Edder

EDDER, sb. and v. In gen. dial. use in Sc. and Eng. Also written eder Chs.1 Chs.2 Chs.3 Sus.2; and in forms eather N.Cy.2 Glo. Ess. s.Cy.; eddard Oxf. (K.); eddow Hrt.; ether Bnff. Abd. (Jam.) w.Yks.1 Nhp.1 Nhp.2 War.1 War.2 War.3 se.Wor.1 s.Wor.1 Shr.1 Hrf.2 Glo.1 Brks.1 Mid. e.An.1 Suf.1 Ess.1 Ken. Sus.1 Sus.2 Hmp.1 I.W.1 I.W.2 Wil.1; heather Hrf.2 Glo.2; hether w.Wor.1 Shr. Hrf. Glo.1 Som.; yeather N.Cy.1 N.Cy.2 Nhb.1 Cum. Wm. w.Yks.4; yedder Nhb.1 Cum.1 n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 ne.Yks.1 m.Yks.1 w.Yks. ne.Lan.1 Chs.2; yedther Wm.; yether Sc. (Jam.) Dur.1 Cum.1 n.Yks.2 e.Yks.1 m.Yks.1 w.Yks.1; yither Cum.1 [e·də(r, e·ðə(r, je·də(r, je·ðə(r.] 1. sb. A long, pliant stick or rod made of hazel, osier, &c., used as a binder for the top of a newly-made hedge or fence. Also used attrib. Gen. in pl. n.Cy. Grose (1790); N.Cy.1 N.Cy.2, Nhb. (K.), Nhb.1, Dur.1 Cum. They whack wi' their yedders, Dickinson Cumbr. (1876) 242; (E.W.P.); Cum.1 Cum., Wm. Nicolson (1677) Trans. R. Lit. Soc. (1868) IX. Wm. Sheed teean a girt yedther, wi her, an dreeav Bobby afooar her, Spec. Dial. (1880) pt. ii. 27. n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 ne.Yks.1 ‘Nowther a stake nor a yedder,’ i.e. ‘neither one thing nor another,’ is used of a person of whom nothing can be made, and who succeeds in no kind of work. e.Yks. The stake-and-edder hedge prevails in this district, Marshall Rur. Econ. (1796) I. 196; When cutting thorns, a hedger will say ‘If that weean't mak a steeak, it'll mak a yether,’ Nicholson Flk-Sp. (1889) 30; (Miss A.) m.Yks.1 w.Yks. Hutton Tour to Caves (1781); (R.H.H.); w.Yks.1, ne.Lan.1, Nhp.2 Glo. Horae Subsecivae (1777) 145; Glo.1 Glo.2 Oxf. Those binders which are wattled on the top of stakes to bind and strengthen the hedge (K.). Brks.1 Bdf. Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. (1809) 131. Hrt. A good workman will twist his eddows against the plashes, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) I. 92. Mid. A very thin stake and edder hedge is formed, Marshall Review (1817) V. 127. w.Mid. I likes blackthorn best for making ethers of. Common (W.P.M.). Suf.1 Nrf., Ess. Grose (1790). Ess. Then takes his eathers, as they are here styled (for I believe it is merely a provincial term signifying the longer boughs in his cut down wood, or obtained elsewhere, as it may happen, in size about as large as a man's finger), Young Agric. (1813) I. 181; Gl. (1851); Ess.1 Ken. Stakes and ethers are cut out before the faggots are made, Marshall Review (1817) V. 430. Sus.1 Sus.2 Hmp. Holloway; Hmp.1 I.W.1; I.W.2 The wold man's aater'n wi' a ether. Wil. Britton Beauties (1825); Wil.1 An eldern stake and blackthorn ether Will make a hedge to last for ever, Wilts saying. Hence Ether-winders, sb. pl. long, pliant rods or wands, used as binders to strengthen a newly-made hedge or fence. Nhp.1 2. A hedge. Chs.1 Chs.2 Chs.3, Nhp.2, Sus.1 3. pl. Binding bricks or stones, put in a wall with the heads or ends outwards. Chs.1 4. v. To strengthen a newly-made hedge or fence by inter-twining long, pliant rods or sticks between upright stakes. N.Cy.1 N.Cy.2, Nhb.1 Cum. ‘Can te styak an' yedder?’ Sometimes asked by old masters of servants offering themselves (M.P.). n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 m.Yks.1 To yether and dyke is to hedge and ditch. w.Yks.1 Bdf. Intertwisted among the stakes sufficiently to maintain their position without eddering the top, Batchelor Agric. (1813) 274. Hrt. The next work is to eddow the hedge, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) I. 92. w.Mid. Blackthorn's best for etherin with. Common (W.P.M.). e.An.1 Suf. Rainbird Agric. (1819) 291, ed. 1849; Suf.1 Mind you ether it right strong. s.Cy. Ray (1691). Hmp. The hedge which he has been ethering, Wise New Forest (1883) 193; Hmp.1 Hence (1) Edderer, sb., fig. a very tall, thin man; (2) Eddering, (a) vbl. sb. the act of making a hedge with ‘ethers’ and stakes; (b) ppl. adj. long and slender, pliant, supple, lithe, powerful; (3) Edderings, sb. pl. long, pliant rods of hazel, &c., used to bind and strengthen a newly-made hedge. (1) Wm. (B.K.) (2, a) N.Cy.2, m.Yks.1, Suf. (K.), e.Suf. (F.H.) s.Cy. Ray (1691). (b) Cum. Bit yen thare was some yetherin dogs At owr the leave laid the capsteane, Stagg Misc. Poems (1805) 132. Wm. Girt yedtheran hagwerms fower er five yerds lang, Spec. Dial. (1865) 14. (3) Chs. (K.), Chs.1 Chs.2 Chs.3, Nhp.1 War. (J.R.W.); B'ham Wkly. Post (June 10, 1893); War.1 War.2 War.3 w.Wor. Some trous and hetherings to fill the gaps, S. Beauchamp Grantley Grange (1874) I. 172; w.Wor.1, se.Wor.1 s.Wor. (H.K.); s.Wor.1 Also used for bean-sticks, and for making crates. Shr.1 Shr., Hrf. Bound Provinc. (1876). Hrf.1 Hrf.2, Glo.1 Bdf. Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. (1809) 131. Som. An old-fashioned word, but still well understood (W.F.R.). 5. To interweave with twigs, as in basket-making; to bind firmly. Rxb. (Jam.), n.Yks.2 Hence (1) Edder-ware, sb. (?) wicker-work; (2) Yether, sb. the mark left by tight binding as with a small cord; (3) Yethered, pp. tied as faggots with twigs or twig-bands. (1) Chs.1 One medder Edder-ware, 4s. Chorn Edder-ware, 5s., Acct. in Township Books of Pownall Fee (1767). Medder may possibly mean a measure, and if so ‘one medder Edder-ware’ would be a bushel measure made of basket work; but at the same time it is difficult to understand how a churn (if ‘chorn’ means ‘churn’) could be made of the same material. (2) s.Sc. (Jam.) (3) n.Yks.2 6. To twist ropes round a stack, or fence it with ropes. Abd. (Jam.) Hence Etherin, sb. a short straw rope; a cross-rope of the roof of a thatched house or stack of corn. Gen. in pl. Nai. Eitheren, the straw rope which catches, or loups round the vertical ropes, in the thatch of a house or corn-stack, forming the meshes of the netting, Surv. Gl. (Jam.) Bnff. Morton Cyclo. Agric. (1863). Abd. (Jam.) 7. To flog with a long rod or ‘edder’; to lash with a whip. Slk. Some o' them that fought the deil hand to fist... and dang him at the last ─ yethered him and yerked him till he couldna mou' another curse, Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck (1818) II. 130 (Jam.); Weel done, little hawkie! Yether him up, pink him weel, HOGG Perils of Man (1822) III. 417 (Jam.). Dur.1 Wm.&Cum.1 Some there war 'at clash't their keytes Till they were fairly yether'd, 143. Yks. Ile yether your sides (K.). e.Yks. Nicholson Flk-Sp. (1889) 30; e.Yks.1 w.Yks. Thoresby Lett. (1703); w.Yks.4 Hence (1) Yether, sb. a discolouration of the skin caused by a blow; (2) Yethering, vbl. sb. a beating, thrashing, flogging. (1) e.Yks. Nicholson Flk-Sp. (1889) 30; e.Yks.1 (2) Slk. I like nae yethering ahint backs, Hogg Perils of Man (1822) I. 247 (Jam.). n.Yks.2 A good yethering. [1. Edder and stake, strong hedge to make, Tusser Husb. (1580) 73. OE. eodor (eder), enclosure, fence, hedge; cp. ON. jaðarr, edge, border; MHG. eter, ‘geflochtener

zaun’ (Lexer).]

EDDER, see Adder, Either, Elder.