Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BERRY, BERRIE, n.¹ As in St.Eng. but note the following:

1. “Currant” (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 191).

2. “The gooseberry” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B. 54).

3. In pl.

(1) Used to indicate the jam or jelly made from gooseberries, raspberries, cranberries, etc., the first being the most common.Bnff. 1922 Bnffsh. Jnl. (12 Dec.) 2:
Tay in the mornin' an' at nicht, wi' loaf breid an' seerup, or berries o' some kin'.Abd.¹⁹ 1934:
Wid ye hae me tak berries ti ma piece an me nae at ma second cup?

(2) Ears of corn.Abd. 1877 W. Alexander North. Rural Life in 18th Cent. xviii.:
He avowed his belief, that the cattle would be “nane the waur o' a wisp wi' a fyou o' the berries on't.”

(3) The berry-gathering.Sc. 2005 www.firstfoot.com/php/glossary :
Annual holiday in Blairgowrie - the berry picking season. Minkers from all over Scotland gather together to pick the berries and get pished a lot.Ags.¹ 1934:
He's gotten wark at the berries.Per. 1987 Roger Leitch ed. The Book of Sandy Stewart 52:
The Berries startit aboot July fer eight or nine weeks.

(4) The berries, something very good, excellent.Sc. 2005 www.firstfoot.com/php/glossary :
Great, brilliant - as in : "Thon wis the berries!"m.Sc. 1965 Hugh C. Rae Skinner (1988) 86:
"Wonder what he thought about you gettin' these years inside?" I say "He thought that was the berries, t'tell the truth."

4. Phrase: nae (no) the berry, — berrie, not the thing; not to be trusted.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D.Bnff. 217:
To be no the berry, to be of bad character; not trustworthy.Abd. 1891 J. Ogg Glints i' the Gloamin' 168:
He's nae the berrie.Abd.⁴ 1931:
“Nae the berry nir yet the bus' 'at it grew on.” Said of a suspicious character. [The expression might naturally arise in a district where “berries” were of importance as a food or a relish (Abd.²²).]

5. Combs.: (1) Berry-bug (n.,s.Rxb.), -boag (ne.Rxb.), “a mite infesting ‘berry-bushes,' shrubs, etc.” (Watson W.-B. (1923) 54), a harvest-bug.

(2) Berry-buss, -bush, “the gooseberry bush” (Ib.).

(3) Berry -, berri(e)-hedder, “crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., s.v. berrihedder; Sh.⁴ 1934).Sh. 1898 Sh. News (19 Nov.) (E.D.D. Suppl.):
Dey [fish brushes] wir a' made oot o' berrie hedder.Sh.(D) 1922 J. Inkster Mansie's Röd 91:
I blew up da bow — a gude ramskin bow shü wis, Tamy, an' da staak weel buskit wi' berry hedder frae be wast Toor-da-Watter.

(4) Berry hen, “a lobster in spawn” (Ags.¹ 1932).

(5) Berry-making. (See quot.)Abd. 1911 Wkly. Free Press (15 Aug.):
Berry-making. The making of jam of various berries [gooseberry, currant, etc.].