A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1937 (DOST Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1569-1597, 1683
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0]
Clever, n. Also: clewir, cleaver. [ME. clevre (rare), OE. clǽfre, var. of cláfre: see Claver n.] Clover. Also attrib. with girs (grass). (a1570-86 Dunb.) Maitland Folio MS xiii. 26.
Suppois I war ane ald ȝald auer, Schott furth our clewch to squische the cleuer 1597 Misc. Spald. C. I. 91.
Thair scho suld find … thrie cors of clewir girs, and cast the sam in the fyir 1683 Coll. Aberd. & B. 104.
It affords the best of grass, such as cleaver and filch grass
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Clever n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/clever_n>
