 Galt Entail xxxix.); pseudo-Highl. ta (Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 92; Sc. 1816 Scott Rob Roy xxx.); ra. See T, letter, 9. For I.Sc., Cai., etc. forms see Da, def. art., De, Ee, 'E. Sc. forms and usages, Sc. in gen. exhibiting the tendency to retain the in idiomatic expressions where Eng. with increasing frequency omits it.

Sc. forms: Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 58:
ra Really broad Glasgwegian for the: 'Me'n ra boays're gaun tae ra gemme.'Gsw. 1988 George MacDonald Fraser The Sheikh and the Dustbin (1989) 17:
"...an' lay oot yer gear, an' blanco yer webbin', an' bring yer gunfire in ra mornin' ..."Ags. 1994 Jan Natanson in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 104:
It must hae been weans screamin doon in ra streets woke uz.

Sc. usages:

1. Used before which, rel. pron., now obs. exc. in legal phraseology, and in Abd. before fa, who, interrog. (see Fa, pron.) (‡ne.Sc. 1972). See also Whilk, pron.Ayr. 1702 Arch. and Hist. Coll. Ayr. and Wgt. IV. 200:
The quhilk day, the said Judge . . . the whilk day, the Judge foresaid . . .Sc. 1776 Acts Gen. Assembly 30:
Edinburgh 3d June 1776. The which day the General Assembly . . . .Abd. 1930:
The fa said ye, wis't?

Phrs.: (1) the once, once emphatic (Sh., Ork., Cai., Bnff., Ags., Fif., Edb., Arg., Gsw., Ayr., Dmf., Rxb. 2000s); (2) what the matter, what does it matter? (1) sm.Sc. 1984 Alan Temperley in Alexander Scott and James Aitchison New Writing Scotland 2 102:
'Unless you'd like to come on in the second half too.' 'Whatever you like.' 'I think just the once. ...'wm.Sc. 1998 Alan Warner The Sopranos (1999) 172:
Kay kept laughing. You look funny, she hiccuped the once.
There you are, the barmaid had arrived, shuttling little glasses offof the tray into two wee rows of three. (2) Ayr. 1785 Burns To J. Lapraik ix.:
An' hae to Learning nae pretence, Yet, what the matter? Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 111:
May be some for a' their cracks Will get, and what the matter, Their licks this day.

2. Used instead of the poss. pron.: (1) with the names of relatives, now esp. with wife. Gen.Sc., also in colloq. and dial. Eng.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality xxxviii.:
Cuddie soon returned assuring the stranger “that the gudewife should make a bed up for him.”s.Sc. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders V. 9:
What shall I say to the wife?Wgt. 1877 G. Fraser Wigtown 72:
She has owre muckle o' the mither in her.m.Lth. 1882 Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) IV. 322:
How they'd greet, if never, never mair They'd see the faither in his ain bit chair!ne.Sc. 1888 D. Grant Keckleton 45:
The wife an' I sat up till past eleven o' clock.Sc. 1896 Stevenson W. Hermiston v.:
God's death, but the faither was a man!wm.Sc. 1904 H. Foulis Erchie 11:
The wife was rale ta'en wi't.Lth. 1915 J. Fergus Sodger 18:
Though the wife gi'ed him a nicht-kep.Fif. 1971:
The wife's sent word tae the sister and the guid-brither.Gsw. 1991 John Burrowes Mother Glasgow 151:
' ... The old man? A bit more doted. Stays with the sister out in the schemes. He's fine, though. Lost, but. Nae corner to stand at. ... '

(2) with the names of parts of the body, as in Eng. in certain phrs. with Fit, Hand, Heid, q.v.: to keep or lose the heid, to keep (lose) one's head (n., m. and s.Sc. 1972).Ags. 1958 Bulletin (31 Oct.):
At a later stage he said: — “I lost the head.”Abd. 1965 Buchan Observer (2 Nov.) 4:
A time, in fact, for “keeping the heid”.Dmf. 1983 Ron Butlin The Tilting Room 126:
'... Bloody rotten and ungrateful, I answers patting her back to show sincerity and slide the hand down a bit.'

