Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
ASTARN, adv. Sc. form of astern. Used also fig. in debt, insolvent (I., ne.Sc., Fif., Ayr. 1975). Sc. [1827] Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 6:
Are you to windward or leeward? Right astarn.Abd. 1868 G. Macdonald R. Falconer ii. xxii.:
For a brewin' tub like her, she fummles awa nae ill wi' a licht win' astarn o' her.w.Sc. 1950 A. Dunnett Quest by Canoe 154:
Successive herring seasons had failed. Most of the share-owning fishermen were in debt-'astern' is their grim description of that condition.
