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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

THORTER, prep., adv., adj., v., n. Also thorto(u)r; thwarter, and I.Sc. forms twarter, -our, -ower. [′θortər; ′twartər]

I. prep. Across, on or to the other side of, over (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1972).s.Sc. 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws xviii.:
You daurna show your face thorter the water.

II. adv. Across, athwart (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., 1914 Angus Gl.). Combs.: †thorter-ower, across (Rxb. 1825 Jam.); †thorter-throw, v., to pass an object backwards and forwards (Id.).

III. adj. 1. Running across or placed at a right or oblique angle to something else, slanted, asquint, awry.Ags. 1720 Dundee Charters, etc. (1880) 176:
To the head of the thorter raw in the Overgate.Rxb. 1947 W. S. Robson Hawick Place-Names 68:
Thorterdykes [in Hawick] may signify the site of an old camp which was known to former generations as lying athwart the old town, or the name may denote the land lying athwart the Moat.

Comb. thorter-ill, thwarter-, a form of paralysis in sheep which causes a distortion of the neck and an uncertain staggering gait (Sc. 1804 Trans. Highl. Soc. III. 385–90; Peb. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); also fig. in 1926 quot.Sc. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ I. 138:
Palsy, called trembling, or thorter ill, to which those fed on certain lands are peculiarly subject.Sc. 1827 Hogg Shep. Cal. (1865) xvi.:
The thwarter-ill (a sort of paralytic affection).Sc. 1888 Trans. Highl. Soc. 196:
The embryo [of the hydatid] sometimes gains access to the spinal cord in the neck and produces the condition known as “thorter-ill.”Sc. 1926 H. M'Diarmid Drunk Man 38:
The roses like the saints in Heaven treid Abune the thorter-ills o' leaf and prick In which they ken the feck maun stick.

2. Of wood, cross-grained (Sh. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XII. 203, 1914 Angus Gl.). Comb. thorter-knot, a knot in wood where a branch has grown out of the tree (Mry. 1925 Jam.).Sc. 1817 Illustr. North. Antiq. (Weber) 404:
If you were to look through an elf-bore in wood where a thorter knot has been taken out, you may see the elf bull.

3. Surly, out of humour (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)).

IV. v. 1. To oppose, thwart, frustrate (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)). The form thorten in T. Brown Dict. 137 is a misprint.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums 101:
They made wee maiks oot o' clay or butter of them that had thortered them, stappin' the maiks fu o' preens.Sc. 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ ii. i.:
He whyles thorters an' conters us.

2. To go up and down and across a piece of work, to do something in a criss-cross fashion, to work at right angles to what one has done previously, specif. with reference to ploughing or harrowing (Lnk., s.Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 192; Abd. 1963), in sewing (Sc. 1825 Jam.) or painting (Abd. 1963), spreading butter on bread (Per. a.1890 D. M. Forrester Logiealmond (1944) 189; Kcb. 1927; Abd. 1963); cf.Thoum, v. 5.e.Lth. 1713 Country-Man's Rudiments 9:
After it is so plowed, you must harrow it well by Thortering, that is to harrow cross the Rigs.Sc. 1809 Edb. Review (April) 145:
To thorter land, is to harrow it across the direction of the ridges.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 192:
The ley's gotten twa en' langans an' twa thorterans.Abd. 1948 Huntly Express (28 May):
Thortorin' was harrowing zig-zag or angle wise, as farmers say, down and up a field — an operation seldom performed in modern days.

3. Fig. to sift an argument thoroughly, go over the pros and cons of anything, to ponder carefully (Ags. 1825 Jam.).

V. n. A quick cursory performance of some task, as housework, a hurried going-over.Fif. c.1850 Peattie MS.:
She juist gae't a bit thorter.