(3) in phr. the — o' —, as an alternative to my, your, his, etc. See O, prep., 1. (2), Sel, n., 1.

3. Before nouns denoting: (1) public institutions, as college, court, harbour, jail, kirk, market, schule, etc.; (2) aspects of domestic life and establishment, as bed (Uls. 1953 Traynor), stair(s); names of meals, grace, table; (3) commodities (Bnff., Abd., Per. 1905 E.D.D.); (4) a fit of annoyance or sulks, as Bung, huff, pet, Strunt, etc. All Gen.Sc.(1) Ayr. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars Air iii.:
I held awa' to the school. . . . I ance was abus'd in the kirk.Sc. 1799 W. Mitchell Scotticisms 83:
Go to the school; to the church.Sc. 1826 Scott Journal (1890) I. 212:
Yesterday sate in the Court till nearly four.Abd. 1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes ix.:
Pit on yer bonnet, an' gang to the schuil wi' the lave.m.Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 33:
The Jography-book we had at the school.Gsw. 1972 Molly Weir Best Foot Forward (1974) 41:
'How do you know that? We just got it in the Sunday School the day.' Fif. 1994 Nellie Watson in Joan Watson Memories and Reflections: An East Neuk Anthology 5:
Alice and I were bosom pals
Frae lassies at the schule, ... Edb. 1998 Gordon Legge Near Neighbours (1999) 61:
'Will that be them starting the school next August?'(2) Sc. 1703 G. Turnbull Diary (S.H.S.) 427:
He gott passage of his Belly, and came owt of the bed himself to do it.m.Lth. 1870 J. Lauder Warblings 61:
The bed's the safest quarters for Coal Jock.Abd. 1884 D. Grant Keckleton 10:
He wud actually tak' the bed an' gie up the ghost for my sake.Fif. 1894 A. S. Robertson Provost 71:
It's a wearisome thing lyin' i' the bed.Sc. 1915 N.E.D. s.v. Stair:
In Scotland, where ‘up the stair,' ‘down the stair' are the usual equivalents for upstairs, downstairs.Bnff. 1927 Banffshire Jnl. (15 March) 3:
As seen's we get the brakfast.Sc. 1972:
When ye're aa sitten doon at the table, we'll say the grace. Mince for the denner and fish for the tea.(3) Sc. 1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 90:
The sugar is cheaper but the rum is as dear as ever.Gsw. 1904 H. Foulis Erchie xvi.:
I hope it'll no put up the price o' the mulk.(4) Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 107, 189:
Is that ye'r Jo has ta'en the Strunt? . . . Yet prudent Fowk may take the Pet.wm.Sc. 1832 Whistle-Binkie 84:
At last he took the huff.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb iii.:
Ou, Jinsie, 'oman, dinna tak' the huff.Abd. 1928 N. Shepherd Quarry Wood xv.:
He's ta'en the bung.

4. With names of diseases, etc., now reg. omitted in Eng. Also the drink, drunkenness, the dry rot. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1703 G. Turnbull Diary (S.H.S.) 427:
I was taken ill of the gowt.Gsw. 1775 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. (1874) 206:
The sma' pox, the nirls, the blabs, the scaw.Gsw. 1810 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1915) 66:
The flooring of the Outer High church is affected with the dry rot.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter vii.:
That professed enemy to beauty, the smallpox.Edb. 1839 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xxii.:
The elic passion — the colic — the mulligrubs — and other deadly maladies.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xix.:
He's takin' sair to the drink.Ags. 1893 Arbroath Herald (16 March) 2:
To keep the bairns frae takin' the mizzles.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters v.:
His grandfather was a terrible man for the drink.Gall. 1929 Gallovidian 83:
What was yer cure for the rheumatism?Sh. 1952 Robertson and Graham Sh. Grammar 1:
Da caald, da gulsa, da brunt-rift, da sturdy.

