Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

A, prep.³ Form of the prep. of reduced from lack of stress.

1. Used before the gerund.Sc. 1737 Allan Ramsay Proverbs (1797) 93:
Ye breed o' gude mawt, ye're lang a coming. [In Cheviot's form of this proverb it is written o'.]

2. Before nouns.Sc. 1706 Hume Brown (ed.) Lord Seafield's Letters (1915) 176:
The humour in the country against the treatie or [sic] union is much increst a late.Cai.(D) 1909 D. Houston 'E Silkie Man 3:
For 'en a days 'e wather wis worth ca'an wather.Mearns 1747 Baron Court Bk. of Urie (1892) 172:
They shall, each time they are required, be att the milne dam at eight a clok in the morning. A, prep.⁴ Broken-down form of at through lack of stress.Sc. 1721 Jas. Kelly Proverbs 38:
A leasure, as Lairds dies.