Green’s Dictionary of Slang

an excl. of astonishment or horror.

1903		Arbroath Herald 1 Jan. 6/6: By crivens, but he tell’t me plenty tae pit me past buyin’ the like.
1903		Arbroath Herald 5 Feb. 2/3: Oh crivens! Nae what!
1906		Arbroath Herald 22 Nov. 5/6: ‘Great crivens, Donal!’ I said suddenly.
1917		A.S. Neill Dominie Dismissed 101: Crivens! What a fine essay that wud mak!
1927		Scots Mag. 7 215: Crivens ! Where did ye get the fright that bleached your whiskers then?
1935		G. Blake Shipbuilders (1954) 60: Holy crivvens, I nearly broke my flakin’ back on yer pipe line! [...] Crivvens, boy, it’s great to see one of the old crush!
1938		Arbroath Herald 30 Sept. 5/7: The reward we’ve got for a good job — anither order and crivans! she’s a beezer.
1944		Sun. Post (Lanarks.) 21 May 2/1: Two little boys were gazing in the window of a Glasgow shop where peaches were priced at 10s 6d each. [...] One little fellow exclaimed— ‘Crivens!’.
1944		Sun. Post (Lanarks.) 4 June 3/4: ‘By crivens,’ he mused. ‘Hamilton’s been dashed good to me — on the whole!’.
1999		Observer 3 Oct. 14: The cartooon characters prefer quaint old exclamations [...] like ‘Jings’, ‘Crivvens’.
2000		Indep. Rev. 20 Mar. 3: Crivens!
2004		Guardian G2 21 Sept. 27: Crivens! I’m saved!