sowens, n. pl. Sc. (and Ir.).
(ˈsoənz, ˈsu-)
Forms: 6 sowannis, 7 sownis, 7–9 sowins, 8– sowens, -ings, sewings, sooins, so'ns, 9 sowans, sooans, -ens, sones; sweens, swins, etc.
[app. ad. Gael. s{uacu}ghan, s{uacu}bhan, the liquid used in preparing ‘sowens’ (= Ir. s{uacu}ghán, subhán sap, juice), f. s{uacu}gh, s{uacu}bh sap.]
1. An article of diet formerly in common use in Scotland (and some parts of Ireland), consisting of farinaceous matter extracted from the bran or husks of oats by steeping in water, allowed to ferment slightly, and prepared by boiling.
A number of phrases and idiomatic uses are illustrated in the Eng. Dial. Dict.
| α 1582 Records of Elgin (New Spald. Cl.) I. 168 Scho wald leiff to sie his bairnis beg thair meit; he culd cun sowannis better nor aill. 1625 Sc. Acts, Chas. I (1870) V. 182/2 Actis maid anent the pryceis of sownis and englishe beir. 1677 Nicolson in Trans. R. Soc. Lit. (1870) IX. 319 Sowins, outshellings. 1698 M. Martin Voy. St. Kilda iii. 114 These Sowens (i.e. Flummery) being blended together, produce good Yest. 1728 Swift Past. Dial. Wks. 1755 III. ii. 204 See, where Norah with the sowins comes. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 15 Sept., At night they sup on sowens or flummery of oatmeal. 1785 Burns Halloween xxviii, Till butter'd So'ns, wi' fragrant lunt, Set a' their gabs a steerin. 1818 Scott Br. Lamm. xix, I was bred a plain man at my father's frugal table, and I should like well would my..family permit me to return to my sowens. 1855 [J. D. Burn] Autobiogr. Beggar Boy (1859) 49, I had..an excellent supper of sowans with milk, and bread and cheese. 1885 W. Ross Aberdour & Inchcolme II. 26 He found the goodwife busy preparing sowans. |
| fig. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xlii, The Christian souls..who were hungering for spiritual manna, having been fed but upon sour Hieland sowens by..the last minister. |
| β 1776 J. Pringle Disc. Health Mariners 18 note, This rural food, in the North, is called sooins. 1778 Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 632 What is called sooins in Scotland, and much used by the common people there. 1827 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 334 Extendin your notes, as they ca't, ower your sooens and sma' beer. 1899 Spence Shetl. Folk-Lore 174 Groats, and ootsiftins, from the last of which that delicious food called sooans..are made. |
2. attrib., as
sowen-cog,
sowen-kit,
sowen-mug,
sowen-porridge, etc. Also
sowens-say, a sieve for sowens.
| 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets ii. 1 The supper sowin-cogs and bannocks. 1724 ― Tea-table Misc. (1876) I. 174 A milsie, and a sowen-pale. 1725 in Herd Sc. Songs (1776) II. 143 A spurtle and a sowen mug. 1729 in Paterson Hist. Musselburgh (1857) 164 Although the sowin pot should cool. 1776 Herd's Sc. Songs II. 139 'Tis fa'en in the sowen kit. 1793 Fullarton View Agric. Ayr. 114 The spence in which were stored the meal-chest, sowen-tubs, besoms, and saddles. 1808 Jamieson, Sowens-porridge, a dish of pottage, made of..cold sowens, by mixing meal with the sowens, while on the fire. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xciv, Something about a sowan-cog. 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v. Say, The sowens-say is supported by two bars laid across the tub. 1900 Daily Mail 2 May 5/3 Sowan porridge, our new delicacy, made from fermented oats. |