Yetling

sb. and a. Sc. and north. Also 4–5 ȝet(t)lyng, 5 ȝettlyne, yetteling, 5–6 yetlyn(g, -line, 6 ȝet-, yaitling, 8 yetlen, (atelin), 8–9 yet(t)lin, yetland, 9 yetlan, yettling. [f. YET v. + -LING¹.]

  A.  sb. 1. A pot or boiler, usually of cast iron; esp. one with a bow-handle and three feet.

1378–9.  Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees), 588. In factura unius yetling. Ibid. (1472), 246. ij ȝetlynges enee.

1559.  Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees, 1835), 183. One yaitling of brasse. Ibid. (1564), 223. First a pan w^th eares y^s—ij yetlinges iiij^s.

1702.  in Northumbld. Gloss. (1892), 19. Itm. an atelin in the Abbey great kitchen.

1787.  Grose, Prov. Gloss., Yetling, a small iron boiler, N.

1865.  Corvan, etc., Tyneside Songs, 9. A kyel pot an a yetlin fell a-top iv his head.

1893.  Raine, Handbk. York Mus., 173. A fine … camp-kettle or yetling, 16¹/₂ in. high by 12 in. diameter, with three tall legs ending in claws.

  2.  Applied to various articles made of cast iron; † (a) a small cannon; (b) a ‘girdle’ on which cakes are baked; (c) a ball used in bowls.

1566.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., XI. 518. Twa culvering moyanis of found and ane grit ȝetling or irne.

1576.  Burgh Rec. Edin. (1882), IV. 51. The tovnis yetlingis lyand vpon the kirk of feild steipill, with thair fourniture.

1866.  Edmondston, Shetland & Orkney Gloss., 147. Yetlin, a girdle on which cakes are baked.

1868.  Gorrie, Summ. & Wint. in Orkneys, ix. 354. Flat stones which served the purpose of yettlins, or girdles for firing cakes and scones.

1895.  Fife News, 19 Jan., 7. The ‘yettling’ measures some seven inches in circumference, and its regulation weight is from twenty two to twenty four ounces.

  3.  Cast iron.

1777.  W. Nimmo, Stirlingsh., xiii. 309. It [sc. the pint jug] is made of a sort of yetlin, and appears to be very old.

1845.  New Statist. Acc. Scot., VIII. II. 413. The Stirling Jug … is made of a kind of brass or yettlin.

1883.  J. Martin, Remin. Old Haddington, 384. The land was as hard as ‘yetlan’ and would soon kill them and their horses.

  B.  adj. Made of cast iron; (of iron) cast.

1495–6.  Priory of Finchale (Surtees), 394. j yetlyng pan et iiij laddels de auricalco.

1572.  Wills & Inv. N. C. (Surtees, 1835), 381. Two yetling pans viij^s.

1578.  in Inv. Royal Wardr. (1815), 253. Ane demy culvering of yerline yron.

1703.  Househ. Bk. Lady G. Baillie (1911), 170. A little yetlin kettle.

1792.  Statist. Acc. Scot., IV. 167. The ploughs … have a cast yetland mould-board.

1836.  M. Mackintosh, Cottager’s Dau., 190. My heart … As hard as ony yetlin floor Or whunstane rock.