scran n.
1. payment for food at an inn.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | New Canting Dict. n.p.: Scran, a Reckoning at a Boozing-ken. | |
| , , , | | Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725]. |
| , | | Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. |
| , , | | Sl. Dict. |
| Sl. and Its Analogues. |
2. (also scrand, scranny, scrano) food, esp. various bits of food, left-overs, ‘broken victuals’ etc., thrown together for an impromptu meal or a meal taken onto their job by a labourer.
| ‘Frisky Moll’s Song’ in Harlequin Sheppard 22: I Frisky Moll, with my rum coll, / Wou’d Grub in a bowzing ken; / But ere for the scran he had tipt the cole, / The Harman he came in. | |
| Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue. | |
| New Dict. Cant (1795). | |
| Life in London (1869) 52: The needy flue-faker [...] born without a shirt, and not a bit of scran in his cup. | |
| ‘With My Cook So Fair’ in Lummy Chaunter 67: Let him try all he can, he only will get scran. | |
| Swell’s Night Guide 68: I’ve tumbled on a donna, who has been doing the multa bonna fakement, pallarying the slavies down the haries and she has done stunning, and copped a lummy slum of bonna scran. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bell’s Life in Sydney 16 Oct. 1/1: For two days i haven’t had one bit of scran. | |
| Paved with Gold 71: ‘Come, lad, have a bit o’ scran, and I’ll stand a shant o’ gatter, I’ve got a teviss here;’ and then, suddenly remembering that he was no longer talking to one of his own fraternity, he added, ‘I meant to say, have a bit of this here vittals, and I’ll pay for a pot of beer, I’ve got a sixpence.’. | |
| (con. 1840s–50s) London Labour and London Poor III 315/2: Others beg ‘scran’ (broken victuals) of the servants at respectable houses. | |
| Sl. Dict. 222: SCRAN, pieces of meat, broken victuals [...] Scranning or ‘out on the scran,’ begging for broken victuals. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Dundee Courier 22 Sept. 7/3: Reaching down a big ‘scran-dish’ full of comestible. | |
| Wops the Waif 2/2: Git outside your scran as quick as yer knows how. | |
| Truth (Sydney) 19 Feb. 2/8: To indicate anything to eat it must be ‘chuck,’ ‘panam’, ‘scran’. | |
| ‘’Arry on Harry’ Punch 24 Aug. 90/2: All yer mincey-wince mealy-mouthed haspirates is nothing but slop and cold scran. | |
| Sun. Times (Perth) 8 Jan. 1/1: He can put away a hundred weight of scran. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | ‘A Cronk Camp’ Truth (Wellington) 19 Jan. 5: A Cronk Camp Where Navvies scoff Flyblown ‘Scran’. | |
| Autobiog. of a Super-Tramp 211: I never fail to get the sixteen farthings for my feather (bed), I get all the scrand (food) I can eat; and I seldom lie down at night but what I am half skimished (half drunk), for I assure you I never go short of my skimish. | |
| Leamington Spa Courier 20 Sept. 7/1: There are a great many tramps staying in this district at the present time [...] In addition to ‘gagging’ ‘scran’ (food) and ‘thonicks’ (coppers), they also get hold of a lot of old ‘clobber’ (clothes). | |
| ‘Hitched’ Songs of a Sentimental Bloke 81: At last Doreen an me we gits away, / An’ leaves ’em doin’ nothin’ to the scran. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Rising Sun 1 Jan. 3/2: Now Infantryman and Artilleryman, / Both wallow in Picardy mud. [...] His ‘scrano’s’ the same as the Infantry tuck, / And both dodge the 8-inch ‘dud’. | |
| Mint (1955) 36: The cook produced a much used plate of butter, an end of jam, and bread [...] ‘Scran up.’. | |
| Dly Mail (Brisbane) 14 Oct. 21/7: Ah, cruel fate! the lazy curs must now earn their daily scran. | |
| Adventures of Johnny Walker 190: Beggars in London lodging-houses use the slang of lodging-houses, and not of the open road. [...] [They] say ‘chuck’ or ‘tommy,’ when they refer to food; but the latter [wandering beggars] say ‘scrand’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 41/2: About three weeks later I’m having some scran in an eating-joint down near the Quay. | |
| Thieves Slang ms list from District Police Training Centre, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Warwicks 9: Scram: Good [sic]. | |
| Living Rough 159: We are getting our kip here and some scran for nothing. | |
| For the Rest of Our Lives 364: Got any scran left, Plugger? | |
| They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 129: ’Ow’s the scran? [...] Ready fer the nosebags? | |
| Big Red 188: ‘We are going to give the men a talk.’ ‘Better off if you took them some scran.’. | |
| I’m a Jack, All Right 54: You had one too many pick-me-ups and no scran. | |
| Breathing Spaces 95: Darby was a neighbour of ours and we used to cook up our scran over at his place. | |
| (con. 1950s–60s) in Little Legs 62: I asked her [...] whether she could lay me on some scranny. | |
| ‘Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyght’ in Indep. Weekend Rev. 26 Dec. 1: Sir Gary see if there’s any signe of that scranne yet. | |
| Stump 187: We went out on thee ale an we’re down Hardman Street an she wants some scran. Gets a chicken burger, like. | |
| (con. 1980s) Skagboys 121: Eywis get peckish eftir a ride n horny eftir a scran. | |
| Decent Ride 162: Wir [...] headin tae the fish bar in Montgomery Street, fir some scran. | |
| Empty Wigs (t/s) 479: [H]e was having lunch [...] Different from my humble scran. We lived in different worlds. |
In compounds
1. a beggar’s receptacle for the scraps of food they solicit.
