Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1775-1835
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†COTTERY, Cottary, Coterie, n.
1. A “cottar's” holding.Sc. 1795 Stat. Acc.1 IV. 401:
The decrease is attributed to . . . the abolishing of cotteries.Sc. 1812 J. Sinclair Systems Husb. Scot. II. 8:
The Duke of Montrose, in this view, has broken down a farm, on a remote part of his estate, into cottaries of two acres arable.Ork. 1775 J. Fea Present State (1884) 84, 125:
The Country people subsist, many of them at least, by their more capital Farms: and those near the Sea, by the small Cotteries of the different Islands. . . . These Cottars should have at least seven or eight years rent free, after their possessing, or inhabiting their Cottaries.Per. 1835 J. Monteath Dunblane Traditions 44:
His usual residence was for many years at a little coterie, on the banks of the Endrick.
2. The provision of a small house by a landlord.Inv. 1808 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Inv. 349:
Let there be a house and garden provided for a Protestant Schoolmaster. If his duty is faithfully performed, there will arise under his tuition, a race of men and women . . . whose industry will amply repay the Laird for his meal and cottery, and the scholars for the expense of their education.
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"Cottery n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/cottery>
