pother \POTH-er\,
noun:
1. A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do.
2. Commotion; uproar.
3. A choking or suffocating cloud, as of smoke or dust.
verb:
1. To worry; bother.
"An' why all the pother?" Mrs. Rickards emitted a series of sniffs and returned his scowl with a frosty glare.
-- Colin Arthur Roderick, "The Lady and the Lawyer"
I don't know what's so extraordinary about it, or why there should be such a pother.
-- William Dean Howells, "Novels 1886-1888, Volume 2"
Pother is of unknown origin. It is not related to the word bother which did not enter English until the 1700s and is related to the word both.
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