| Swell’s Night Guide 131/1: Scran cly, a bag for beggars’ grub. | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 7 Oct. 3/1: The barber singled him out several of the choicest morsels from his scran-bag. | |
 | Autobiog. of a Beggar Boy 17: Your professional pickpocket looks down with contempt upon a knight of the scranbag, and the highflyer turns up his genteel proboscis at the common cadge. | |
| Dundee Courier (Scot.) 21 June 7/6: Such a ‘scran pocket’ would probably hold twenty pounds of bacon and other food. | |
| Sheffield Wkly Teleg. 21 Apr. 8/2: By the side of the horrible old man [...] there was a bag just like the scran-bag Denny and me used to carry when we went out begging. | |
| Round London 40: Many a toothsome morsel is yielded by the ‘scran bag’ of the professsional beggar. |
2. any form of bag into which bits of food can be placed; used fig. of poor-quality food.
| Hackney & Kingsland Gaz. 1 June 3/4: [In] the great national museum in Great Russell-street [...] there is a regulation that no ‘scran-bag’ from which a snack may be [...] snatched, is allowed to pass the janitors. | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict. 70: Scran Bag, a soldier’s knapsack. | |
| Derbys. Advertiser 2 Dec. 25/4: I saw a little wizened old vagrant turn out his ‘scran pocket’ by the roadside on the Ashby ‘main drag’. | |
| Some Recollections 235: That chap’s pocket-handkerchief is in the scranbag. | |
| Naval Life and Customs 79: The Scranbag is an ancient institution in all His Majesty’s ships and shore establishments. Originally, no doubt, just a sack. | |
| Miss Pym Disposes (1957) 102: ‘One would think,’ said Miss Lux, [...] ‘that on a night of celebration Miss Joliffe would have provided something more alluring than a scranbag’. | |
| Banshee and Bullocky 64: The old nanny goat got into their scranbag [...] and ate all their flour. |
(Aus.) a cook.
| Banshee and Bullocky 105: This Pierre was a scranbasher from way back. |
a restaurant.
| Flash Mirror 21: B. Chewcock [...] has opened a long scran crib and says [...] he’ll for ready ding sarve ’em with savage lawyers, polonises and Garman sasengers [...] Bloody jemmies and faggots red hot ever darkey at nine. |
(Aus.) a mealtime.
| Aussie (France) 5 June 10/1: At scran-time his Bully and ‘Anzac Wafers’ were untouched, and he drank his section’s rum issue without noticing what he did. |
In phrases
something unappealling, distasteful, lit. ‘cold food’.
| ‘’Arry on ’igh Art’ Punch 1 Feb. 42/1: Stone images, picters, engravings, and such-like artistic cold scran. |
In exclamations
(Aus.) bad luck (to you)!
| Sport (Adelaide) 19 June 4/3: The old ned was in good humour the other Sunday, so Carl M. went for a drive while the Love Lane boys had a good look at his orange bed. Hard scran he doesn’t know who did it . | |
| Saturdee 54: I am not let to speak to you for a week. ‘Why ain’t you?’ demanded Waldo. ‘Because the old woman’s got it in for me about old Poulter,’ said Bill. ‘Hard scran,’ said Waldo. | |
| Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. |