Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1710, 1771, 1828, 1903-1933
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KINGDOM, n. Sc. usages: applied specif. to certain districts and places in some way self-contained or isolated from adjacent parts and esp. to Fife, Forgue in Aberdeenshire, Kippen in Stirlingshire. Comb. Kingdom of Fife pie, a kind of rabbit pie (Sc. 1929 F. M. McNeill Sc. Kitchen 128). For comb. kingdom-o-lee, see King, n., 3. (11).Fif. 1710 R. Sibbald Hist. Fif. 3:
It was from the large extent of Fife of old, that the vulgar are wont to call it, The Kingdom of Fife.Sc. 1771 Smollett H. Clinker Melford to Philips, Aug. 8:
An arm of the sea seven miles broad, that divides Lothian from the shire, or, as the Scotch call it, The Kingdom of Fife.Sc. 1828 Lockhart Scott lxxvi.:
At Balchristy, in the Province, or, as it is popularly called, the Kingdom of Fife.Slg. 1903 W. Chrystal Kippen 17:
The village of Kippen, otherwise known as the "Kingdom of Kippen."Abd. 1905 C. Horne Forgue 2:
I have heard it called not only Forgue, but the Kingdom of Forgue, and I suppose it got that title from its size, richness in agricultural produce, beauty of scenery, and its being well watered with many rivulets.Fif. 1933 J. Ressich Thir Braw Days 35:
Jock he'd never been oot o' the Kingdom in a' his life.[Cf. O.Sc. kinryk, of Fife, c.1420.]
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"Kingdom n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 1 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kingdom>
