A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1475-1586
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Cartar(e, Carter, n.1 Also: cairtar, -air, -er; cairtour. [ME. cartare (a 1250), carter(e, f. Cart n.1 See also Karter n.1] A carter. Also poet., a charioteer.Early examples occur c 1250 in the place-names Carterford and Cartergate (Liber Calchou 91).(a) c1475 Acts of Schir William Wallace ix. 717.
Thir cartaris had schort suerdis … Wndyr thar weidis c1475 Ib. 721.
Thir trew cartaris a1500 Tale of the Colkelbie Sow i. 58.
Scho callit to hir cheir … A cairtar, a cariar 1494 Treasurer's Accounts I. 254.
For the tursing of … ane barrell of ter and othir gere, to ane cartar, xlv. s. 1506 Ib. III. 142.
To cartaris that drew thre falconis and the bumbard to Leith 1513 Doug. xii. xi. 23.
Scho that was turnyt … In semland of Metiscus the cartar c1552 Lynd. Mon. 550.
To colȝearis, cairtaris, and to cukis, … my ryme sall be diractit 1586 Liber Scon 231.
The cairtair aicker and the dempstare croft(b) 1500 (c 1580) Edinb. B. Rec. I. 84.
That the cairteris of Leyth may thair resaue the samyn [gudis] 1554 Ib. II. 193.
To pay the workmen, merchantis, carteris … and vtheris that furnist the grayth to the convoy [etc.] 1554 Ib. 281.
The … merchands, carteris, and pyonars (c) 1575 Reg. Great S. 641/2.
Vectori et officiario, vulgo cairtour et officiar
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"Cartar n.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/cartare_n_1>
