▪ I. kirn, n.1 Sc. and north. dial.
(kɜːn, Sc. kɪrn)
Also 4–6 kirne, 5–6 kyrn(e; north. Eng. 7 kerne, 7–9 kern, kurn.
[Northern form of churn n.: cf. ON. kirna, in same sense.]
1. A churn.
| 1338–9 Acc. Rolls Durham (Surtees) 311 In j kirne emp. pro eadem [dayeria], 5d. 1483 Cath. Angl. 204/1 (MS. A.) A kyrne, cimba, fiscina. 1562 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 207, j kirne with staffe xiiij{supd}. 1681 Inv. in Hunter Biggar & Ho. Fleming vi. (1862) 62 Ane say, ane kerne and two four gallon trees. 1728 Ramsay Betty & Kate vii, Sae may your kirn with fatness flow. 1785 Burns Addr. Deil x. Countra wives..May plunge an' plunge the kirn in vain. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxv, I see it is ill done to teach the cat the way to the kirn. 1825 Brockett, Kern. 1876 Mid Yorksh. Gl., Kurn. |
2. fig. ‘Applied to a mire’ in which the mud is churned up; ‘a disgusting mixture’. ‘The ground's a mere kirn.’ (Jam.)
3. Comb., as kirn-milk, kirn-staff: see churn.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 43 Thai maid grit cheir of..reyme, flot quhaye, grene cheis, kyrn mylk. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words, Kern-milk, butter-milk. 1684 G. Meriton Praise Ale 160 (E.D.D.) Sheel kedge our kites with good kirne-milk and whig. 1724 Ramsay Evergreen, Wyfe of Auchtermuchty xii, He tuke the kirnstaff be the shank. a 1774 Fergusson Poems (1807) 225 My kirn-staff now stands gizzened at the door. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxvii. note, He dealt in the whole⁓some commodity called kirn-milk. |
▪ II. kirn, n.2 Sc. and north. dial.
(kɜːn, Sc. kɪrn)
Also 9 kern, kurn, curn.
[Of uncertain etymology: see Note below.]
1. A feast or merry-making held on the completion of the harvest; a harvest-home or harvest-supper. (Thing and name are passing out of use.)
| 1777 [see kirn-baby]. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 124 As bleak-fac'd Hallowmass returns, They get the jovial, ranting kirns, When rural life, o' ev'ry station, Unite in common recreation. 1806 Douglas Poems 143 (E.D.D.) Hame they gang to get the kirn. 1808 Scott Marm. iv. Introd. 101 Who envies now the shepherd's lot,.. His rustic kirn's loud revelry. 1883 Longm. Mag. Apr. 657 The oldest rustic festival here [in Lothian] is the harvest home, or ‘kirn’. |
2. The cutting of the last handful of corn (the kirn-cut) on the harvest-field. Chiefly in the phrases to win (get) the kirn: to gain the distinction of cutting down the last armful of corn; to succeed in finishing the harvest; to cry or shout the kirn: to cheer or shout in token of this. (Now rare.)
| 1808–18 Jamieson, Kirn, the last handful of grain cut down on the harvest-field. 1821 Blackw. Mag. 400 (Jam.), I shall either gain a kiss from some fair lip for winning the kirn, or some shall have hot brows for it. 1836 J. M. Wilson Tales Bord. II. 209 (E.D.D.) An hour would be sufficient to terminate their harvest toils and win the kirn. 1866 Henderson Folk-lore N. Counties 66 When the sickle is laid down, and the last sheaf of golden corn set on end, it is said that they have ‘got the kern’. [The words I have heard used in crying the kirn in Roxburghshire, a 1860, were ‘The corn's shorn, the kirn's won, Kirnie, kirnie, coo-oo-oo!’ the last word much prolonged. J.A.H.M.] |
3. attrib. and Comb., as kirn-bannock, kirn-feast, kirn-night; kirn-cut = sense 2; kirn-supper, the harvest-home supper (see also churn-supper, s.v. churn n. 5); kirn-winning = sense 2.
