Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1756-1805, 1857, 1909-1932
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BANDSTER, BANDSTIR, n. That one of a party of harvesters who binds the sheaves. Gen.Sc. [′bɑn(d).stər]Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 43:
She wis a bandster alang wi' me in the hairst-time eence on a day.Fif. 1909 Colville 177:
"A tak ill wi' the firrst o' hairst. A buddie's sae heftit wi' the baps an' the beer, an' fair hippit wi' the bindin'," was the sage reflection of a Fife bandster before the days of the reaping quick-firer.Peb. 1805 J. Nicol Poems I. 142:
An' monie a bourdlie bandster lown, Made there an unco bletherin.s.Sc. 1857 H. S. Riddell Psalms cxxix. 7:
Wharewi' the mawer fillsna his han', nar the bandstir his bozim. [A.V. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.]Slk. 1756 J. Elliot Flowers of the Forest in Scott Minstrelsy (1893):
Bandsters are runkled, an' lyart, or grey.
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"Bandster n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/bandster>
