Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BERVIE, Berve, n. [′bɛrvi]
1. Short for Inverbervie, a burgh and parish in the Mearns.Abd.13 1933:
There's little best ale in Bervie far ae wifie brews't a' (no choice amongst a crowd of hooligans).
2. A haddock, split and half dried with the smoke of a fire of wood. Also called Bervie haddock.Kcd. 1883 Fish and Fisheries (ed. D. Herbert) 119:
There was formerly practiced, and very occasionally still is, a form of cure known as Bervies. . . . Bervies were or are not washed after smoking, as Finnans are, but simply dusted with a duster and packed for Market. The colour of Bervies is a dirty blackish brown, and the flavour something between a Finnan and a dried spelding.Ags. 1896 J. M. Barrie Sentimental Tommy xviii.:
She had a bervie and a boiled egg to her tea.Per. 1737 Ochtertyre House Booke of Accomps (1907) 16:
For cockls musles and berve haddoes . . . 0. 1. 0.Edb. 1929 F. Grierson Haunting Edinburgh 39:
Bervies and garvies, cockles, whelks and mussels.