5. With the names of various pursuits and activities, in (1) and (2) expressed as vbl.nouns: (1) in gen.Ayr. 1821 Galt Legatees 37:
I could have ta'en to the greeting.Fif. 1863 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xiii.:
I'm at the very doon-fa'in' wi' fricht.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xx.:
Ye're no very gleg at the jumping . . . Ye're a grand hand at the sleeping.Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond My Man Sandy (1899) 78, 90, 116:
A' the loons startit to the lauchin'. . . . He was nearhead at the fechtin' wi' the man. . . . Fowk 'ill think ye've startit the street preachin'.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 36:
E've been at the smokin, man.wm.Sc. 1987 Wallace Robb in Joy Hendry Chapman 50-1 48:
He squirmed in embarrassment. 'Och, Ah dae, Ah dae. Ah jist need them fur the reading. But Ah canna find them.' Sc. 1994 Daily Record (2 Dec) 4:
On the other hand George Kynoch doesn't seem to have passed his quali at the counting. Either that or he has been mathematically blinded by his party's propaganda. Edb. 2004:
He wis never very lucky at the winchin.

(2) of trades or crafts, esp. as vbl.nouns. Gen.Sc. The fishing, the fishing industry, the aggregate catch over a certain period.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 147:
Of a' the trades that ever was, The begging is the best.Gsw. 1904 H. Foulis Erchie xv.:
I wad be a bonny like la-di-da wi' a watch at the waitin'; the folks wad be feared to tip me.Abd. 1922 J. McGibbon Fisher-Folk Bch. 46:
A hard life it is for those who follow the fishing.Sc. 1929 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 357:
I could wish you would settle to the farming.Abd. 1972:
Fat was the fishin like the day? About twa hunner cran.Abd. 1990 Stanley Robertson Fish-Hooses (1992) 16:
I hid met a pal of mine wha worked at the herring and he telt me that there wis a job gan intae the night shift whar he worked.

(3) branches of learning, foreign languages, philosophy, and the like (Bnff., Abd., Per. 1905 E.D.D.). Gen.Sc., somewhat obsol. Still common in the Gaelic after Gael. a' Ghàidhlig.Sc. 1704 Munimenta Univ. Gsw. (M.C.) II. 386:
There is none in the College who can allow so much time for teaching the Hebrew.Sc. 1760 J. Macpherson in J. Browne Hist. Highl. (1837) I. 44:
I am employed to make a collection of the ancient poetry in the Gaelic.Gsw. 1798 J. Denholm Glasgow 208:
In the fifth session, Natural and Experimental Philosophy, the Mathematics, and the private Moral Philosophy, complete their course as gown students.Ayr. 1826 Galt Last of Lairds xx.:
My sister was never good at the writing.Sc. 1873 J. A. H. Murray D.S.C.S. 109:
The sound does not occur long in the Standard English.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xxvii.:
You are deeper than me in the geography.m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 93:
It wadna dae for twa elders o' the kirk to be fechtin aboot the politics.Ags. 1926 J. M. Smith Puir Man's Pride 28:
John says a minister's no muckle worth withoot the Greek.Sc. 1928 Scots Mag. (October) 16:
Rab has ta'en up wi' the Socialism.Rnf. 1928 G. Blake Paper Money ii.:
I'd rather first see Jean sent to the music.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick v.:
The Highland marches of our shire where the folk speak both the Gaelic and the Braid Scots. . . . He lecters upo fat 'ey caa the Mathematicks.

(4) with sports, games and athletic pursuits. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1700 Bk. Old Edb. Club X. 29:
The exercise and Diversion of the Golff.Sc. a.1734 R. Wodrow Life J. Wodrow (1828) 94:
They had been playing at the chess.Sc. 1816 Scott Letters (Cent. Ed.) IV. 317:
Walter is working at the Riding.Abd. 1971:
There's naething in their heid nooadays but the fitba.

(5) idiomatically with vbl.n. after worth, where Eng. omits. See Worth, adj.

