Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1730, 1848-1936
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‡BREWSTER-WIFE, n.
1. A woman who brews or sells malt liquors. Once Gen.Sc., but now obsol. Cf. Browster Wife.Sc. 1854 D. Vedder Poems (1878) 59:
And brewster-wives beck when they happen to meet him.n.Sc. c.1730 E. Burt Letters North. Scot. (ed. Jamieson 1818) I. 323, Note:
On this the landlady straddled into the room. . . . This harridan is a bad sample of a Scotish brewster-wife.Abd.9 1936:
As fat's a brewster-wife.Ayr. 1848 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock 130:
A scheme which the brewster-wives had formed for raising the price of ale.
2. (Sec quot.)Sc. 1896 A. Cheviot Proverbs 2:
In Scotland the wives of the publicans used to brew the ale consumed in the taverns, and as the occupation would seem to have thriven with them, “a brewster wife” became a description for any female who was enormously fat.
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"Brewster-wife n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/brewsterwife>
