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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.

SWITHER, v.¹, n.¹ Also swuther (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); and, now chiefly ne.Sc., swidder, swudder; swydder (Peb. 1832 R. D. C. Brown Pastorals 70). [′swɪðər, ne.Sc. + ′swɪdər]

I. v. 1. intr. To be in a state of uncertainty of purpose, to be perplexed about what to do or choose, be in two minds, to doubt, hesitate, dither (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 80; Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; Per., Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai). Gen.Sc. Vbl.n. swithering.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 99:
There's nae time to swidder 'bout the thing.Sc. 1788 Scots Mag. (Nov.) 559:
As lang as ye about this swither, Ye lose your pains.Edb. 1795 H. MacNeill Scotland's Skaith 197:
Will, wha lang had rued and swither'd.Slk. 1820 Hogg Tales (1874) 109:
Swutheryng what it avysat me neiste to doo.Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize III. xvii.:
The soldier, who sat in a thoughtful posture, plainly swithering.Sc. 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 429:
I have a swithering and a leaning and a hankering and relenting.Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 197:
Your gen'rous bosom didna “swither” To gie them.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxv.:
Switherin' an' dritherin' ower the fore-mentioned considerations.Sc. 1889 Stevenson M. of Ballantrae iv.:
I might have stood there swithering all night.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 40:
Efter swutherin for six months wha she wud tak.Rxb. 1913 Kelso Chronicle (14 Feb.) 4:
Aye the lassie looked at me, An' lang she seemed tae swither.Dmf. 1915 J. L. Waugh Betty Grier 110:
He'll no' swither aboot gi'in' it up for what is likely to pey better.Ags. 1930 A. Kennedy Orra Boughs i.:
It gave them significances that were quite arbitrary when they were swithering.Mry. 1932 E. Gilbert Spindrift 31:
She wad — an' syne she wadna, Her switherin wasna mowse.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick iii.:
Swudderin fat's 'e best rodd tae a thing.m.Sc. 1979 Ian Bowman in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 41:
I'll blouter their nebs on the clean close wa'
an' gie them a taste o' heid the ba',
I'll gar them swidder tae chap ma door
when ma bristly besom dings their splore. wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 26:
Maggie Blair was standing at the ribbon-booth swithering over the choice between a green or pink sash for her bodice on summer Sabbaths. Uls. 1987 Sam Hanna Bell Across the Narrow Sea 35:
While the men from the clachans swithered over the offer the MacIlveens viewed the laird's son in doubt. wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 31:
Anyway, she orders the smoked salmon straight away, while buggerlugs is swithering over the part on our menu called Soup Kitchen, wondering should he sample the Depression Broth at only £4.50 for a generous brimming plateful and a hunk of bread too, ... Arg. 1992:
A wiz switherin aboot it, but, och, A jeest decided tae let it be ee noo. Sc. 2000 Herald 13 Mar 15:
Swither over doing that, or making coffee - but then remember recent replacement of old aroma-wafting espresso maker with a newer lock-in plunger affair.

2. Of impersonal subjects: to be indeterminate or uncertain, to have a doubtful appearance, to fluctuate, hover about, to move fitfully (Sh., Cai., Ags., Per. 1972). Mostly in liter. use.Ayr. 1840 Carrick Anthol. (Finlayson 1925) 225:
Corn to mill, while markets swither.Sc. 1898 R. Bain In Glasgow Streets 37:
The grey, dull rain-clood swithers.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 17:
A pickle blewe reek threh the hoose-lums o Denum draigglet in a swutherin clud.Sc. 1986 Catriona Malan in Deirdre Chapman Scottish Short Stories 1986 128:
Behind her, the window where in winter she had watched flake upon flake swither down, unable to follow one to the ground.

3. To feel faint, “sickly or qualmish” (Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 181), to falter.Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 116:
My flesh crap closer to my skin, And e'en my heart began to swither.Sc. 1839 Wilson's Tales of the Borders V. 95:
Flesh an' bluid canna endure that — it wad gar a horse swither.