6. With proper nouns: (1) before a surname to indicate the chief or leading member of a family, in O.Sc. as a translation of Fr. le or alteration of de, e.g. in Robert the Bruce, Reginald the Cheyne, the Douglas, and surviving as a hist. usage; now prefixed to the surname to denote the chief of a Highland clan, and prob. originating as suggested in 1913 quot. Also adopted in Ir. usage but in Gael. only in the case of An t-Siosalach, The Chisholm, orig. a Lowland family chief.Sc. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake i. xxxv., ii. vi.:
But still the Douglas is the theme . . . Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!Sc. 1816 Scott Rob Roy xxxi.:
What fellow are you, that dare to claim kindred with the MacGregor?Ayr. 1833 Galt Howdie, etc. (1923 ) 164:
The landlord, Mr M'Allister, and the M'Goul.Sc. 1838 Battle of Harlaw in Child Ballads No. 163. A. ii.:
Oh there I met Sir James the Rose, Wi him Sir John the Gryme.Sc. 1840 C. Sinclair Sketches 167:
That old chief who said there were but three persons in the world entitled to be called ‘The' — the King, the Pope, and the Chisholm.Sc. 1880 A. M. Shaw Mackintoshes. xxvii.:
Moy Hall, the residence of The Mackintosh.Sc. 1913 Sc. Hist. Review X. 46:
In early times, and down to the close of the seventeenth century, the heads of Scottish families bearing Lowland or at least territorial surnames were occasionally, if not frequently, distinguished from others of their kindred by the distinctive epithet ‘the,' of which practice the only ‘living' example is to be found in ‘The Chisholm.' In the nineteenth century the form was imitated by the Highland Chiefs, not at all improbably misled by Scott's use of ‘the MacGregor' in Rob Roy, and in the present day ‘the' has come to be regarded, popularly at least, as the normal epithet to apply to the surname of a Scottish or Irish chieftain which happens to be a patronymic beginning with Mac or O'.

(2) before certain place-names, esp. in wm.Sc., originating partly from cases where the name represents a Gael. common noun with the article prefixed. For exx. cf. the Skateraw, the Doonies (Kcd.), the Newburgh (Abd., Fif.), the Crail, the Methil (Fif.), the Twechar (Slg.), the Kirn (Arg.), the Row, the Cove (Dmb.), the Whifflet (Lnk.), the Largs, the Troon (Ayr.), the Howwood, the Nitshill (Rnf.), the Langholm (Dmf.).Sc. 1704 Earls Crm. (Fraser 1876) II. 268:
Your cold lodgens, which yit must stand warmer then either the Wemys or Royston.Sc. 1727 P. Walker Remark. Passages 121:
Mr Curray in the North in the Shoats.Fif. 1731 Caled. Mercury (25 Jan.):
Lost betwixt the Newburgh and Kinghorn.Ayr. 1748 Session Papers, Petition W. Alexander (28 Jan.) 4:
Goods in small Boats there, to be carried to the Trun.Dmf. 1774 Dmf. Weekly Mag. (5 July) 112:
His hose, of force to hold an anchor, And manufactur'd at the Sanquhar.Ayr. 1822 Galt Steam-Boat iii.:
The Rue, on the Gairloch side.Fif. 1853 M. Oliphant J. Rintoul ix.:
The hum of life in the Elie is so calm to-night.Dmf. 1915 D. J. Beattie Oor Gate-en' 4:
Thae characteristics that mak' the Langholm sae dear to oor herts.Sc. 1934 J. B. Johnston Place-Names 55:
It seems only to be used with words accented on the first syllable, as The Lochies (Burntisland) or The Redding (Polmont).Abd. 1952 W. M. Alexander Place-Names Abd. (S.C.) xxvii.:
Cases like the Milton or the Mains show it used with living words; less obvious, but equally easy to explain, are the Shannell, the Inver, the Balloch, the Blair, the Sona, and many more, which are Gaelic common nouns and where the definite article has been carried forward from the older speech and persists long after the significant meaning of the name has been lost.Dmb. 1958 Bulletin (3 April):
Renton, the adjoining village is usually honoured with the definite article, becoming, locally, “The Rantan.”Kcb. 1970:
He comes from the Gatehouse, from the Durham (Kirkpatrick Durham).

