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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

FERN, n. Also faern, fairn, †fearn, †far(i)ne. Dim. fairnie. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. fern.

1. In Scot. freq. applied to bracken. Adj. fe(a)rny, fern-clad, of fern.Wgt. 1714 Session Bk. Wigtown (1934) 193:
Mistress Kincaid . . . depones that she did imploy William Gibson to procure the farine tree but it was for her own use.Sc. 1742 J. Cockburn Letters (S.H.S.) 83:
The farnes should be carried part to the Town and part to the House and stacked up at both places as last year and as dry as possible.Per. c.1800 Lady Nairne Joy of my earliest Days ii.:
We played at penny stane Amang the green fairnies.n.Sc. 1825 Proverb in Jam.²:
It's either a tod or a ferny-buss, i.e. it's something or another, no matter what.Edb. 1866 J. Inglis Poems 74:
I mind she bought twin lambs the second year, A tup an' ewe, like fairns in June that grew.Lth. 1885 “J. Strathesk” Blinkbonny 135:
I hae nae broo o' their faerns, . . . some bits o' crinshes o' roots she feshes in.Kcb. 1898 T. Murray Frae the Heather 21:
Of rocks and scaurs and boulders gray, . . . And fearny dens and grassy strips.

2. Combs.: (1) fern lintie, the whinchat, Saxicola rubetra (Abd. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 11; Uls.⁴ 1951); (2) fern-owl, the nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus (ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna of “Dee” 114). Also in Eng. dial.; †(3) fern-storm, a rain storm, caused according to popular belief by the burning of fern or heather (n., s.Sc. 1852. See N. & Q. (1852) V. 301). Also in n.Eng. dial.; (4) ferny-faced, freckled (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., fairny-). Cf. Ferntickle.(2) Sc. 1799 W. Smellie Philos. Nat. Hist. II. 428:
The goat-sucker, or fern owl, from the dusk till day-break, serenades his mate with sounds similar to the clattering of castanets.Ayr. 1825 A. Crawford Tales Grandmother I. 266:
However, I fear them not! — they are but a nest of fern-owls, led by a kestrel!