keelies

An opportunity seemed to present itself; the class of boys called "keelies" by the more comfortable boys in Edinburgh, used to play in the street under the windows of his father's house.

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 1 (of 25) Robert Louis Stevenson 1872

From the window he observed street boys (in Scots 'keelies') enjoying themselves.

Robert Louis Stevenson: a record, an estimate, and a memorial 1871

My Aunt Phemie was with him at Mr. Robert Thompson's school in Heriot Row, and she says he was an awful young blackguard, playing with the keelies all he could and gossiping with the cabmen on the rank.

The Judge Rebecca West 1937

"O Dugald, Dugald, you know none of the children of this town ever annoyed the Major; it is only the keelies from the low-country who do so.

Gilian The Dreamer His Fancy, His Love and Adventure Neil Munro

From thence he went to Lyne’s Mill, near his birth-place, where he continued one year at the same employment, and from thence he was sent to Edinburgh to learn brush-making, but made no progress in his education there; was annoyed by the wicked boys, or _keelies_, as he called them, and found his way back to Manor and Woodhouse.

Spare Hours John Brown 1846