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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.

ETHER, adv., pron., conj. Also †aether; edder, eidder, †idder, Sh.; edder, eider, ne.Sc.; eyther, Kcb.; e(i)thers, Arg.; ither. Variant forms of Aither, either, q.v. [′eðər Sc., but ne.Sc. + ′edər, ′ɛd-, m.Sc. + ′ɛð-; ′ɛd- Sh.]

1. Forms.Sc. 1719 Monymusk Papers in S.C. Misc. (1842) II. 99:
This will puzle thy philosphy, but thou needs not doubt of the certainty of ether.Sc. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage II. ix.:
He'll be aether at the patatees, or the horses, I'se warran.Abd. 1826 D. Anderson Poems 6:
For they may pray and fear nae evil neither; “The deevil tak' them that hae maist o' ither.”Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xli.:
Gin ye be edder to gie heed to a' the idle jaw't ye hear . . . or till imawgine that I've naething adee but reel aff to you aboot fat Sir Simon inten's to do. . . .Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 243:
Be-me-sang, der as vogerous follows as edder dee or me.

2. Usages.

†(1) Or, in constr. either . . . either, either . . . or; “occasionally used” (Ags. 1808 Jam.).

†(2) In pl. = both, and, reciprocally, = one another.Ags. 1740 Deed (per Fif.¹):
Both partys bind and oblige them to perform their severall parts of the premisses to ethers.