mether

alternative methera

1. dialectalFour in the old counting system of Northern England.

plural methers · alternative madder · alternative meather · alternative medar · alternative medher

1. IrelandhistoricalA square wooden drinking vessel, sometimes used for measuring liquids.

   I raise to you, O Queen, this Loving Cup, this Mether, / Filled with Mead / Made from honey of the heather […] .

   1912 James Henry Cousins, "The Loving Cup" I (Etain the Beloved and Other Poems, p.84) (Maunsel & Co)

   2 more examples

   Lord Herbert and Mr. Luke White were to be seen on the roof pouring water down the chimney, while the Marchioness of Ormonde was seen carrying the Regimental Cup (the silver Irish mether to be competed for) from the scene of the fire.

   1912 "Our Lady Correspondent" "Fashions at Leopardstown" The Irish Times 27 August 1912, p.8

   [A]nd then lifted he in his great brawny strengthy hands the medher of dark strong foamy ale and, uttering his tribal slogan Lamb Dearg Abu, he drank to the undoing of his foes […].

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 312