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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TYAUVE, v., n. Also tya(a)v(e), tyuave, tychaave, tch(y)auve, tcyauve, tcyaave, †teauve; teave, tauve; †tiawe, tya(a)w; ¶quhauve (Mry. 1960 E. Gilbert Ae Forenicht 11, 41). [tjɑ:v, tʃɑ:v]

I. v. A. Forms: Pr.t. as above; pa.t. weak tyauved; strong tyeuve, tew, tyoo; pa.p. weak tyauved; strong ‡tyauven (Abd. 1973). For other forms see also Chauve.

B. Usages: 1. To knead, make pliable by pressing, pulling and pounding with the hands (Mry., Bnff. 1808 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202; Cai. 1957, tauve), to work (dough) for oatcakes (Cai. 1921 T.S.D.C., Cai. 1973), to pull candy (Abd. 1973).Cai. 1916 John o' Groat Jnl. (14 April):
The guidwife knew how to make nice “bannocks,” “t'yaaving” the leaven and never losing a “prontag”.Bnff. 1922 Banffshire Jnl. (12 Dec.) 2:
I steer't it weel, an' syne tyauv't it an' tyauv't it, row't it oot, fire't it on the girdle, an' faul't it up like a pancake.

2. To masticate much as though dissatisfled with what one is eating (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202). Cf. Tyauch, v., 2.

‡3. To pull or knock about, ruffle, treat roughly (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202; ne.Sc. 1973). To tyauve one's harns, to cudgel one's brains.Abd. 1922 Swatches o' Hamespun 66:
Tyauvin' her harns tae google him.Abd. 1930 Abd. Univ. Mag. (March) 104:
The ley was terrible tory-ettn an' lyin' an' tyauven.

4. To fatigue, tire, wear out (Abd. 1973).Abd. 1912 Buchan Assoc. Mag. (Jan.) 4:
I've been sae tyuaved an' forfouchen wi' my wark.Abd. 1922 Weekly Free Press (28 Jan.) 3:
We're nae needin' t' tyauve wirsel's.Bnff.⁶ 1930:
A wis awfa tyauven afore I got that big stane taen oot.

5. intr. To struggle physically, tumble or toss about, wrestle (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 468, tauve; ne.Sc. 1973). Also fig.Mry. 1804 R. Couper Poems I. 161:
Wi' ae fauld heart, and honest joy, They teauve and touzle rare.Abd. 1922 Swatches o'Hamespun 63:
She tew yawfa for a gey lang fileock tae won awa'.Abd. 1955 Buchan Observer (18 Oct.):
As the tyauvin tides torment an' futtle an' fret A sma, fite steen.m.Sc. 1979 Walter Perrie in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 83:
It's no the days,
sair tho they are,
but gantan nicht
I canna thole -
Lang, dreich tyauvan
wi a festert saul. Ags. 1993 Mary McIntosh in Joy Hendry Chapman 74-5 112:
He mynded thir faces whan he had heichted the gun, het atween his fingirs, an the tyauvin whan the bullets skelpit intae thaim. He gleyed roon the stanes, heid sweyin bak an forrit, dreid wumplin ower the bak o his haunds.

6. To strive, struggle, live or work hard, exert oneself, toil and moil (ne.Sc. 1973). To tyauve through, to survive hardship, a severe illness, etc. (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202). Hence tyauvin, vbl.n., hard work, toil, struggle, ppl.adj. laborious (Gregor).Abd. 1863 G. MacDonald D. Elginbrod x.:
Gin ye tyauve at it aboon yer strenth, ye'll be clean forfochten.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202:
He tew through a' the loss o's nout; an' noo he hiz stockit-siller. He tyeuve on a' weenter in consumption.Abd. 1882 W. Alexander My Ain Folk 16:
Though he tyeuve an' wrocht hard late an' ear'.Bnff. 1916 Banffshire Jnl. (28 March) 2:
Some tchyauvin' wi' the “Rule o' Three”, some widin' throw ‘Mensa'.Abd. 1932 Abd. Press and Jnl. (17 Oct.) 3:
As the lad “tyoo” with the plough.Abd. 1967 Buchan Observer (21 Feb.) 2:
We fand the time tae keep on tychaavin At a' the things we socht wi pride.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 6:
The dragonflee, tcyaavin eident
Tae preen its transparent cross
On the bare and trimmlin bough. Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 5:
The sun wis bleezin hett ower the rigs, as the fairmhauns plytered an tcyauved wi the tractor, finally cowpin it ooto the soss o the bog. m.Sc. 1998 William Neill in Neil R. MacCallum Lallans 51 17:
An ye growe smuith an creeshie in yir carcase
an aye growe fatter wi yir baws for brains
while I maun tyauve ti keep fleish on ma banes
an hae ti shift ma airse ti whaur the wirk is.

7. To walk heavily or with difficulty through snow, mud, etc. (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202).Abd. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 56, 69:
Whan the cattle tiawe, an' blinter To the loch for drink at noon . . . He tew, an' peghin stytert hame.Abd. 1900 Weekly Free Press (20 Oct.):
A curn ill-fashionet nowt comin' kirnin' an' tyauvin' aboot his peer remains.Abd. 1946 J. C. Milne Orra Loon 6:
I tyauved awa' hame by the licht o' the starn.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 3:
At nicht, I heard a tyke bowf at the ice-clad yett
My host tcyauves hame, in wind an snaw.

II. n. The act of labouring, toil, exertion, a wrestle, a hard struggle, a laborious walk (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 202; ne.Sc. 1973); a hurry, stir, to-do' commotion (ne.Sc. 1905 E.D.D.).Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 10:
No ill to woo was this same lass, Hersel' tuik a' the taave o't.Mry. 1887 A. G. Wilken Peter Laing 50:
I managed aifter a tyauve.Bnff. 1890 W. Garden Sonnets 211:
Wi' an umbrel' his chiefest joy, He held an unco tauve aye.Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 38:
Ye ken the tyauve it is to wirk a ferm.Bnff. 1955 Fraserburgh Herald (8 Feb.):
The lang tyav uphill.Abd. 1967 Buchan Observer (21 Feb.) 2:
An' Ech! but sic a tychaave they hield.ne.Sc. 1982 Colin Lamont in Hamish Brown Poems of the Scottish Hills 100:
Pit smeddum in yir hairt wi frostit lungs straining
At the lang tchyauve climbing Ags. 1988 Raymond Vettese The Richt Noise 60:
and syne tae bed or we wauken yet weary
f'ae a lang drukken sleep
that's no sleep ava but a tyauve wi rest
for sic as us wha speir aye o creation Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 14:
Wi a muckle tcyauve, Curra stude up an ran tae the hedge. In his gyte flicht he caed ower a pucklie chukken's fa bedd far they war, cheepin desperately wi their shargart shanks in the air. Sae he managed tae win awa, fur his enemy stoppit a meenit bi the cowpit chukkens.