Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

KEERS, n.pl. A thin gruel given to feeble sheep in the spring (Slk. 1825 Jam., Slk. 1959); weak, indifferent, unsustaining porridge or spoon food of any kind.Rxb. 1914 Kelso Chron. (11 Dec.) 4:
Fed, perhaps on new milk or keers they may get up again, carrying one palsied leg or having a twisted neck, and presenting a sorry spectacle.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A bottle o' keers for an auld yowe. . . . We [hired people] juist get a bowl o' keers.