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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.

KAE, n., v.1 Also kay, cae, keae; cay (Ags. 1853 W. Blair Aberbrothock 3); ka(w), kyaw, kea(w), cyaw (Gall.). Dim. kaeie (Fif. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 251). [Sc. ke:, Mry., sm.Sc. kjɑ:]

I. n. 1. The jackdaw, Corvus monedula (Ork. 1805 G. Barry Hist. Ork. 311; Mry. 1844 Zoologist 41; s.Sc. 1873 D.S.C.S. 151, keae; Kcb.4 1900, kyaw; Ork. 1929 Marw.; Dmf. 1950, kyaw; ne.Sc., Ags., Per., Fif., Gall., Rxb. 1959). Rarely applied to the jay, Garrulus glandarius (Rxb. 1885 C. Swainson Brit. Birds 75).Sc. 1721 J. Kelly Proverbs 345:
Wo worth ill Company, quoth the Kae of Camnethen.
Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 5:
Of bum-bee bykes, pet pyats, doos, and keaws.
Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 460:
A fiddler, a fifer, and three castlekaws, Ay gie the music to a wadding o' craws.
Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 97:
The feather'd nations O' howlets, kaes, and huddy-craws.
Rxb. 1871 H. S. Riddell Poet. Wks. I. 212:
[To] ding them doun by dyke and drain, To feed the corbies and the kaes.
Ayr. 1912 G. Cunningham Verses 67:
Oor cyaw had been sitting a' day on their lum.
Abd. 1923 R. L. Cassie Heid or Hert xvii.:
The craws an' caes war haudin' an awfu' claik.
Mry. 1952 Scots Mag. (April) 47:
We recalled the fields at Newton Toll dotted with jackdaws — locally called by the onomatopoeic “kyaws”.

Phrs. and Combs.: (1) a kae in the kirk-riggin', a noisy, fractious child (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B. s.v. kirk); (2) as cripple's a kae, very lame, applied to a person, horse or dog (Ags.17 1941); (3) ka(y)-wat(t)ie [i.e. Walter], as a pet-name for the bird (Sc. 1710 T. Ruddiman Gl. to Douglas Aeneis; n.Sc. 1808 Jam.); (4) kae-witted, hare-brained, half-witted (Ags. 1959).(4) Ags. 1793 Tam Thrum Look before ye Loup 12:
Ye poor kae-witted fool!
Ags. 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters II. 221:
Nae wonder tho' that kae-witted uncle debarred me frae ony o' his siller, whan he believed that I wadna gang to see him die!
m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick 118:
He was but a kae-witted cratur at the best, an' aye took his opeenions frae the last speaker.

2. The cry or call of the jackdaw (Dmf. 1899 Country Schoolmaster (Wallace) 350; Per. 1959).ne.Sc. 1850 Zoologist VIII. 2913:
The well-known kae of the jackdaw.

3. Used of persons: (1) contemptuously, in various senses, a chatterbox, a thief or cheat, an unlucky or ill-omened person. Also as a term of affection: “a neat little person” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 92); (2) as a local nickname for the inhabitants of Rosemarkie in Ross-shire.(1) Edb. 1798 D. Crawford Poems 52:
Fairies steal the bairns away . . . An' did some ill-far'd cankard kae Pit i' their stead.
Ags. 1826 A. Balfour Highland Mary I. i.:
An' the baillie begin wi' his pawky cracks, an' that kae wi' his clatter, we'll no soon get an end o't.
Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 105:
Gude keep ye aye frae warlocks, witches, . . . Thievish rogues, and w—h b—s An' swin'lin' kae.
(2) Crm. 1858 H. Miller Rambles 296:
We delighted to bestow on them (as their hereditary sobriquet, given, of course in allusion to their feathered neighbours) the designation of the “Rosemarkie Kaes”.

II. v. To call, of a jackdaw, to caw (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 92; Per. 1959).Per. 1896 D. Kippen Crieff 136:
He started the kaes and kept them kaeing.

[O.Sc. ca(a), a jackdaw, c.1450, kay, c.1500, Mid.Eng. ka, 1340, co, c.1325. The forms point to an O.N. *, Norw. kaa, though some are irreg. and may be simply onomat., as kyaw. For ne.Sc. kyaw, cf. however P.L.D. § 141.1.]

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"Kae n., v.1". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/kae_n_v1>

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