Now Sc. and dial. Forms: 6 whyg(ge, 6–7 whigge, 6–7, 8–9 Sc. wig, 7, 9 Sc. whigg, 7, 8–9 Sc. wigg, 9 Sc. quhig, 6– whig. [Of unascertained origin, but presumably related to WHEY. (The variation of whig and wig in Sc. is remarkable.)] Variously applied to (a) sour milk or cream, (b) whey, (c) buttermilk, (d) a beverage consisting of whey fermented and flavored with herbs.
1528. Roy, Rede me (Arb.), 100. Lyvynge on mylke, whyg, and whey.
1561. B. Googe, trans. Palingenius’ Zodiac, IV. H v. My lusty gotes with kid they swel, ne want I whigge, nor whay.
1589. [? Lyly], Pappe w. Hatchet, Wks. 1902, III. 406. Martins conscience hath a periwig; therefore to good men he is more sower than wig.
1615. Markham, Country Contentm., II. iv. 114. As for the Whey you may keepe it also in a sweet stone vessell: for it is that which is called Whigge, and is an excellent coole drinke and a wholsome.
1633. Hart, Diet of Diseased, II. xvii. 209. Sowre whey … is in very great request in the Northerne parts of this Iland, where it is called of some whigge, and of others wigge.
1684. [Meriton], Yorksh. Ale, Gloss. 114. Whig is Clarified Whey, put up with Herbs to drink.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 173/1. Thick Milk, Butter-milk made thick through the heat of Summer, the bottom part falling to a Whigg.
1799. Statist. Acc. Scot., XXI. 142. Cream, too long kept, and purified by drawing off the thin part, or wig, for drink, was converted into butter.
1834. Tait’s Mag., I. 736/1. Whig … is the provincial name in the south-west of Scotland for that blue-and-yellowish, thin sub-acid liquid which gathers on the surface of whey or butter milk.
fig. 1661. Needham, Hist. Engl. Reb., xlii. There lies the Cream of all the Cause; Religion is but Whig.
