Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

USHER, n. As in Eng., in specif. Sc. phrs.: †(1) Hereditary or Heritable Usher (to the King), an officer of the Crown who directed Court ceremonial, including the opening of Parliament; (2) Usher of the Green Rod, the official Master of Ceremonies in the Order of the Thistle, q.v.(1) Sc. 1738 J. Chamberlayne Present State Scot. 183:
They were attended by the Hereditary Usher, or Master of Ceremonies.Sc. 1782 Morison Decisions 6925:
The office of Heritable Usher to the King has belonged, for several centuries, to the family of the Cockburns of Langton. . . . A competition for the profits of the Heritable Ushership.(2) Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. xxx.:
Sir Thomas Brand Knight, Usher of the Green Rod, and daily Waiter to his Majesty.Sc. 1867 Chambers' Encycl. IX. 682:
Usher of the green rod, one of the officers of the order of the Thistle, whose duties consist in attendance on the sovereign and knights when assembled in chapter, and at other solemnities of the order.Sc. 1972 Whitaker's Almanack 259:
Usher of the Green Rod, Sir Reginald Graham of Larbert, Bt., V.C., O.B.E.