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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

KITCHIE, n., v. Also kitch(e)y, ketchie (Bnff. 1920 Banffshire Jnl. (14 Dec.)). [′kɪtʃe, ne.Sc. -i]

I. n. 1. A kitchen (Bch. 1932 Dieth 77; Ags., Slg. 1942; n.Sc. 1960). Freq. attrib.Mry. 1708 E. D. Dunbar Social Life (1856) 212:
Fifteen timber trenchers to the kitchey.Sc. 1820 A. Sutherland St Kathleen III. 158:
Ye'll ken the road to the kitchy, uncle Kenny, though ye hinna seen it this monnie a lang day.Kcb. 1894 Crockett Lilac Sunbonnet xxxvi.:
I juist took up the bit lunchie that I saw on your kitchie table.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 20:
Boys, gin ye haad roon te the kitchie, Tibbie his something for ye.ne.Sc. 1953 Mearns Leader (30 Oct.):
Corby's bark echoe't fae the kitchie ein.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 5:
"Forbye, a fairm needs a wummin's haun in the kitchie. Mither's bin deed an beeriet ten year noo." m.Sc. 2003 Herald (15 Feb) 6:
It wis easy the langest oor I mind on. My teeth wid be watering till I slivert, and when they lifted the lid o' the pot to see the water wisna biling in - oh! the guff (smell) that filled the kitchie.

Combs.: (1) kitchy-boy, a boy who works in the kitchen, a scullion; (2) kitchie-deem, -lass, -quine, a kitchen maid. See Deem, n., 3., Lass, Quean; (3) kitchie fee, = kitchen-fee s.v. Kitchen, n., 1. (1); (4) kitchie kyaaks, thick oatcakes, hard-fired on the outside and soft in the middle, gen. intended for the servants to eat (Ags.¹⁷ c.1930, cakes).(1) Sc. 1783 Lady Maisry in Child Ballads No. 65 A. vi.:
Her father's kitchy-boy heard that.(2) Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 40:
Syne we hae the kitchie deem, that milks an' mak's the maet.Bch. 1930 Abd. Univ. Review (March) 102:
I wiz a gey fyle a kitchie lass mysel'.Bch. 1946 J. C. Milne Orra Loon 7:
At Eile I'll help the kitchie-lass te thump the dreepin' sids.Abd. 1981 Christina Forbes Middleton The Dance in the Village 11:
Oor Tibbie she wis Kitchie Lass
Up at Muckledreep
For a weekly wage ye'd sneer at noo
And, of course, her keep. Abd. 1999 Herald (13 Dec) 19:
The lads came into the farm kitchen for proper cooked meals. The chaumer was part of the household and would even get a clean now and again from one of the kitchie deems. ne.Sc. 2004 Press and Journal (6 Sep) 12:
It is a vanished Buchan that he writes about ... a land of nicky-tams, fee'd loons, kitchie deems, sharny boots, chaumers an bothy nichts.(3) Bch. 1832 W. Scott Poems 131:
A clort o' butter for your sket, An' kitchie-fee.(4) Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb viii.:
One of the “quarters” of parlour cakes, which bore about the same relation to the “kitchie kyaaks”, that a well-browned biscuit does to a lump of dough.

2. = Kitchen, n., 2. (Per. 1902 E.D.D.; Fif.¹⁰ 1942; Sh., n.Sc. 1960). Also fig.Abd. 1865 G. Macdonald Alec Forbes xxviii.:
After eating a bit of oat cake, with a mug of blue milk for kitchie (Latin “obsonium”) she retired to her garret.Mry. 1914 H. J. Warwick Tales 44:
Mebbe a bit mair kitchie noos an' thans.Cai. 1916 J. Mowat Cai. Proverbs 5:
The sweet side o' yir toungue for kitchie.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick iv.:
The goodwife . . . added . . . a judicious allowance of cream. “Gran kitchie that”, she remarked.Abd. 1960:
Kail at hame's nae kitchie, Butter an jam baith's twa kitchies.

‡3. A general domestic at a farm (Abd.¹⁵ 1915, Abd. 1960), an abbrev. form of kitchie-deem, -lass, -quine. See 1., Combs.

II. v. 1. = Kitchen, v., 1. (Abd. 1860 Banffshire Jnl. (27 March); Sh., n.Sc. 1960).Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xl.:
A tatie i' the tae han', an' something to kitchie't wi' i' the tither.Abd. 1920 C. Murray Country Places 32:
Ye gied him a kiss to kitchie his piece the streen.

2. Of farm-servants: to take one's meals in the farm-kitchen, as opposed to living in the bothy or cottar-house, to live in (ne.Sc. 1960). Vbl.n. kitchying.Abd. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (13 Feb.):
The three methods — “cottaring”, “bothying”, and “kitchying” — of catering for the welfare of the soil's sturdy toilers and their families.

†3. To use sparingly, as kitchie (Cai.⁴ 1920). Cf. Kitchen, v., 2.