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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CUDDIE, CUDDIN, Cuddan, Cudden, Cuddain, Cuddane, Cuddy, Cudding, n.¹

1. A young coalfish, Pollachius virens (Ork. 1806 P. Neill Tour Ork. and Sh. 39, cuddin, 1866 Edm. Gl., cuddie, c.1920 J. McWilliam W.-L., cuddin; Cai.¹ c.1920, cuddin; Cai.⁸ 1934, cuddain; Inv. 1948 (per Abd.²⁷); ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Vertebrate Fauna of Dee 238, cuddy; Mry.¹ 1925, cuddie (Hope., Burg.); Fif.¹⁰ 1941, cuddie; Arg.¹ 1941, cuddie, cuddan; Uls. 1880 W. H. Patterson Gl. Ant. and Dwn., cudden). Cf. Coothin, Cuithe. [′kʌdi, ′kʌdən Sc., but ne.Sc. + ′kwid(i)]Sc. 1773 Boswell Tour (1785) 373:
The little fish called Cuddies produce a great deal.Sc. 1791 T. Newte Tour Eng. and Scot. 272:
There is store of cuddies and sayth . . . laid up for us in Tigh-a-barra.Ork. 1956 C. M. Costie Benjie's Bodle 11:
He wad gae her a fresh cudding or two partans if he wis been at the sea.Hebr 1979 Iain Crichton Smith On the Island (1988) 82:
They walked over to the stone quay, which was deserted, though sometimes there would be boys fishing with bait for cuddies, dangling their legs over the edge. Hebr 1995 Angus Duncan Hebridean Island: Memories of Scarp 16:
... but the jar or tin of bait was really intended for one of the three men on the island who owned a spoon-net, and upon whom the children depended for a catch of the small 'cuddies' which approached the rocks in the autumn and winter.Cai. 1928 Letter to Editor in Gsw. Herald (8 Oct.) 11/5:
Blockies, peltags, and cuddings are usually to be had.Cai. 1992 James Miller A Fine White Stoor 153:
When the old man had bought a tin of Coke, he spoke to Dougie. 'We're for the cuddanes. D'ye want to come wi us?'
'I ken nothing aboot fishing.' w.Sc. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ XVI. 149:
Syes under one year are called cuddies.Arg. 1932 (per Arg.¹):
Wan day I was gaun doon the quay a wee fella ask't me uf I wad gang doon below the skeigs tae catch cuddies.

2. The fishing for coalfish.Cai. 1930 Caithness Forum in John o' Groat Jnl. (16 May):
I herded two summers in Freswick with a kind old farmer who used to take me out to the cuddin's.