Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1824-1828, 1896-1934
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ROSSAN, n. Also -en, ros(s)in. A thicket, esp. of thorny bushes (Gall. 1825 Jam., Kcb. 1900). Deriv. rosseny, covered with thickets. [′rɔsən]Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 264, 414, 397:
Rob Fisher landed himsell in a rossen o' breers. . . . A fox was once sadly beset in one of these rossens o' whuns . . . What notion gard ye croak awa Sae far's the rosseny Netherlaw.Kcb. 1828 Justiciary Reports (1829) 304:
It ran her to a neighbouring rossin of whins.Gall. a.1897 R. Ringan's Plewman's Cracks 14:
A rossan o' whuns at the side o' the rig.Kcb.1 1934:
One day quite recently he heard a boy say that he had lost his ball in the rossan.
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"Rossan n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 19 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/rossan>
