Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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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.
BUFF, v.3 To toast before the fire or on a brander a salted herring which has been steeped in fresh water. Also derivs. bufter, buffer, buffie, a buffed herring.Sc. c.1730 in R. Chambers Minor Antiquities (1833) 109:
A gude buff'd herring, reisted skate An' ingans.Per. 1737 Ochtertyre House Booke of Accomps (ed. Colville 1907) 16:
19 Feb. Supper eggs in the shell . . . cold mutton pye . . . bufft harrings . . . a cold fowll.Fif. 1897 “S. Tytler” The Witch-Wife xi.:
The herring taken out ofthe salt to “buff” or brander before the fire, sending an appetising aroma through the houseplace.Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 36:
She boiled them, fried them in oatmeal, roasted them on the brander, dished them up as kippers, as bufters, as bloaters, shredded them onto hairy potatoes: producing variety out of monotony. Fif. 1988 Alistair Lawrie et al. eds Glimmer of Cold Brine 54:
Salt herring cooked on a brander were called Buffies or Buffers or Buft Herrin', and making them was a long process.
