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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HUIDIE, adj. Also hoodi(e), -y, hudi; huddie (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 252), -y; hiddie, -y; heedie, -y, heid(d)ie, †heady (n.Sc.); hoddie (Per. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XIX. 498), -y; howdie (Fif. 1957). Furnished with a hood, hooded. Commonly in combs.: 1. black hu(i)die, the reed bunting. See Black Hudie; 2. huidie craw, houdie craw the hooded crow, Corvus cornix. Gen.Sc. Also fig. contemptuously of a person of sinister manner or aspect (Abd., Peb., Rxb. 1957); the carrion crow, Corvus corone. Gen.(exc. I. and Cai.)Sc.: the black-Headed gull, Larus ridibundus (Cai. 1887 Harvie-Brown & Buckley Fauna Cai. 230, hoodie-, headie-; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., hudikraw, Sh. 1957); 3. huidie maa, the black-headed gull (Sh. 1957). See Maw. In 2. and 3. the forms huidie, hoodie, etc. alone are very frequently found. [m.Sc. ′hødi, ′hyd-, ′hɪd-, Fif. + ′hʌud-; ne.Sc. ′hid-. See P.L.D. §§ 35, 128, 164.5.]2.Ayr. 1787 Burns Lament for W. Creech viii.:
He cheeps like some bewilder'd chicken Scar'd frae its minnie and the cleckin By hoodie-craw.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 4:
Upon an ash above the lin, A hoody has her nest.Abd. 1792 Sc. N. & Q. (April 1923) 55:
When a heady Crow hovers over a sickly person, expect their death near.Ork. 1806 P. Neill Tour 195:
The name hoody is here sometimes applied also to the Pewit-gull.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary viii.:
They are sitting down yonder like hoodie-craws in a mist.Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 275:
Carrion, or grey-crows, called hoodicraws, for when they get old, they become white in colour all but the feathers of the head; these keep black, and look as if the bird had on a cowl or hud.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 259:
Her hair had the gleet o' the hoodie craw.w.Sc. 1860 J. F. Campbell Tales I. 275:
Gòrach, Gòrach, Gawrach “Silly”, says the Hoodie, as he sits on a hillock by the way side and bows at the passengers.Per. 1906 J. A. Harvie-Brown Fauna Tay 152:
The name “Huddie” was applied locally to both forms [Hooded and Carrion Crow] in the Carse of Gowrie, but not so frequently to the Carrion Crow, as that form was not the more abundant of the two in older times.Bch. 1929 J. Milne Dreams o' Buchan 47:
Noo ye're as black's the deil himsel' Or heidie craw.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 40:
That hoodie-craw moultit the feathers o' truth afore it croaked sic a whopper o' a tale in your lug.Bwk. 1947 W. L. Ferguson Makar's Medley 22:
A last auld loiterin' hoodie flaps His wey hame to the wud.Sc. 1956 Scotsman (17 Dec.) 8:
The carrion crow of the Lowlands is called “hoodie” as often as not by a great many keepers, shepherds, farmers, and countrymen generally. Slk. 1986 Harvey Holton in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 168:
when, piercit bi some panic, the hoodie's heid ootower the lift
crazilly carried on a movean mare o wund Dundee 1991 W. N. Herbert in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 178:
an hoodie craws, an doos, an speugies,
an heckil-breistit thrushis, ... Sh. 1992 Bobby Tulloch A Guide to Shetland's Breeding Birds 50:
BLACK-HEADED GULL
(Larus ridibundus)
shet: Hoodie Maa or Heedie Craa Sc. 1995 David Purves Hert's Bluid 18:
Lintie an laiverok, whaup an houdie craw,
foumart an eimok, houlet, pickmaw Ork. 1995 Orcadian 13 April 21:
The hoodie crow who sits on the high wires has a weird voice, and often wakes me with un-bird-like calls. m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
The peelie mune blintin ower cauld stane,
Ower wally een o beast or hoodie craw
Or halie kists o' kings 3.Sh. 1992 Bobby Tulloch A Guide to Shetland's Breeding Birds 50:
BLACK-HEADED GULL
(Larus ridibundus)
shet: Hoodie Maa or Heedie Craa