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 1934 (SND Vol. I).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BACK-BIRN, n. A burden carried on the back. Also used fig.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 18:
O dead, come also an' be kind to me, An frae this sad back-birn of sorrow free.Mearns 1929 J. B. Philip Weelum o' the Manse 19:
They'll [hedgehogs] rin up an epple tree, ding in their birse and cairry aff a hail back-birn o' epples.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin (1868) vi.:
He never cam' withoot . . . a perfect back-birn o' news baith domestic an' foreign.