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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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About this entry:
First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1707, 1790-1938

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CRAVE, v. and n. Used as in St.Eng. The following uses are peculiar to Sc.

I. v.

1. Sc. law: to ask (as of right) from an ecclesiastical or legal court.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xii.:
The crown, says he, canna be craved to prove a positive.Sc. 1936 Session Cases 67:
The pursuer is entitled to decree . . . as craved.w.Sc. 1869 A. Macdonald Settlement (1877) xi.:
Craving extracts means, that the clerk is to furnish, for a fee . . . a copy of such part of the proceedings as may be asked for.

2. To dun for payment of a debt (Sc. 1752 D. Hume Scotticisms, 1779 J. Beattie Scotticisms 5, 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial29, 1881 A. Mackie Scotticisms 32; Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn.). Also in Eng. (Nhb.) dial. (E.D.D.). Known to Cai.7, Bnff.2, Abd.9, Ags.17, Fif.10, Edb.1 1940.Abd. 1923 in Bnffsh. Jnl. (30 Jan.) 6:
There is in fact only one slip in dialect, viz. "dunned them for debt," which should be "craved."Edb. 1872 (2nd ed.) J. Smith Habbie and Madge (1881) 77:
Ye wasna a week at yer wark again when ye was craved an' hunted for't by nicht an' by day.

Hence (1) vbl.n. craving, "the act of dunning" (Sc. 1825 Jam.2); (2) n. craver, (a) a dun, (b) "a note demanding payment of a debt" (Cai. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.; Bnff. 1980s); (3) craving card, a begging letter.(1) Abd. 1812 W. Ingram Poems 75:
[He] . . . strives to pay what he is due, Without repeated craving.(2) (a) Abd. [1844] W. Thom Rhymes and Recoll. (1845) 154:
Ye Debtors deft, — ye Cravers keen, Ye Lovers, too, wha roam alane.(3) Rnf. [1850] A. McGilvray Poems (1862) 260:
To write petitions for the rabble With craving cards and threatening letters.

3. Used absol.: to long for food or drink. Also in w.Som. dial. (E.D.D.).Abd. 1790 A. Shirrefs Poems 245:
Trade was sae low, and meal sae dear, That aft his stomach crav'd in vain.Rnf. 1850 A. McGilvray Poems 117:
Gill after gill ye drink, and crave aye Till ye get fou.

Hence vbl.n. cravin', craven, in phr. caul(d) an' cravin', — craven, cold and hunger.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays (1908) 81:
Shelter baith fae caul' an' cravin' Lay within his ridin' coat.Ags. 1852 Montrose Standard (5 March) 8/2:
My faither's hodden-grey coat keepit oot cauld an' craven.

II. n. Used = craving, in sense of:

1. A request or petition, esp. in ecclesiastical or legal language: "in Sheriff Court practice part of the initial writ, for example, is called the crave" (Sc. 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 25).Sc. 1938 St Andrews Cit. (26 March) 2/2:
Sheriff-Substitute D . . . . S . . . . granted declarator in terms of the crave.Sth. 1707 in C. D. Bentinck Dornoch Cath. and Par. (1926) 252:
They might deem it to be their duty to grant Mr Bowie's crave for an Act of Transportability.

2. A desire, hankering (after) (Bnff.2, Ags.17 1940). Not in gen. use in Eng. (N.E.D.).Ayr. 1821 Galt Ann. Parish 28:
The natural crave of their young appetites.

[O.Sc. has crave, to demand or claim as properly or legally due to one, from 1438, to press or importune for payment, from c.1460 (D.O.S.T.). The n. does not appear.]

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