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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

BREER, n. Sc. form of St.Eng. brier, a prickly shrub, esp. the wild rose, Rosa canina. The form brier is also found in Sc. but is pronounced [′bri(ə)r]. Gen.Sc.Sc. 1932 J. G. Horne in Scots Mag. (Dec.) 210:
The dews glint fairily On bank an' breer.Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald The Gangan Fuit 33:
Man i the muin he's staunan an chauvan
wi a graipful o breers he's warslan awaa. ...
The jobes aff the breers his claes hiv aa rivan,
muckle he tholes frae the cauld an the snaa.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 86:
Unfald ilk buss and ilka brier, The bounties o' the gleesome year.Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales II. 215:
He sprang o'er the bushes, he dashed thro' the breers.

[O.Sc. brere, breir, brer, breer (1400), a briar, briar-bush. O.E. (Anglian) brēr, W.S. bræ̂r, Eng. dial. brere (see E.D.D. s.v. briar). The Mod.St.Eng. form briar is irregular. (See N.E.D. s.v. brier, n.1)]

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