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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

LOT, n., v. Also loat, †loatt. Dim. lottie (Gall. 1810 R. Cromek Remains 208; Abd. 1882 W. Alexander My Ain Folk 105).

I. n.

Sc. form of Eng. lot (Abd., Arg., Fif., Edb., Ayr., Dmf., Rxb. 2000s).wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 29:
Onywey, fechtin', whaur's the sense in that?
A loat mair weys than yin tae skin a cat ...wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 3:
Then this familiar-lukkin felly
I'd seen a loat oan the tellym.Sc. 1994 Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay Forever Yours, Marie-Lou 3:
A loat ae water's flowed unner the bridge since then ...Gsw. 1994 Herald 6 Jun 6:
... hunners o' pipers makin' fur the pubs and a loat o' them jist a wee bit under age, but nae matter.Uls. 2000 Belfast Telegraph 3 Jul :
Even efter he pecked his baag an' left because thur wur an awfu' loat of pubs between here and the Liverpool boat an' it took him a guid three weeks tae stegger the wheen of miles to Ballymoney to the station.Sc. 2002 Scotland on Sunday 22 Dec 4:
" ... Ah need smack a loat more n these c***s need their possessions."

Sc. usages:

1. A piece of ground allocated or allotted to a particular tenant. Freq. in U.S. Hence lot-croft, a small piece of land always in crop and let along with rural cottages (Kcb. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ I. 173).Ayr. 1766 Prestwick Burgh Rec. (1834) 97:
They imployed John Foulds . . . and Mathew Pen . . . to measure and divide the same into thirty six loatts or falls.Ayr. 1805 R. Forsyth Beauties II. 473:
Each of these freemen possesses what is called a lot or freedom, containing about four acres of arable land.Rs. 1884 Crofters' Comm. Report App. A. 205:
In course of time, the crofting system superseded the yearly “casting of lots;” hence the croft still goes under the designation of “lot.” The boundaries of the township, however, remained fixed as theretofore, as the croftage formed “part and parcel” of the commune as of old.

†2. An allowance of corn paid to the thresher as part of his fee. Hence lotman, a thresher of corn.Lnk. 1708 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 19:
Besydes the Lot, which is the tuenty fifth pairt of what he threshes, he is to have a cothouse and a kaill yeard.Ags. 1794 J. Roger Agric. Ags. 20:
The generality of farmers employ for this purpose, men, called Lotmen, who receive the 25th boll of grain they thresh out, with breakfast, and a small allowance for dinner; or the 21st boll, without victuals.Bwk. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ I. 84:
Threshing of corn is usually paid by what is termed lot, i.e. 1 boll is allowed for every 25 bolls that are threshed.Sc. 1814 J. Sinclair Gen. Report Agric. Scot. 226:
Where the allowance to the thresher was either a proportion of the produce, known by the name of lot, (commonly a twenty-fifth part), or when he was paid in money at so much per boll, the temptation to execute the work in a slovenly manner was so great, that probably twice the quantity required for seed was lost upon many farms.Per. 1872 Per. Constitutional (8 April):
There were aught lotmen in the barn, and it would hae thrashed mair in a nicht than they would a' done in a month.

II. v. 1. To allot, allocate, apportion, esp. land. Hence lotted land; lottar, one who occupies a lot of land (Bnff. 1961).Inv. 1884 Crofters' Comm. Report App. A. 30:
There was a very numerous class known in Skye as “lottars,” elsewhere as “cottars,” who held a house and a very small patch of land from a farmer or a crofter.Bnff. 1914 Session Cases 174:
The applicant is a tenant of certain portions of lotted land situated in the parish of Fordyce.Bnff. 1961 Stat. Acc.³ 209:
These lands, except those within the burgh of Macduff and a small area immediately outside its boundary known as the “lotted lands”.

†2. To pay “scot and lot,” a traditional expression for municipal taxation in the oath administered to burgesses up to the 19th c. Nonce.Abd. 1714 Sc. N. & Q. (May 1935) 78:
I shall scot, lot, watch, wake and Ward with the inhabitants of this Burgh.