The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #55594   Message #865471
Posted By: MartinRyan
12-Jan-03 - 06:53 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Finding of Moses / Pharaoh's Daughter
Subject: RE: Finding of Moses / Pharoah's Daughter
The Penguin Dictionary of historical slang has the folowing:

skivvy
A maid servant, especially a rough (one). General from around 1905 . Ex SLAVEY.

So it appears to have derived from "slavey", relatively recently. It remains current in Dublin.

Regards