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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

DODDIE, DODDY, n., adj. Also †dody, †duddie. [′dɔdi, ′dodi Sc., but Bnff. ′dʌudi]

1. n.

(1) A hornless bull or cow (Bnff.², Abd. correspondents, Fif.¹⁰ 1940). Also used in s.Sc. of sheep (Rxb.⁵ 1940). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. 1827 Scott Two Drovers ii.:
Why — let me see — the two black — the dun one — yon doddy.Kcd. 1909 The Biggin O't in Colville 162:
Wi' twa breed-backit doddies to low i' the loan.Ags. 1793 in J. D. Ross Burns and his Rhyming Friends (1928) 23:
[They] took what fell amang their hands, O' sheep and duddies.Per. 1816 J. Duff Poems 103:
Nor time nor place, for ony body, Will Wattie [a bull] grudge to meet their dody.Ayr. 1803 A. Boswell Songs 5:
The puttin' cow sou'd be aye a doddy.Slk. 1832 Hogg in Trans. Highl. Soc. IX. 295:
The old shepherds . . . . raved about the doddies, as they called the new stock [Cheviot sheep], in their last illness.

Hence (a) Angus doddie, one of the Aberdeen-Angus breed of cattle; also fig.: a native of Angus; cf. Buchan hummlie s.v. Hummel; (b) boxin' doddie, “a young bullock with horns just beginning to appear” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); see Box, v.²Sc. 1834 Quarterly Jnl. Agric. V. 443:
Angus Breed. This is a polled breed of cattle, and are technically called "Angus doddies." Ags. 1865 D. M. Ogilvy Poems (1873) 171:
My Angus doddies on the Breckan brae.Ags. 1888 T. Mason A. Dickson 254:
An Angus 'doddie', gie me your hand, lad; you come fae a guid county. Ags. 1947 in Scots Mag. (June) 247:
Wherever in the wide Empire or beyond you encounter single instances of Scots piping, poetry and patriotism, be sure an Angus doddie is at the back of it!

(2) Used humorously or contemptuously of human beings, phs. with reference to adj. (2) (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 40).Abd. 1912–19 Rymour Club Misc. II. 25:
One, twa, three, four, five, six, seven, Fisher doddies tint their coddies Comin' up the stane roadies. (Used to terrify or anger fisher folk, who superstitiously object to anyone “counting” them or theirs.)Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake, etc. 52:
Speak, man! ye auld ramfeezl'd doddie!Edb. 1898 J. Baillie Walter Crighton 169:
The auld Mieser Doddie.

‡(3) an ordinary horse-collar as opposed to a peaked one (Kcd., Ags. 1975). Cf. Glesca pike, s.v. Glesca, 3. (14).

2. adj.

(1) Of cattle: hornless (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bnff.² 1940; Fif., Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 238; Dmf. 1894 J. Shaw in Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 146.Abd. 1875 W. Alexander My Ain Folk 61:
Had he not his croft, his doddie cow, his wonderful shaltie.Bch. 1861 J. Davidson Poems 18:
Our doddy cow ran ower the hill, Nae deer was e'er sae fleet, sir.

(2) Of persons: (a) “bald, without hair” (n.Sc. 1808 Jam.); (b) stumpy (Ags.¹⁸ c.1890).