(3) before the names of schools and colleges. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1819 Scott Leg. Montrose ii.:
As a true Scottish man, and educated at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen.Sc. 1864 Scotsman (17 Feb.):
Mr Lang was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and at the College Hall, St Andrews, and this year has been at the Glasgow University.Dmf. 1915 D. J. Beattie Oor Gate-En' 7:
The auld “Big School” boasts o' nae sma'er title than The Langholm Academy.Fif. 1955:
He's a teacher intae the Waid Academy.

(4) before the names of feast-days or times associated, now or formerly, with religious observance. Cf. the Sabbath.Slk. 1709 Misc. B.R.S. (1881) 203:
Two baillies, ane dean of gild and treasurer, all to be chosen at the Michalmass yearly.Sc. 1802 Scott Minstrelsy II. 111:
It fell about the Martinmass.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet xii.:
We were engaged, and it is the Saturday night.Slk. 1881 Border Counties Mag. (July) 21:
Some time about the Martinmas.

(5) the in idiomatic Sc. is omitted before the names of rivers, now obsol., exc. in place-names Bridge of — (Sc. 1787 J. Beattie Scoticisms 96; Mry., Lnk., Ayr., sm.Sc. 1972). This prob. represents the orig. Gaelic usage (see W. M. Alexander Place-Names Abd. (S.C.) xxvii.).Sc. 1706 Mariage betwixt Fergusia and Heptarchus 22:
They come all over Tay in a misty morning.Sc. 1715 Lochlomond Expedition 7:
The river Levin, which, next to Spey, is reckon'd the most rapid river in Scotland.Sc. 1733 W. Thomson Orpheus Caled. ii. 110:
Sine, in the clifting of a craig She found him drownd in Yarrow.Abd. 1745 S.C. Misc. I. 364:
The French etc. wading Don, attacked; the greatest body from Bridge of Don, hearing the firing, waded Urie.Lnk. 1775 Caled. Mercury (14 Aug.):
The free bridge building over Clyde at Shawfield.Ayr. 1785 Burns To W. Simpson viii.:
Irwin, Lugar, Aire an' Doon, Naebody sings.Rxb. 1800 A. Carlyle Autobiog. (1860) 477:
The devastations made by Slitterick, which falls in a tremendous torrent into Teviot.Sc. 1887 Stevenson Memories and Portraits (1894) 145:
How often and willingly do I not look again in fancy on Tummel, or Manor, or the talking Airdle, or Dee swirling in its Lynn. . . . I may not forget Allan Water, nor birch-wetting Rogie, not yet Almond.ne.Sc. 1930 Bothy Songs (Ord) 347:
The teen was killed in Lourin Fair, and the tither drowned in Dee.

7. With the numerals expressing a certain year, those for the century being freq. omitted. Now obs. exc. in the Fifteen, the Forty-five, used hist. of the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745.Sc. 1704 Vindication of Episc. Address to Gen. Assembly, 1692 6:
The Government of the Established Church is the very same as it was in the Nintie Two.Sc. 1721 R. Wodrow Sufferings ii. ii. s.2:
In the 1685 his House was plundred by the Garison of Dalswintoun.Sc. 1747 Invercauld Rec. (S.C.) 455:
Having imprudently engaged myself in the forty five, by which I have brought ruin on all.Sc. 1763 Boswell in Holland (Pottle 1952) 106:
Any of the very old editions before the 1500.Sc. 1801 Edb. Weekly Jnl. (4 Feb.) 40:
The teinds are all valued in the 1664.Slk. 1823 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1874) i.:
In the saxteen and seventeen, the scourge fell on our flocks and our herds.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xi.:
He was in the hills wi' Glencairn in the saxteen hundred and fifty-twa.Rxb. 1845 T. Aird Old Bachelor 242:
We have not had such a black frost since “the ninety-nine.”Sc. 1878 Stevenson Edinburgh (1890) 173:
In the Forty-Five, some foraging Highlanders from Prince Charlie's army fell upon Swanston in the dawn.Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle vi.:
We gied the English a fleg at the ‘Forty-five.'Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song 60:
I didn't mind you were a veteran of the '45.

