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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

SUITH, n., adj., adv., v. Also suth(e), sith; †sieth (ne.Sc.); ¶shuith; and irreg. or anglicised forms south, sowth. Sc. forms of Eng. sooth (see etym. note). See P.L.D. §§ 37, 128. [søθ, sɪθ; suθ]

I. n. 1. Truth, verity, in exclam. phrs. (by) my suith, upon my word, to tell the truth (Bnff., Ags., Kcb. 1971), in honest sooth.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 39:
Na, bimme sooth I!Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 209:
An ye be in earnest, tell me, for by my suthe I'm no scorning.Ayr. 1786 Burns To a Louse v.:
My sooth! right bauld ye set your nose out.Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. liii.:
My sooth, they will be hard-bitten terriers will worry Dandie.Sc. 1827 W. Motherwell Minstrelsy 369:
“Now by my sooth,” said Willie Wallace, “It's been a sair day's wark to me.”Ags. 1848 Feast Liter. Crumbs (1891) 58:
But, by my shuith, I'm weel content Wi' Jenny Marshall's candy, O.s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws iv.:
I tell you, Gavin, in honest sooth.m.Sc. 1979 William J. Rae in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 78:
He'd a croak fit tae burst onybody's lugs, but that didna help maitters. The sooth wis, it only made them waur.

¶2. A true story or saying.Dmf. 1913 J. L. Waugh Cracks wi' R. Doo 56:
The truth o' some o' these auld sooths.

II. adj. 1. Of things: true, real; of persons: veracious. Now arch. or liter. Obs. in Eng. till revived in liter. use by Scott. Adv. soothly, truly, verily; in 1899 quot., quietly, gently, due to association with soothe, which is ultimately of the same orig. Cf. v. below.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 231:
It soothly shaws them they can spare A rowth to spend.Kcb. 1797 R. Buchanan Poems 144:
If a' was sooth An everlasting bar Was now against his ev'ry scheme.Sc. 1805 Scott Last Minstrel ii. i .:
Home returning, soothly swear Was never scene so sad and fair!Sc. 1810 Scott Lady of Lake i. xxiv.:
Announced by prophet sooth and old.Rnf. 1815 W. Finlayson Rhymes 54:
Yet sooth it is, tho' nought is queerer, Hope, in distress, his daily chearer.Sc. 1816 Scott Black Dwarf iii.:
Ye are angry aneugh yoursell if ane touches you a bit, man, on the sooth side of the jest.Lnk. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond 117:
'Twas soothly found that four and sixpence in the pound was no mean composition.Sc. 1881 W. Gregor Folk-Lore 102:
Tho' Thomas the Lyar thou callest me, A sooth tale I shall tell to thee.Sc. 1894 Blackwood's Mag. (July) 14:
I ken a sooth face from a leeing one.Per. 1898 C. Spence Poems 137:
The following tale Shall stand a witness, sooth and leal.Kcb. 1899 Crockett Anna Mark lii.:
“Soothly, soothly,” cried the old man, “hasten me not.”

Combs. (1) sooth boord, south board, a jest with an element of truth in it, a home-thrust. See Bourd and cf. †Eng. proverb Sooth bourd is no bourd; (2) soothfast, of persons or statements: true, veracious, dependable, credit-worthy. Arch. except in Sc. Law of the testimony of a witness. Adv. soothfastly; (3) soothfow, -ful, id.(1) Sc. 1800 A. Carlyle Autobiog. (1860) 267:
Monteath . . . took his opportunity of giving him such southboards as silenced him for the whole evening.Sc. 1953 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 124:
The magazine was suppressed not for its “sooth boords” or its pungent personalities.(2) Sc. 1732 J. Louthian Form of Process 36:
To bear leil and soothfast witnessing, in so far as you know, or shall be speired at you.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary xxv.:
Edie was ken'd to me for a true, loyal and soothfast man.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxiii.:
If I were to come, wad ye really and soothfastly pay me the siller?Sc. 1818 Scott Bride of Lamm. xxii.:
Soothfast tidings has assured him that this nobleman was . . . to honour his castle at one in the afternoon.Arg. 1918 N. Munro Jaunty Jock (1935) 133:
“I'll take your word for it,” said he, with another glance at a very soothfast mask that came down on as sweet a pair of lips as ever man took craving for.Sc. 1959 Ct. of Session Citation of Witness:
To bear leal and soothfast witnessing, and give and declare your oath of verity, in so far as you know or shall be interrogated respecting the points and articles admitted to probation.(3) Sc. 1813 Scott Triermain iii. xxxiii.:
Nay, soothful bards have said.Lth. 1825 Jam.:
A soothfow servant, one who is not an eye-servant.

III. adv. Truly, really, indeed, used as int. Arch. in Eng.Per. 1774 MS. per Edb.³:
'Sieth, woman, a' that's very true, We e'en maun get a stane o' woo.Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 132:
An' sieth it is but hameil pen't.Bnff. 1829 J. Dunbar Poems 113:
But seeth I fear ye'll fin me slack.Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 257:
But sowth we get a canty lilt.Per. 1898 C. Spence Poems 166:
Sith, that is just as true's they said it.

IV. v. To flatter, cajole, blandish. Also with up. Obs. in Eng.Gall. 1796 J. Lauderdale Poems 84:
Now-a-day ane canna phraise, An' sooth, an' lie, an' sweeten.Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Tales 25:
Wha play'd upo' the country foibles, And sooth'd the lasses up wi' baubles.