Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†OU, OO, n. Also oost, oyse. Only in the street cry Caller Oo, fresh oysters! (Edb. c.1920). See Caller. [ou, ɔu, ʌu]Edb. 1821 Blackwood's Mag. (July) 400:
Would an Englishman ever be able to make out that . . . caller oost indicated the sale of fresh oysters?Edb. 1838 W. McDowall Poems 224–5:
O list to my tale of the oysters, The nice caller Edinburgh oysters, Caller oyse — caller oyse — Wale o' my caller oyse!Edb. 1864 A. Logan Auld Reekie Musings 28:
She ramps thro, the hoose cryin' lood “Caller ou”, Or “Wha'll buy my haddies, they're fresh ilka ane.”Edb. 1909 Bk. Old Edb. Club II. 187:
The cry of “Caller-Ou” has entirely ceased in Old Edinburgh and is now only occasionally heard in the fashionable West-end streets and crescents of the New Town.Edb. 1915 J. H. A. Macdonald Life Jottings 54:
How often when the "Caller ow-oo" sounded in the street was the fishwife brought into the hall, to open her fresh oysters.Edb. 1933 E. S. Haldane Scotland of our Fathers 216:
Those who are old enough to do so can remember the familiar cry of the Newhaven fishwives about nine o'clock, “Caller 'ou”, which meant that the fresh oysters in their creels were all ready for supper.
