Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1934 (SND Vol. I). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1920, 1996
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BACKEN', Backend, n. Also used attrib. A Sc. form of backend, end of harvest or late autumn, which is regarded as St.Eng. by N.E.D. and Concise Eng. Dict., and is marked provincial by Un. Eng. Dict. [′bɑk′ɛn + ′bɑk′n Sc.; ′bk′ — em. and wm.Sc.]Rs. 1996 Alec John Williamson in Timothy Neat The Summer Walkers: Travelling People and Pearl-Fishers in the Highlands of Scotland 55:
We got a lot of fish - in Ullapool we could pick up heaps of fish for nothing - plenty fell from the baskets up on the pier. From the shepherds, we'd sometimes get mutton: at the backend, coming home, there'd be venison.w.Dmf. 1920 J. L. Waugh Heroes in Homespun iv.:
Since that backen' nicht the worl' has never been the same to me.
