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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.

Quotation dates: 1700-1726, 1786, 1865-1949

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FLANNEN, n. Gen.Sc. form of Eng. flannel. Also flan(n)an, flannin, flanine, flaning, flaunin, flainen, flennen. Freq. used attrib. Also found in Eng. dial. [Sc. ′flɑnən, ‡Gall. flɛnən]Sc. 1700 Foulis Acct. Bk. (S.H.S.):
Novr. 28: Payed 2 counts for baze, flanan, etc. to him.
Inv. 1726 Steuart Letter-Bk. (S.H.S.) 265:
Your mother . . . had her corps dressed in good fflanings, and a handsome coffin.
Ayr. 1786 Burns To a Louse vi.:
I wad na been surpris'd to spy You on an auld wife's flainen toy.
Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes lxxiii.:
Ow! it was naebody but Jeames Johnston, wantin' a bit flannin for's wife's coatie.
Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond Bawbee Bowden (1922) ii.:
Wi' her chowks a' rowed up wi' reid flannin'.
Lth. 1925 C. P. Slater Marget Pow 17:
If I'm spared I'll need new flannen petticoats next winter.
Tyr. 1929 “M. Mulcaghey” Rhymes of a Besom Man 83:
But me, an' all the world knows, There's virtue in red flannen still.

Hence flannenette, flanninette, flannelette (Cai.7, Bnff.9, Abd.27, Bwk.3 1952).Sh. 1898 Shetland News (15 Jan.):
I wid see his new flanninette.
Ork. 1949 “Lex” But-end Ballans 16:
Print aprons, shirts, an' flannenette.

Phrs.: (1) flannen bannock, a girdle scone (Ags.19 1951); (2) flannen biscuit, humorously for an oatcake (Abd.27 1951); (3) flannan broth, milk-sops, sweetened with treacle or sugar (Bnff.2, Abd.2, Ags.17 1945).(3) Abd. 1930 Abd. Press and Jnl. (31 Oct.):
The query as to what constituted “flannan broth” revived visions of many a dinner table, the meal consisting of “steepit loaf,” bread soaked in boiled milk.

[O.Sc. has flanen, id., from 1530. The -en form is universal in Sc. and freq. in Eng. from the mid. 16th cent. and may be the more correct one if the now gen. accepted derivation from Welsh gwlanen, a piece of woollen cloth, is right.]

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"Flannen n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/flannen>

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