4. To swagger, to give oneself airs, to adopt a superior attitude, “to hector” (s.Sc. 1825 Jam.).

5. tr. To tease or puzzle, to perplex with questions (Rxb. a.1838 Jam. MSS. XI. 181).

II. n. 1. A state of indecision or doubt, a pondering, hesitation, uncertainty (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc. †Occas. in pl. (Uls. 1880 Patterson, Gl.)Sc. 1719 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 212:
[He] stands some Time in jumbled Swither, To ride in this Road, or that ither.Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 8:
There's nae scouth To be in ony swidders.Ayr. 1785 Burns Author's Earnest Cry xxviii.:
Their bauldest thought's a hank'ring swither To stand or rin.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xx.:
What signifies keeping the poor lassie in a swither?Rnf. 1870 J. Nicholson Idylls 50:
Quo I, “Maister Quill”, wi a kin o' a swither, I'll spell ye the word if ye'll spell me anither.Dmf. 1920 J. L. Waugh Heroes 36:
My auld frien's in a swither about mentioning it.Uls. 1922 S. S. McCurry Ballytumulty 33:
Cute or canny he sut on In swithers all the while.Cai. 1928 John o' Groat Jnl. (10 Feb.):
A wis aye in a kind o' a swither til' ken which was which.ne.Sc. 1979 Alastair Mackie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 64:
And haar theeks the sea ...
I hae the sea's instability and showdin;
my centre is a swither, an unsiccar shakky foond. Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 13:
a door compromise
'twixt soond, silence, dairk, licht -
the ootward cast o the state o my harns,
catched in a swither, whiles shair o the richt,
whiles thrawed wi doot ... this maitter's fasht me lang,
th' uprisin o Scots, och, I micht be wrang.

2. A state of nervousness or agitation, a panic, fluster (I., n., em.Sc. (a), Ayr. 1972).Sc. 1768 Gude Wallace in Child Ballads (1956) III. 268:
The gude wife ran but, the gude man ran ben, They pat the house all in a swither.Ayr. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook vi.:
I there wi' Something does forgather, That pat me in an eerie swither.Dmf. 1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun 51:
Wull Shanklin brought his firelock hither, And cock'd it in an unco swither.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 188:
He geed intil an unco swither fin he fan it he hid tint's purse.Sh. 1877 G. Stewart Fireside Tales 11:
Da bit lass hed fairly pitten you in a swidder.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 119:
But when the kirs'nen day cam' roun', Feth! I was in a swither.Ags. 1890 A. N. Simpson Muirside Mem. 47:
I was in a “swither,” when the Laird put into my hands what he termed “a broom cowe.”Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xix.:
What a swither she was in about her papa.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 12:
Nicht but the hoast o' a pinin' ram To cüre you o' your swither, Tam.m.Sc. 1991 Tom Scott in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 41:
Nou and syne this thrawn, unyieldan tyran
Keepan me spreadeaglet on the heather
Helpless, in a swither, Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 42:
The door closed behind him before he could finish, leaving him with a mental picture of the old woman in a swither of loneliness.

3. A contest or competition, a trial of strength or wits, a bandying of words.Rxb. 1815 J. Ruickbie Poems 191, 240:
We'll at crambo hae a swither . . . Or some auld aunt's loquacious swither O' wit an' glee.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 90:
Nor wi' the kirk need risk a swither On cutty-stool.

4. A state of confusion, a tangled or muddled condition (I., ne.Sc., Ayr., Gall. 1972).Ork. 1894 W. R. Mackintosh Peat-fires 108:
Here's the gauger, an' the grain o' maut standin' there in a great swither.Kcd. 1932 L. G. Gibbon Sunset Song (1937) 93:
A great swither of a crop with straw you could hardly break and twist into bands for sheaves.

5. A dithering undecided person, one who can never make up his mind (Sh., ne., m.Sc., Rxb. 1972).Abd. 1923 B. R. M'Intosh Scent o' Broom 27:
That lassie's jist a swither.