Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
KIP, n.3, v.4
I. n. A lock or tuft of hair; a small bundle of grass, etc. (Ork. 1929 Marw.), of fish (Ork. 1960); a number (of) (Ib.). Derivs.:
1. kippack, (a) clover, Trifolium repens (Ib.), gen. in pl.; (b) a bundle (Ib.), esp. of small fish tied together (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., Sh. 1960). Also kippak, -ek, -ick, -ock; 2. kippis, a small bundle, tuft of hair, grass, etc. (Marw.).Ork. 1913 Old-Lore Misc. VI. iv. 187:
There was a superstition that if the disappointed lover could contrive to pull a kip of hair from the head of his successful rival, or “bleud him abune the breath,” the pair would be doomed to ill-luck.1. (b) Sh. 1892 Manson's Almanac:
“Haand me a kippick o pilticks” . . . Kippick o pilticks — 4 pilticks banded together with a straw: 2 pilticks, 1 baand: 4 pilticks, 1 kippick.Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928):
A kippek consists of 3 or more (usually 4) fishes tied together.
II. v. To string small fish together in bundles (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928), Sh. 1960).
[O.Sc. kip, a bundle (of hides, etc.), 1515, to tie up (hides, fish) in bundles or bunches, 1409; Norw. kippe, O.N. kippa, a bundle, a string, + dim. suff. -ack, -ock.]
