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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CAVIE, CAVEY, Kavie, Kevie, n.¹, v.¹ [′ke:vi]

1. n.

(1) A hen-coop (Ags.¹, Fif.¹⁰, Slg.³, Edb.¹, Lnk.³ (for Lnk. and Lth.) 1939). Jam. gives the form kevie.Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 219:
Ye'll ne'er craw in my cavie. This means that such a person will never be welcomed in my house.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto Tammas Bodkin i.:
Flanked . . . on the left by a pig stye an' chicken cavie.Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems (2nd ed.) 66:
I'm just a cavey makin', That I twae chickens hae to pack in.w.Dmf. 1915 J. L. Waugh Betty Grier 200:
Douglas the barber . . . inveigled me into his back-yard to see a cavie of Wyandotte chickens.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 135:
I mean the hubbub 'boot yon braw-built Kavie, Where sits a clocker trim, and twa-three burds.

†(2) “The lower part of the aumrie, or meat-press. . . . This often stood at a little distance from the wall, and was the place where courtship was carried on” (Sc. 1825 Jam.²).Ayr. 1821 Edin. Mag. (April) 351:
There wad be as muckle cavie keek-bo-ing and pauntrie smirkin, as wad gar the dawpitest daw in a' the Saut Market o' Glasco cower her face wi her temming apron.

(3) In a spinning mill: a slatted rack with compartments or pigeon-holes in which various grists of yarn are kept (Slk. 1947). Cf. Cave, n.¹, 1.

†2. v. To coop (up), confine.Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 59:
The likes o' you, that hae been cavied a' your days in toons, like poutry, hae seldom seen ony real weather.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage, etc. 148:
That's the tower, whar' the famous, but frail countess o' Cassilles was sae lang cavied up in.