| 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. (1876) 405 A piece..of the *kirn-bannock. |
| 1810 Cromek Rem. Nithsdale Song 259 From the same pin depended the *kirn-cut of corn, curiously braided and adorned with ribbons. 1862 J. Grant Capt. of Guard xlv, Above the mantelpiece hung the..kirn-cuts of corn gaily ornamented with ribbons—the trophies of the last year's harvest home. |
| 1846 Drummond's Muckomachy 32 (E.D.D.) At fairs, *kirn-feasts, and penny weddins. |
| 1789 Burns Let. Lady Glencairn, At gala-times, such as New-year's day, a christening, or the *kirn-night,..my punch-bowl is brought from its dusty corner. 1777 *Kern Supper [see kirn-baby]. 1822 T. Bewick Mem. 26 The man..when he met me had been on his way to a ‘kirn supper’. 1864 Chambers' Bk. of Days II. 379/2 In Scotland, under the name of the Kirn or Kirn-supper. |
| 1819 in Anderson Cumbld. Ball. 65 To murry-neets, *kurn⁓winnins, Hannah ne'er went. |
[Note. The instances of the word kirn or kern are quite recent, and leave us in the dark as to its earlier history. The popular notion often associates it with kirn n.1, churn; and there are positive statements that a churnful of cream was a prominent item in the harvest-supper (J. Nicol Poems (1805) I. 154; Hone Year-bk. (1832) 10 Sept. 534/2; Haliburton Puir Auld Sc. (1887) 148–9). See also churn-supper, s.v. churn n. 5. But this may be due only to popular etymology. If the word were old, it might in form represent an OE. *ᵹe-cyrn = OHG. gikurni, shortened kurni, churni, MHG. kürne, kürn, ‘corn collectively or of all kinds’ (see Grimm, s.v. Korn 1 d). But this hardly suits the sense, unless indeed *ᵹecyrn could have meant something like ‘completion (of the reaping or ingathering of all the corn)’. (Prof. E. Sievers.)]
▪ III. kirn, v.
(kɜːn, Sc. kɪrn)
Also dial. kern, kurn.
[Northern form of churn v.]
1. a. trans. and absol. To churn; to make butter by churning. b. intr. Of butter: To form by churning, to ‘come’.
| 15.. Wyfe of Auchtermuchty v, Scho kyrnd the kyrne, and skwmd it clene. 1725 Ramsay Gent. Sheph. ii. iii, Tibby kirn'd, and there nae butter came. a 1774 Fergusson Poems 74 (Jam.) Nae mair the thrifty gudewife sees Her lasses kirn. 1801 in Anderson Cumbld. Ball. 19 For tou can kurn, and darn, and spin. 1856 Henderson Pop. Rhymes 56 (E.D.D.) The gudewife's butter wadna kirn. |
2. transf. a. trans. To mix or stir by a process like that of churning cream; to keep turning over, up, etc. b. intr. To perform the act of stirring something; to puddle, etc.
| 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xxxiv. (E.D.D.) It would hae been mair to the purpose had ye been kirning drogs with the pistle and mortar in your ain shop. 1869 R. Leighton Scotch Wds. 20 I've just been kirnin' through the Word o' God. 1892 N. Dickson Auld Min. (1896) 106 Busy kirnin' among clay an' makin' bricks. |
Hence kirned ppl. a.; ˈkirning vbl. n., churning: attrib. as kirning-day; kirning-rung = kirn-staff (kirn n.1 3).
| 1790 A. Wilson Pack Poems 59 Gin ye please our John an' me, Ye'se get the kirnan rung To lick, this day. 1808 E. Hamilton Cottagers Glenburnie (Jam.), The very first kirning after, her butter was burstet and gude for naething. 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. (1876) 39 'Twas fed on new kirned butter-milk. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy 217 The morn..is kirning-day. |