Sawney

See also: sawney

English

Alternative forms

• Sawny

Proper noun

Sawney

1. A diminutive of the male given name Alexander, of Scots origin.

   Sawney Bean

   • 1812, John Bell, Rhymes of Northern Bards, page 185:

     But Sawney grew weary, and fain would be civil, / Being auld, and unfeary, and fail'd of his strength

Noun

Sawney (plural Sawneys)

1. (archaic, derogatory) A Scotsman.
   • 1874 July–December, W. Senior, “With the Herring Fleet”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, page 704:

     “They can live upon barley-meal without a morsel of meat from week-end to week-end, can these miserable Sawnies,” quoth another.

   • 1897, Stanley John Weyman, chapter XIV, in Shrewsbury:

     He took the gibe and scowled at me--he spoke always like a Sawney, and could never pass for English; but in his pleasure at the discovery he had made he let the word pass.

See also

• Jock

Anagrams

• Swaney, Swayne, waneys