8. Before (1) baith (Uls. 1953 Traynor; Sh., n., em.Sc.(a), Kcb. 1972), (2) maist (Id.), (3) ne(v)er, where Eng. omits the.(1) Sc. 1881 Stevenson Letters (1899) I. 198:
God rest the baith o' them.Sc. 1921 G. Woden The Money's The Thing 19:
We want to see you doing well, the both of you.Sc. 1922 J. Buchan Huntingtower viii.:
Come in, the baith o' ye.(2) Sc. 1745 A. and H. Tayler Jacobites Abd. (1928) 252:
You have the most of my cavalry.Sc. 1820 Scott Monastery xxxv.:
The most of them answered.Sc. 1878 Stevenson New Arab. Nights (1882) I. 45:
The most of my patrons are boys.Abd. 1909 J. Tennant Jeannie Jaffray 61:
Twa-three suits sair the maist fouks.Sc. 1939 St Andrews Cit. (18 Nov.) 7:
At the moment France required the most of her supplies for herself.(3) Sc. 1802 Kinmont Willie in Child Ballads No. 186. xxv.:
The neer a word had Dickie to say.Rnf. 1807 R. Tannahill Poems (1900) 220:
The ne'er a supper crost my craig, The ne'er a sleep hae clos'd my een.Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxvi.:
The never another law hae they but the length o' their dirks.Per. 1848 Harp Per. (Ford 1893) 246:
The ne'er a thing they gae the brute.

9. Used where Eng. uses the indef. art. or omits: (1) in misc. idioms (the 1901 quot. is ad. Gael.).Sc. 1799 W. Mitchell Scotticisms 82:
They gained five shillings the piece.Ags. 1823 A. Balfour Foundling II. v.:
I ken na ane in a' the parish that's fit to ha'd the candle to her.Sc. 1843 Carlyle Past and Pres. ii. i.:
For the matter of a fortnight.m.Lth. 1857 Misty Morning 63:
He was gaun by at the tap gallop.Abd. 1880 W. Robbie Yonderton 160:
The mair squeelin' 'at some fouk get, it only maks them the clever rascals.Per. 1899 C. M. Stuart Sabbath Nights 60:
The matter o' a mile and a half or twa mile.Arg. 1901 N. Munro Doom Castle iv.:
Is it not the odd thing that you should speak it?Arg. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days xiii.:
All one wants in this world is the health — and a little more money.Abd. 1918 C. Murray Sough o' War 47:
Fegs, she got the reid face fan ye yokit To speer aboot her plans.Abd. 1928 Abd. Wkly. Jnl. (20 Sept.) 6:
It is the queer widder a' the gidder.

(2) In expressions implying eulogy or admiration, prob. ad. Gael. where the defin. art. is sim. used.Sc. 1907 N. Munro Daft Days iii.:
You are the droll woman, Bell.Sc. 1928 Scots Mag. (May) 135:
They tell me you're to be the great surgeon.Sc. 1930 F. Niven Three Marys xxxii.:
“I'm all right, thank you. I'm resting.” . . . “That's the man!” and she went away.

