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: 1768-1795, 1881-1929
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AVERIN, Averan, Averen, Avern, Avrin, Aivrin, Evran, n. Cloudberry or Knoutberry (Rubus chamæmorus). [′ev(ə)rən, ′ɛv(ə)rən Sc.]Sc. 1881 Blackwood's Mag. CXXX. 109:
Does the reader know the cranberry and the avern?Sc. 1929 J.L.D.S. in Abd. Book-Lover VI. No. 3,65:
We've pu'ed heather on the Breagach, an' averins by the Slocks.Mry. 1887 J. Thomson Recoll. Speyside Par. 107:
Red evrans frae a heath'ry sheet.Bnff. 1905 A. I. Shand Days of the Past 149:
By the way, at Aviemore, . . . we varied the cranberries with averns, which are even more delectable.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 20:
She wins to foot, an' swavering makes to gang, An' meets a plump of averens ere lang.Bch. 1929 Abd.1:
The tinkies campit be the wall on the Cabrach road and the bairnies got their fill o' avrin berries in a lythe glack o' the hill.w.Ags. 1918 (per Ags.6):
Efter the aivrins are ripe they gae wuth (bad) in a day (said by a Glenisla man, aged about sixty).Per. c.1795 Stat. Acc.1 IX. 237:
Hence let them bend their course to Lochnachat, . . . picking up here and there a plant of the rubus chamæmorus (the averan or Highland oidh'rac), and if its fruit be ripe, they will find it very refreshing.
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"Averin n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/averin>
