Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
BRESS, n. Also braisse. Gen.Sc. form of St.Eng. brass. Used as in St.Eng. to indicate the metal, or money. The form bresse, illustrated below, is now obs. Also used attrib. [brɛs]Abd. 1916 G. Abel Wylinsfae my Wallet 49:
We maybe forket oot o' bress Mair than we cud afford.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 1:
An ben the hearth, on box o braisse, far granny's coal wis keepit,
Emblazoned wis a tiger, creepin forrit, fly an sleekit. Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 38:
Her wark wis aa deen, she hid aa the foreneen
To ficher an soss wi her bress.Ayr. 1700 in Muniments Royal Burgh Irvine (Ayr. and Gall. Arch. Assoc. 1891) II. xv. 317:
Three dozen of Bresse buttons valued at 14s. Scotts.
Hence bressie, a brassie, brass-soled golf club (St Andrews 1936 (per Fif.1)).
Comb.: bress-winder, one who fills or winds the yarn on the brasses or bobbins used in lace weaving (Ayr. 1951).
[O.Sc. bras, bres, bresse, id., earliest quot. a.1400 (D.O.S.T.).]
