Anyone (Geordie/Scottish) know this phrase?

[MadameSzyszkoBohusz]

“You’ve lost your appetite and found a cuddy’s”?

I said if to the dog earlier as I was putting more food out for him, and it occurred to me I’ve only got the vaguest awareness of what it means. I was raised on Tyneside, abd my grandma used to say it to us when we were mithering her for food. I think a cuddly was a pit pony? Makes sense that they would be hungry, I suppose.

I tried googling but mainly got results about the TV show House! A couple of posts saying cuddly is Scottish dialect for donkey, though, so I’m wondering if it’s a Scottish phrase that crossed the border? Any insight appreciated!

And my post is full of typos!! Cuddy, not caddy, or cuddly!

There is a scottish rhyme my granny used sing (in Ayrshire)

Hey Jock ma cuddie
Ma cuddie is ower the dyke
An if ye touch ma cuddie
Ma cuddie will gie ye a bite!

Cuddie/y is a donkey!

Scottish and never heard that phrase but to me a cuddy is any horse/pony.

Geordie and never heard of it.

Matthew Mark Luke John
haud my cuddie til I get on.

I also understood a cuddie to be a donkey. But saying that “lost your appetite and found a horses” was a common phrase in my house. Which my granda who grew up with horses hated because horses have very particular appetites and easily go off their food 🤷‍♀️

So clearly not a common phrase but at least I was in the right area with my definition of cuddy!

Cuddy, as in cuddy duck.
Named after Saint Cuthbert on Lindisfarne, I think?

I haven't heard the phrase but in Scotland I have heard the word cuddy used for horse

Absolutely - cuddy in the North East is a common eider duck, named after Cuthbert.

Yes, I'm a Geordie and my mother used to say "A divun ah what cuddy's kicked us" when she had aches and pains.

I thought a cuddy was a pony.

It's a horse or pony, not a donkey as far as I'm aware.

'Lost your appetite and found a donkey's?'
Very common when I was a kid. I'm nearly 70 and London bred.
Great to know the Geordie/Scottish equivalent @MadameSzyszkoBohusz! I lived in Newcastle in my yoof and still love the Geordie accent and dialect.
H'away mun.

Never heard the phrase but do know that cuddy is a horse

We don't give each other "piggy backs" they're cuddy backs

A cuddy is definitely a fish, not a donkey. North west Highlands here.
TBH lots of words people say are Scottish are actually Lowlands/Central Belt. I'm aware of them from the TV and staying in the city and stuff, but nobody here ever uses them. 'Scottish' is not actually one homogeneous dialect, same as there is no single English dialect.

Cuddy in this context is a horse. It translates to you're as hungry as a horse.

I'm from the North East of Scotland, and a cuddy is definitely a horse in my neck of the woods.

I'm Scottish and a cuddy to me is a cow.

Interesting that the only person to know the phrase (at least a very close variant of) is from London!

Cuddy was defined to me by my granddad as a pit pony, specifically, but maybe that was just the most common equine in the area at the time.

I’m originally from West Yorkshire, and a cuddy was definitely a donkey in that part of the country. An area in my home town is actually marked as “Cuddy Hill” on old maps -

https://aireboroughhistoricalsociety.org.uk/guiseley/back-lane-cuddy-hill/

Scottish/Irish cuddie is a horse/donkey/ass in Scots, miners term most likely (cuddie brae) Lots of Scots children's stories/poems reference cuddies (horses or donkeys)

A cuddy in some parts of Ireland is a small woman, or a maid. The surname Cuddy means helper so guess that's where that came from.

Geordie here and I've never heard of it. To me Cuddy is St Cuthbert . Cuddys Cave for example.

My Gran’s version was
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Hold the horse while I get on
If he whinnies pull his tail
If he waters, fetch the pail. 😄