10. As a corrupt form of other prefixes or particles: (1) even-, in (i) the noo, thenu, thi(v) noo, now, at this very moment (see Eenoo, Noo, adv., 8.); (2) there-, in the ben, but(t), in an inner (outer) apartment, the furth, the oot, outside. See Ben, n.¹, But, n.¹, Furth, and There; (3) to-, in the day, the morn (see Morn), the nicht. Gen.Sc. For the year see 11. Thegither, see Thegither; (4) ye- in the streen, yesterday (see Yestreen), by analogy with (3) (I., n.Sc. 1972).(1) Lnk. 1818 A. Fordyce Country Wedding 58:
So ane likes to mak' welcome their visits thenu.Abd. 1865 G. MacDonald Alec Forbes xx.:
I canna attend till't jist i' the noo.Fif. 1872 Mrs Cupples Tappy's Chicks 128:
I expect him in the-noo.Ayr. 1901 G. Douglas Green Shutters xiii.:
How are ye selling it the now?Abd. 1913 W. Fraser Jeremiah Jobb 3:
Ma maister o' ceremonies is oot thiv noo amun' the tatties.Gsw. 1970 Sc. Poetry 5. 39:
Nearly three a cloke thinoo.(2) Peb. a.1715 A. Pennecuik Works (1815) 400:
In case the Judge will not permit That you come ben, bide still the butt.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 35, 100:
Your beds be made the ben . . . Lasses twa, That had gane will, an' been the-forth a' night.Bnff. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (24 April) 8:
Tho' caul an' deep the snaw the oot, Inside the hearts are kin'.Abd. 1927 E. S. Rae Hansel fae Hame 13:
It's far the furth ye face the fremt.Abd. 1933 Abd. Press & Jnl. (16 March):
She's busy the but as a hen amon' corn.(3) Sc. 1747 Lyon in Mourning (S.H.S.) II. 100:
Ask what he'd have for brakefast the day.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xciii.:
“Come away and tak' a bit of our supper.” “No the night,” replied Janet.Sc. 1824 Mary Hamilton in Child Ballads No. 173 A. xviii.:
Last nicht there was four Maries, The nicht there'l be but three.Sc. 1827 Scott Two Drovers ii.:
We will maybe see better into it the morn's morning.Kcb. 1885 A. J. Armstrong Friend and Foe xxxvi.:
Nae farrer gane than the day.Fif. 1894 D. S. Meldrum Margrédel Intro.:
The laddie's fourteen thi' day.Abd. 1909 C. Murray Hamewith 90:
The nicht is oors, the morn may never daw.Rxb. 1921 Kelso Chron. (25 Nov.) 2:
Aa want it doon the nicht.Sc. 1949 Scots Mag. (July) 287, 290:
We'll get tea the morn off the van. . . . Hamish is away from home the day.Gsw. 1972 Molly Weir Best Foot Forward (1974) 23:
'Come on, come on, sit doon to yer tea, and don't bother yer heid the night about jobs for me.' Gsw. 1972 Molly Weir Best Foot Forward (1974) 41:
'How do you know that? We just got it in the Sunday School the day.' Gsw. 1977 Alan Spence in Moira Burgess and Hamish Whyte Streets of Stone (1985) 141:
'Time you were in bed malad!' he said. 'Aw bit daddy, themorra's Sunday!' Uls. 1987 Sam Hanna Bell Across the Narrow Sea 122:
'I'm 'feard I have to take him from ye. I want him to start at the mill theday.' Edb. 1989 Gordon Legge The Shoe 157:
'How's your band doing?' asked Louise. 'Okay. We're rehearsing the morrow night. Fancy coming along?' Gsw. 1990 John and Willy Maley From the Calton to Catalonia 25:
If they dragged me oot the morra an pit me in front ae the firin squad ah'd sing the Internationale an spit in their eyes. Gsw. 1993 Margaret Sinclair Soor Plooms and Candy Balls 11:
The morrow if it's rainin'
Ma baw bees will be washed away. Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 41:
The-day, A peyed a veisit ti Carntyne
an fylt ma fuit in cowkit pudden an chips. Lnk. 1997 Duncan Glen From Upland Man 5:
Soon Andrew said, "I'll tak his big pownie and cairt
for the dross theday." Lnk. 1997 Duncan Glen From Upland Man 6:
But the beasts hae to be fed
though there'll be nae muckin-oot needit
till themorrow. The new biler-hoose fire's
alreidy lichtit and makin steam; ... wm.Sc. 1998 Alan Warner The Sopranos (1999) 49:
Aye. Good in the Mantrap the night, girls!

11. = Eng. this, in phr. the year, this year, on the analogy of 10. (3) (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc.Sc. 1776 D. Herd Sc. Songs II. 189:
I winna be married the year.Lnk. 1808 W. Watson Misc. Poetry 17:
A Chryston weaver canna buy Himsel' a marte the year.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck vi.:
The achings hae been sair on me the year.s.Sc. 1898 Border Mag. (Oct.) 191:
It's the first steady frost the 'eer.Abd. 1945 A. Fraser Second Crop viii.:
And my turnips, Mr Thomson, will you be seeking them the year?