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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CANNAS, CAN'AS, Cannis, Canness, Cannes, n. Also variant reduced form cans. [′kɑnəs]

1. A coarse cloth, a canvas sheet; also used by synecdoche for the sail of a ship. Known to Bnff.², Abd.²², Ags.¹ 1938. Cf. Cammas.Abd.(D) 1785 R. Forbes Ulysses' Answer in Sc. Poems (1821) 13:
A puft o' wind ye cudna get, To gar your cannas wag.Ags. 1938 (per Ags.¹⁷):
I knew a jobbing gardener who in going to and from his work carried his tools in what he called his “cannis,” which served the purpose of keeping his tools firmly together.Slg. 1712 Burgh Rec. Slg. (1889) 128: 
For every load of cans, kail, and made graith, imported and exported.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 12:
She is to gie me . . . the half o' the cogs, three spoons, four pair o' blankets an a can'as.

2. “A coarse sheet used for keeping grain from falling on the ground, when it is winnowed by means of a wecht” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam., cannas, cannes); “usually a large canvas sheet placed on the ground to catch grass seeds threshed out of the field of hay, or to keep any grain from being lost in a stack yard” (Abd.⁷ 1925). Known to Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1938.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays and Leg. of the North (1908) 3:
An' barn-fans, an' flails, an' fleers, An' canasses an' secks.Abd. 1938 (per Fif.¹⁰):
In the smaller clachans this cannas was communal; hence the Deeside (Micras) saying: “there's nae an honest man in Micras but een, an' he stole the cannas.”

Comb.: canness-braid, -bred, cannas-breid, “the breadth of such a sheet” (Sc. 1808 Jam.), a canvas-breadth, a small patch.Sc. 1909 Colville 148:
A cot wi' a cannas-breid o' a gairden.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 21:
The shade beneath a canness bred out throw, Held aff the sun beams frae a bony how.Abd.⁴ 1928 (Proverb):
“Wenna on yer ain can'as,” fall back on your own resources.