Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Yard n.

Jamaica; often as the Yard; thus yardie n.

1982		G. Tate ‘Bad Brains’ in Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 23: Rasta-influenced reggae draws strength from the ideal of a black community working in harmony. An ethic which isn’t foreign to black music not from Yard either.
1992		V. Headley Yardie 8: They had been away from Yard too long, and weren’t aware of his reputation in Kingston.
2001		(con. 1981) A. Wheatle East of Acre Lane 139: Man an’ man say he come from yard, an’ some Line man say he comes from de States.

In derivatives

In compounds

yardman (n.)

(W.I./UK black teen) a Jamaican, a Jamaican gangster.

1994		P. Baker Blood Posse 264: The terms Yard Men to describe the Jamaicans and Smallies to describe those Rastamen from other islands.
2004		A. Mansbach ‘Crown Heist’ in Brooklyn Noir 125: [of marijuana] All Laz’s customers were dime-bag-and-bike-peddling yardmen.