Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

CHEESE, n.¹ Sc. usages.

1. "The receptacle of the thistle, Carduus lanceolatus" (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.; Abd.¹⁹, Ags.², Slg.³, Lnk.³ 1939). Also cheesie (Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1939). Cf. Cheesag.

2. "A seed of the common mallow, Malva sylvestris. (So called from its shape)" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).

3. "A 'delicacy' formed of several plies of sorrel-leaves, eaten by children" (Ib.).

4. A yarn-bobbin in a spinning-mill which has no flanges and when full is cylindrical like a cheese (Ork., Fif., Ayr. 1975).

5. Phrases and combs.: A. In plant names: (1) cheese-an'-breid, -breed, "green shoots when first appearing on hedges, etc." (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Kcb.¹ 1939), "esp. on hawthorn hedges" (Fif.¹ 1939); (2) cuckoo cheese-an'-breid, "leaves and flowers of wood-sorrel" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); cf. 3, above; (3) sheep's cheese, see Sheep.(1) Rxb.(D) 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes an Knowes 9:
No that A was hert-hungry nih, aether; or thance A micht heh been gaun pookin "cheese-an-breed" off o the hedges ti nattle at.

B. Other phrs. and combs.: †(1) bosom cheese (see quot.); cf. (2), also Blithemeat, n., 3, and Christening Bit; †(2) cheese-an'-breid, "a jocular name for an infant before christening" (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); (3) cheese-bandages, "wrappings of cheese while it is in the curing room or cheese loft" (Arg.¹ 1937; Kcb.⁹, Kcb.¹⁰ 1939); cf. Eng. (Chs.) dial. cheese-binder, id.; (4) cheese-bauk, a board or rafter on which cheeses lay to mature (Bnff.², Abd.⁹, Abd.¹⁹, Lnk.³ 1939); (5) cheese-breaker, "a curd-crusher" (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.); also found in Lei. dial. (E.D.D.); not known to our correspondents; (6) cheese-brizer, -birser, "a cheese press" (Ib.; Abd.⁹ 1939, -birser; Ayr.⁴ 1928); (7) cheese-cloots, "wrappings of cheese while it is in the cheese-vat or 'chissat'" (Arg.¹ 1937; also Abd.⁹, Lnk.³, Kcb.¹⁰ 1939); (8) cheese-dail, see Dale, n.²; (9) cheeseford, see Chessford; †(10) cheesegird, "a girth which is put round cheese when a making" (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 133), cf. (3) and (7); (11) cheese-hake, a frame for drying and storing newly-made cheese (Bnff.² 1939; Ayr.⁴ 1928); (12) cheese-set, "a cheese press" (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.; Ayr.⁴ 1928); (13) cheese stane, "a large, heavy stone worked with a screw, for pressing cheese" (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.; Abd.², Abd.⁹ 1939; Ayr.⁴ 1928); (14) cheese-sye, "a tub for pressing cheese" (Ayr.⁴ 1928); (15) hung cheese (see quot.); known to Bnff.², Abd.¹⁹ 1939; †(16) laid cheese (see quot.); †(17) wrought cheese (see quot.).(1) Abd. 1870 W. Buchanan Olden Days in Aberdeen 142–143:
When a party were returning from church with a newly-baptised child, one of the attendants . . . going up to the first person they met, presented . . . a small packet of bread and cheese . . . he or she would receive it with a "God bless the bairn," and think they had been lucky to be first met. This was called "bosom cheese."(4) Sc. 1830 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) III. 3:
Dependin frae the laigh roof o' our bit cottie, aneath the cheese-bauk, and aiblins atween a couple o' hangin hams.(15) Dmb. 1794 D. Ure Gen. View Agric. Dmb. 77:
It [cheese] is called hung when the curds are tied up in a cloth or net, and to get quit of the whey, are hung up instead of being put under the press.(16) Dmb. 1794 D. Ure Gen. View Agric. Dmb. 75–76:
It [cheese] is called laid when the curds are pressed at first very gently with the hand, great care being taken not to break them. . . . The curds are continued to be pressed till the whey is extracted; by which time they lie a solid mass. They are then broken into as large pieces as possible, and put into the chesset. . . . The chesset is put under the press.(17) Dmb. 1794 D. Ure Gen. View Agric. Dmb. 74–75:
The first part of the operation is to break the curd thoroughly with the hand. . . . The whey is taken off. . . . The curd is . . . cut small with a knife; after which it is put into linen cloths, and strongly squeezed . . . and rubbed as small as possible with the hand. . . . It is then put into the chessat or cheese mould. . . . Cheese made as just now described . . . is called wrought cheese.