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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GLEYED, ppl.adj. Also gleed, gley'd, gleyt, gly(e)d(e), glyet, glied, glide, gleid(e), †gled, †glee(i)t, †gleeyed. Occas. used adv. [Sc. gləid, gləit, but ‡wm. and em.Sc.(b) gli:d]

1. Of persons: having a cast in the eye, squint-eyed. Gen.Sc.; of the eye: squinting (Ork.1 c.1928). Also in n.Eng. dial.Sc. a.1685 in J. Watson Choice Coll. (1706) I. 9:
Gleed Katie and fat-lugged Lisie.
Sc. 1750 W. McFarlane Geneal. Coll. (S.H.S.) II. 62:
Alexander Pitcaple's Third Son lived long in Holland with his Daughter. He was called the Glyde Uncle.
Sc. 1828 Scott Letters (Cent. ed.) XI. 1:
You recognize among them that fause loon Gleed Argyle.
Bch. 1842 Blackwood's Mag. (March) 301:
Muckle lang gleyed Sanny Fite.
Fif. 1873 J. Wood Ceres Races 28:
He has a lass on every side A bonny lass, and ane fu' glide.
Edb. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick ii.:
Him they ca'd Skelly Simpson, on account o' his gley'd een.
Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags i.:
Sandy was gleyed and threw stones like a girl.
Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 222:
The glyed gunner never made a fat pot.
m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood xiii.:
When the glee'd auld farmer body from Teviotside seeks the tack of Crossbasket the lawyer folk in Edinburgh will be prepared for him.

Hence gleidness, gleytness, gleeitness, “the state of being squint-eyed” (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bnff.4 1927; Sh.10 (gliedness), Abd. (gleytness) 1954).

2. One-eyed, blind of an eye (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 66, gleyt; Cai. 1900 E.D.D.; Mry.1 1925; Per. 1954, gleyed o' an ee).Ags. 1822 A. Balfour Farmers' Three Daughters III. 208:
But although I believe you ca' me gleyed Eppie, yet I'm nae stane blind.

3. Off the straight, squint (Per., Fif., Lth. 1915–26 (Wilson); Ork. 1922 J. Firth Reminisc. 151, glide; Cai.9 1939; Sh., Ork., Abd., Ags., m.Lth., Bwk., Arg., Rxb. 1954); squinting; crooked, twisted, awry, out of shape (Ayr.1 1910, gleed); “having some inequality which causes divergent or eccentric movement, such, for instance, as a lop-sided boat has” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., PS., glyet). Sometimes fig. and also adv. Also in n.Eng. dial.Rnf. 1805 G. McIndoe Poems 10:
The lay hung gleed, the keels forgotten.
Sc. 1808 Jam.:
That wa's gleyd, that wall stands obliquely.
Dmb. 1846 W. Cross Disruption xxxviii.:
This disruption business drave Mr Bacon as far gleed as ever . . . Mr Bacon has gotten himself vext and affronted so much with his maggot about the Kirk.
Ags. 1865 Arbroath Guide (28 Jan.) 3:
[They] steek their e'e, tho' far at sea, Case any waur shootin' gley'd.
Bwk. 1876 W. Brockie Confessional 187:
An' maist folk i' morals are shockin'ly gleed.
Arg. 1896 N. Munro Lost Pibroch 209:
The Major's Man came from his loft ganting with a mouth like the glee'd gun.
e.Dmf. 1912 J. & R. Hyslop Langholm 637:
The coarser ware, the “gleyed” plates and the cups, which leaned like the tower of Pisa, . . . were relegated to the wall-press.
Sc. 1926 “L. Moon” Drumorty 134:
There was something gleyed about Sally Ann. She had started to be a perfect copy of her mother, and then lost heart.

Hence gleytness, obliqueness (Sc. 1825 Jam.; Bnff.4 1927; Abd. 1954).

4. Mistaken, misguided (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 249), lacking in judgment (m.Lth.1 1954). Cf. Gley, v., 4. (1), adj.Sc. 1818 Scott Rob Roy vi.:
“What is Miss Vernon, Andrew?” “. . . something glee'd — your honour understands me.”

5. Phrs. & Combs.: (1) gleed-e'ed, squint-eyed (Sh., Ork., Ags., m.Lth., Bwk. 1954); (2) gleed-necked, wry-necked (Cai., m.Lth. 1954); (3) glyed shield [Chield]. the Shet. fishermen's tabu-name for the halibut (Sh.4 1933; Sh.10 1954); (4) to gae (gang) gley'd, to go astray, to go wrong (gen. morally) (Ags., m.Lth. 1954).(1) Fif. 1894 J. Menzies Our Town 180:
He was gleed e'ed, the result, he tell't my auntie, o' pointin' cannon at French ships.
Sh. 1953:
The cock and the hen and the gleyd-eyed chicken = Bird's-foot Trefoil.
(2) Sc. 1817 Blackwood's Mag. Sept.) 619:
The great black burly head of his next-door neighbour, Gleid-neckit Will, the gypsey chief.
s.Sc. 1836 Wilson's Tales of the Borders II. 164:
I was like to grow gleed-necked a'thegither.
(3) Sh. 1899 J. Spence Folk-Lore 135:
A halibut . . . is never named, but always spoken of as da fish or da glyed shield.
(4) Sc. 1793 “Tam Thrum” Look before ye Loup 15:
Indeed Harry, ye're a' gaen gley'd.
Sc. 1822 Scott F. Nigel xxxii.:
Did you ever hear of the umquhile Lady Huntinglen . . . ganging a wee bit gleed in her walk through the world; I mean in the way of slipping a foot, casting a leglengirth, or the like, ye understand me?
Dmf. 1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 28:
Fra' that weird day the sun on Gowodean Fell wi' an ever cauld and fitful sheen . . . A' gaed gleet.
Sc.(E) 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms lviii. 3:
Tellin lies, frae the wame they gang gley'd.

[From Gley, v., above. O.Sc. has gleid, gleyit, etc., squint-eyed, from c.1470, gleed. id., 1618, glied, crooked, twisted, a.1578, gleidnes, strabismus, a.1646.]

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"Gleyed ppl. adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 29 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gleyed>

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