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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

AN(D), AN', conj.¹ And is often written, but seldom so pronounced. [ɑn, ən, n]

1. Co-ordinating = St.Eng. and. Gen.Sc.m.Sc. 1998 William Neill in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 17:
An ye growe smuith an creeshie in yir carcase
an aye growe fatter wi yir baws for brains
while I maun tyauve ti keep fleish on ma banes
an hae ti shift ma airse ti whaur the wirk is.Ayr. 1786 Burns Halloween ii.:
To burn their nits, an' pou' their stocks, An' haud their Halloween.

2. After an expression of feeling, often an exclamation, or a rhetorical question, an(d) is used in Sc. to introduce a circumstance by way of contrast or objection; this is in the form of an exclamatory sentence without a finite verb, and with the logical subject either in the nom. or in the obj. case. The latter is the modern colloquial use, the former occurs also in O.Sc. The usage is rare in St.Eng.; the instance in The Burial of Sir John Moore, cited in N.E.D., is perhaps influenced by a similar idiom existing in Anglo-Irish: That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head, And we far away on the billow. [O.Sc. towards end of 15th cent. Henryson Poems (S.T.S. 1906) II. 9: Pietie it war thow suld ly in this midding, . . . And thow sa fair.]Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 94:
... no one could remember the last time he had brought his wife with him, and her wearing the same green coat she wore to the kirk.Ayr. (?1791) (publ. 1808) Burns Ye Flowery Banks i.:
How can ye chant, ye little birds, And I sae fu' o' care?Ayr. (publ. 1803) Burns Robin Shure ii.:
Play'd me sic a trick, An' me the Eller's dochter!

3. Conditional, or introducing an indirect question = if. Gen.Sc. Used as in Eng. dial. and (arch.) St.Eng. In condit. sentences if is sometimes added as in Eng. The full form and is also found.Sc. 1746 More Culloden Papers (1930) v. 81:
And any belonging me will not gladly acquiese, I shall be as much their Enemy as any.Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxi.:
An if they had me there wi' a stane's weight o' iron at every ankle.Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage (1826) I. xxxv.:
See an ony of them'll rin a race wi' me.Sc. 1887 R. L. Stevenson Merry Men iv.:
The gate they're gaun the noo, they couldnae win through an the muckle deil were there to pilot them.Abd.(D) 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xi.:
Gin they wudna think it greedy-like, an't were kent.Ayr. 1786 Burns Green Grow the Rashes i.:
What signifies the life o' man, An' 'twere na for the lasses, O.

4. Expressing a wish, with principal v. omitted.Sc. 1818 S. Ferrier Marriage (1826) I. xxxiv.:
There's nae freedom at a' in this country. Lord, an' I were oot o't!