Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BANDSMAN, n. “A harvester who binds the sheaves” (Bnff.4 1912).Gall. 1810 S. Smith Agric. Surv. Gall. 129:
A good deal of dexterity is requisite to perform this part of the work well, and as the bandsmen are often taken indiscriminately from the common labourers, it is for the most part done in a manner so slovenly, as, in bad harvests, to occasion much loss and trouble.
