Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

COTTAR, COTTER, v.

1. intr.

(1) To live in a “cot-house” as a “cottar” (Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1937).Abd.(D) 1929 J. Alexander Mains and Hilly 67:
Gin we hid been cottarin' noo we wid 'a' kent fine fat to dee wi' ilky penny, for it's a rael han' to mou' business.Mearns 1934 “L. G. Gibbon” in Scot. Scene (Gibbon and MacDiarmid) 218:
Kate laughed in his face and told him plain she wasn't cut out for a ploughman's wife to drag through her days in a cottar house. Sim said there would maybe be no need to cottar.

†(2) (See quot.)Lth. 1825 Jam.²:
A term used in Lth. in relation to a particular plan of raising potatoes. He, who has no ground of his own, has it provided by another, free of rent, on condition of his labouring the ground, planting the potatoes, manuring and digging them. This privilege is granted only for one year; and the advantage arising from the manure and culture is considered as an equivalent for the use of the ground. The person who raises potatoes in this way is said to cotter.

2. tr. To house (a farm worker) in a cottage. Cf. Bothy, v.Bnff.⁴ 1926:
I am cottered this year, i.e. I have got a free house on the farm.