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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.

Quotation dates: 1721, 1823-1912

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‡ADIST, ATHIS'D, ATHIST, A'TAIST, prep. On this side of, as opposed to ayont, on that side of.Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 399:
I wish you was neither adist her, nor ayont her.Gall. a.1824 A riddle in J. MacTaggart Gall. Encycl. 10:
Heg Beg adist the dyke — and Heg Beg ayout [sic] the dyke Gif ye touch Heg Beg — Heg Beg — will gar ye byke. [A nettle.]Dmf. 1831 R. Shennan Tales 60:
Tam Peevish lives in Galloway Athis'd Dumfries a mile or twa.w.Dmf.2 c.1880:
Athist — on this side of.Kcb.2 a.1899 A riddle from Carsphairn:
Ayont the dyke, adist the thorn, I heard an auld man blaw his horn, His beard was flesh, his neb was horn, And sic a beast was never born. [A cock.]Lnk. a.1911 From a riddle in T. Frazer's coll., Trans. Rymour Club (1906–1911) I. 225:
A-thist the dyke, ayont the dyke, I heard a filly rout.Kcb. 1912 Scotsman 31 Jan.:
The word a'taist is used as meaning "on this side of" as ayont means "on the other side of."

[In Ayr, according to Jam.2 1825, the word meant "on that side," contrasting with anniest, "on this side." This meaning, however, we have not been able to confirm. The word is prob. a contr. for "a (= on) this side," used as a prep. in Eng. dialect before words of place and time — e.g. "a this side Christmas" (Lei.), "a-this-side Lunnon" (nw.Der.); see E.D.D. under Side 3. So also in Mid.Eng.: a þys syde þe toun, Sir Ferumbras, c.1380 (N.E.D.). As the popular rhymes show, the word latterly had become a mere echo, and in one case "a dusty dyke" is actually used as a substitute for "adist the dike."]

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