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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CURRAN, n. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. currant. Also found in Eng. dial. Cf. Curn, n.2 The following combs. are peculiar to Sc.:

(1) curran-bun, a kind of cake used at Christmas and New Year (Sc. 1825 Jam.2, Cai.7, Abd.9, Ags.17, Fif.10, Arg.1, Lnk.11, Kcb.1 1941); otherwise called a Black Bun, q.v.; transf. a bump or thud on the bottom when one slips and sits down forcibly (wm.Sc. 1975); (2) curran-dawd, “currant loaf or any kind of cake with fruit in it” (Abd.13 1910); (3) curran' flooer, the flowering currant, a shrub of the genus Ribes.(1) wm.Sc. [1835–37] Laird of Logan (1868) 67:
Our landlady here, wha seemed very proud about it, brought it ben, along with her curran-bun.
Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems, etc. 14:
While ane augments the gladsome fees, Wi' whangs o' curran-buns an' cheese.
Lnk. 1866 D. Wingate Annie Weir 58: 
I got ae curran'-bun, And wee Annie Kenzie got twa, She jist slade a wee bit and got twa.
(2) Abd.9 1942:
In our village the baker used to mix the oddments of dough left over from his usual tale of loaves, baps, biscuits, etc. with currants and bake as a sort of currant bun. A slice of this of generous size was sold cheap and was consequently much favoured by boys, who called it curran-dawd.
(3) Ags. 1934 H. B. Cruickshank Up Noran Water 10:
The bonny-scentit crimson O' the curran' flooer.

[Eng. has currans, currants, 16th–18th cent., and the sing. curran, 17th–18th cent. (N.E.D.).]

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"Curran n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 20 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/curran>

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