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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GAILLIE, n. Also gailey, gellie, -y. Sc. forms and usages of Eng. galley (Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 244, gellie, Sh.¹⁰ gjellie, djellie, Cai.⁷ gellie, Abd.²⁷, wm.Sc. 1953). [′gele, ′gɛle; Sh. ′gjɛle, ′dj-]

1. As in Eng. with various meanings.Inv. 1720 Steuart Letter-Bk. (S.H.S.) 112:
1t. April: Pray enquire if the Venetian Gellie be yet arrived from the Mediterranean.Bnff. 1951 Bnff. Advertiser (25 Oct.):
“She kin work 'er passage. Pit 'er in the gailey instead o' Partan. Can ye cook?” he queried.

2. Sc. usages: (1) A garret, gen. in an outhouse, where male farm-servants sleep (Kcd., Ags. 1916), “a sort of ploughman's bothy” (Ags.¹ 1938); a dirty or untidy house or room, a room where odds and ends are kept (Ags.¹⁸ 1953, gelly).Ags. 1889 Arbroath Guide (20 April) 3:
I had fa'en in wi' a gey broken doon craftsman wha had wroucht a week or twa in a galley whaur I was workin' when a bit loon.Ags. 1912 A. Reid Forfar Worthies 14:
They lived in the north end of “the auld Gaillie,” a very remarkable old house.Ags. 1916 per e.Rs.³:
She keeps a gaillie o' a house.Abd. 1920 A. Robb MS. iv.:
Slip ben tae oor gellie faur I hae athing lyin' ready i' the eemest skelf o' the aumrie.Abd. 1951 Buchan Observer (30 Oct.):
Almost without exception, the cottar's houses . . . were thatch-roofed and but a storey high, if we exclude the bed gellies or sleeping apartments under the triangle of the heather-divoted roof. †(2) A brothel: “‘Radgie Meg o' the gaillie, O', an old loose song” (Abd. 1921 W. Walker W.-L.).