caddie, cadie
(ˈkædɪ)
Also 7 caudie, 8 cawdie, cady, caddee, 8–9 caddy.
[ad. F. cadet: see cadet and cadee.]
† 1. = cadee, cadet 2, q.v. Also attrib. Sc.
| 1634–46 Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 462 Ane young gentleman latelie come from France, pransing..with his short skarlet cloake and his long caudie rapier. 1724 Ramsay Tea-T. Misc. (1733) I. 53 Commissions are dear Yet I'll buy him one this year; For he shall serve no longer a cadie. a 1776 Ballad in Herd Coll. II. 170 (Jam.) There was Wattie the muirland laddie..With sword by his side like a cadie. |
2. a. A lad or man who waits about on the lookout for chance employment as a messenger, errand-boy, errand-porter, chair-man, odd-job-man, etc.; spec. a member of a corps of commissionaires in Edinburgh in the 18th c. (See also quot. 1883.) Sc.
| c 1730 Burt Lett. fr. N. of Scotl. ii. (1754) I. 26 The Cawdys, a very useful Black-Guard, who attend..publick Places to go of Errands; and though they are Wretches, that in Rags lye upon the Stairs, and in the Streets at Night, yet are they often considerably trusted..This Corps has a kind of Captain..presiding over them, whom they call the Constable of the Cawdys. a 1774 Fergusson Compl. Plainstanes, A cadie wi his lantern. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxi, A tattered cadie, or errand-porter, whom David Deans had jostled. c 1817 Hogg Tales & Sk. V. 65 A caddy came with a large parcel to Mrs. Logan's house. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. V. 209 Every Scotchman, from the peer to the cadie. 1883 Wesleyan Mag. 546 The Caddies—sturdy women with creels on their backs who acted as porters—struggled for the customer. |
b. A golf-player's attendant who carries his clubs (generally a boy or lad). Also attrib., as caddie-car, caddie-cart.
| 1857 Chambers' Inform. People II. 696/2. 1864 Bookseller 31 Oct. 662 Twenty golfers, with their attendant caddies scattered over the link. 1883 Standard 16 Nov. 5/2 The ‘caddy’ who carries the clubs probably possesses theoretical knowledge. 1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 202/2 Caddie-Car, a light two-wheeled rack for holding golf-clubs, drawn by the golfer himself. 1962 Punch 21 Nov. 747/1 A moment's weakness, and you'll be hiring a caddy and a caddy-cart. |
3. Young fellow, lad. (ludicrous or familiar.) Sc.
| 1786 Burns Earnest Cry xx, Gie him't het, my hearty cocks, E'en cow the caddie [C. J. Fox]. 1788–1813 E. Picken Misc. Poems I. 186 (Jam.) A' ye canty cheerie caddies. |