Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1896-1905
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CARSONS, Kerses, n.pl.1 "The lady's smock, or cuckoo flower" (w.Dmf. 1894 J. Shaw Country Schoolmaster (1899) 349, karson, kerses), Cardamine pratensis. Very rarely in sing.s.Sc. 1896 S. Arnott in Garden Work 111:
The Ladies' Smock is called 'Carsons' "because it grows on carse land." In the north-west of Dumfriesshire I understand this Cardamine has the name of "Meadow Kerses."Kcb. 1905 S. Arnott in Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 408:
Most of us are familiar with the name of lady's smock, for cardamine pratensis. . . . A purely Kirkbean name . . . for this plant is carsons, but why applied I can never ascertain, except that it may be considered that it only grows on carse land.
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"Carsons n. pl.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/carsons_n_pl1>
