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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

ILK, adj.², pron. Also ilke.

I. adj. Each, every, of two or more. Now mainly liter. and replaced by Ilka.Ayr. 1709 Arch. & Hist. Coll. Ayr. & Wgt. IV. 240:
The persewer to prove that ilk yokeing of land gave 7 merk.Gsw. 1717 Burgh Rec. Gsw. (1908) 628:
Ilk person who laid doun the said dung or gathered the said midden.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 34:
Intill her face ilk sweet an' bony draught Came till it sell.Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (S.T.S.) II. 83:
Whare I was keppit wi' the heavy tale That sets ilk dowie sangster to bewail.Ayr. 1790 Burns Tam o' Shanter 220:
Ilk man, and mother's son, take heed.Sc. 1817 Scott Bonnie Dundee iii. in Doom of Devorgoil (1834) ii. ii.:
As he rode down the sanctified bends of the Bow, Ilk carline was flyting and shaking her pow.Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 51:
Ye've heard hoo the de'il, as he wauchel'd through Beith Wi' a wife in ilk oxter, an' ane in his teeth.Ags. 1923 V. Jacob Songs of Ags. 42:
But time drives forrit; and on ilk December There waits a New Year yet.m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 51:
Ilk morn I wauken, howpe athin ma breist
Euterpe's here tae veesit me the day Abd. 2000 Sheena Blackhall The Singing Bird 39:
Noo gloamin peints ilk image I can see
Wi sic profundity, sic glamourie,
As if a bourachie o fremmit fowk
War waukin slaw my wye,

Comb.: ilk-day's, everyday, customary, ordinary. Cf. Ilka, 2. (3).Sc. 1720 T. Boston Fourfold State 374:
He must take up his ilk Day's Cross.

II. pron. Each one, every one.Sc. 1756 Scots Mag. (Jan.) 17:
Ableins they'll tak it in their heads, Ilk to tak wives to warm their beds.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 6:
Straight down the steep they slide wi' canny care, Ilk at the ither's en', frae stump to stane.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 25:
For by this time nae bands are made, Ilk down their handfu's lay.Edb. 1869 J. Smith Poems 4:
The foremost three held ilk the croon O' story-tellin' craft.Sc. a.1894 Stevenson New Poems (1918) 38:
When it's time to take the gate Tak' ilk his ain.Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylins 22:
We'll see, when ilk comes till his ain, fa wis the biggest feel.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 53:
Paiks maun be tholed by ilk alane.ne.Sc. 1991 Lilianne Grant Rich in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 23:
Skirlin and lauchin, ilk wi spindrift weet,
At the waves' edge the bairns their taes try in

III. Combs.: 1. ilk an(e), -een (n.Sc.), each one, every one, of two or more, everybody, all and sundry (Edb. 1720 A. Pennecuik Helicon 67, ilkan; ne.Sc., Ags., Fif., Rxb. 1958). Also ilkin, and ¶ilken, used adj. = every (Slk. 1817 Hogg Poet. Mirror 196); 2. ilk ither, each other, one another (Ags., Rxb. 1958). Also ilkanither; 3. ilk-whair, everywhere.1. Kcd. 1701 Urie Court Bk. (S.H.S.) 112:
The said day amerciatis John Maule in Glithnoe, and Allexander Duncane ther, ilke ane of them in fyftie poundis Scotis.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 75:
Ilk ane their Gifts down flang.Abd. 1819 in J. Burness Plays, etc . 301:
Ye're nae ilk ane, for depend, I seldom sae far condescend, As sha' my scrawls to ony body.Sc. 1824 Scott Redgauntlet Letter xi.:
Yell on yell gied the Laird, ilk ane mair awfu' than the ither.Bch. 1929 Abd. Univ. Rev. (March) 129:
The vrichts, A suppose, wiz wullin' aneuch, but ilkeen o' them wiz feart for lossin' his custom.Sc. 1983 John McDonald in Joy Hendry Chapman 37 44:
ilkane nocht bit a fingerneb;
a field o sensation whaur 'God' comes
tae ken his Warl and himself -
gin we'd! only get oot o the wey. m.Sc. 1986 Tony McManus in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 170:
Mair nor ain, grey wing woundit, een reid wi bluid, blind,
'll dee, these chiels o puirtith hae, ilkane, kin tae fend for ... em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 106:
'Ilk yin o yese. Ye hae grat for a broken Covenant and the saut is frozen on aw yer faces. But wha'll greet for me, eh? Wha'll greet for me?'2. Ayr. c.1786 Burns Twa Herds ix.:
And names, like villain, hypocrite, Ilk ither gi'en.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality iv.:
If they come to lounder ilk ither, as they did the last time, suldna I cry on you?Edb. 1851 A. Maclagan Sketches 56:
But the twa puir folk like statues stood, Mute, gazing on ilk ither.Ags. 1920 A. Gray Songs 16:
They speak to ilk ither a language, Sae bonny and couthy and bien.em.Sc.(a) 1991 Kate Armstrong in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 112:
as that we luik on ilkanither's hoose
an hunker, gin we find it, in oor ain3. Ayr. 1789 D. Sillar Poems 95:
My praise is ilk-whair yelpit.