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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

Quotation dates: 1812-1945, 1996

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YITE, n. Also yoit; yout, yowt (Fif.). Dim. yitie. [jəit; sm.Sc. jɔit]

1. Very freq. prefixed by yella: the yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella (Sc. 1808 Jam., s.v. Yeldring; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 496; Slg. 1885 Trans. Slg. Nat. Hist. Soc. 62; ne.Sc. 1903 G. Sim Fauna of "Dee" 101; Uls. 1907 Northern Whig (30 Nov.), yoit; Per., Fif. (yowt), Lth., Ayr. 1915–26 Wilson; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai). Gen. (exc. I.) Sc.m.Lth. 1812 P. Forbes Poems 104:
Herryin' linties, yites an' kays.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 227:
I never dream o' yites, but I meet auld frien's.Ags. 1834 A. Smart Rambling Rhymes 111:
Buntlin' wi' the tuneless beak Or ill-starred yellow-yite.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin v.:
We set aff to the Whunny Muir to seek youts' nests.Kcb. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly iv.:
Tried for his life on the charge of murdering a yellow yoit.Uls. 1900 T. Given Poems 141:
Yoit, an' wren an' wee whun grays.Arg. 1914 N. Munro New Road xx.:
The wae wee chirrup of the yellow-yite.Abd. 1945 Scots Mag. (May) 138:
A yalla-yitie quietens the warld's steer.Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 3:
Belle cud nae mair hae thocht o breedin wi an ootlinn or an incomer than a soo wad breed wi a yitie.

2. A person of small stature (Slg., Ayr. 1921 T.S.D.C.; Per., Fif., Lth., Lnk., Ayr., Wgt. 1974), also as a gen. term of contempt.Lnk. 1887 A. Wardrop Midcauther Fair 10, 237:
What richt had she — the guid-for-naethin' yite On ane sae far aboon her vent her spite? . . . The infernal lookin' yite.

3. Nonce usage: an egg.Edb. 1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 174:
Fowre new-laid yites frae "Farmer Mac."

[Imit. of the call of finches. For the Fif. forms cf.O, letter, 2.(vii)(b).]