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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

TAPSALTEERIE, adv., adj., n. Also -teery, tapsalterie, tapselte(e)rie, tapsil(l)teerie, -y; tapsileerie, taupsaleery (Edb. 1897 C. M. Campbell Deilie Jock 113); tapsa(e)-, tapsee-, tapsie-teerie (Rxh. 1825 Jam., Per. a.1800 Lady Nairne Songs (1905) 223, Uls. 1953 Traynor), tapsie-tearie (Slk. 1814 W. Crozier Cottage Muse (1847) 14); topsy-teerie (Uls. 1953 Traynor); tipsy-teery (Nai. 1828 W. Gordon Poems 28); tapse-towry (Sc. 1825 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 25); tap-and-teerie; and, with adv. -s ending, ¶tapsalteeries (Knr. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 111). Sc. forms of Eng. topsy-turvy which appears also as tapsie(-y)-turvie(-y) (Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore (S.T.S.) 11; Sc. 1828 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) II. 82; Ags. 1894 J. B. Salmond B. Bowden (1922) 83). [′tɑpsəl′tiri; s.Sc. ′tɑpse-]

I. adv. Upside down, topsy-turvy, in(to) utter confusion or disorder, higgledy-piggledy. Gen.Sc.Ayr. 1783 Burns Green Grow the Rashes iii.:
War'ly cares an' war'ly men May a' gae tapsalteerie, O!Edb. 1793 H. MacNeill Poet. Wks. (1801) 55:
Dealing round strong punch and joke Turns a' things tapsilteery.Rxb. 1821 A. Scott Poems 23:
Tapsee-teerie lie the sheaves.Dmf. 1836 A. Cunningham Lord Roldan I. xii.:
A puff of wind and a wave of the sea, have turned it tapselteerie.Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 105:
A' tapsateerie in a heap.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 121:
Clashan' i' the rinner hol' Sheu tumbled tapsalteerie.Per. 1895 R. Ford Tayside Songs 196:
An' oh, my wits gaed tapsalteerie.wm.Sc. 1934 “Uncle Tom” Mrs. Goudie's Tea-Pairty 22:
A worl' that seems tae be gaun tapsalteerie.Abd. 1955 W. P. Milne Eppie Elrick xxi.:
Shoudin backlins an' forrit. . . . Fat rodd 'e didna turn 'is stammack tapsalteerie 's mair nur I cud mak oot.m.Sc. 1979 Ian Bowman in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 41:
I'll gar their wulkies gang tapsalteerie
an' birl them roun' an' roun' like a peerie. wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 3:
Well, I wiggled tapselteerie, my heels were that peerie
While a kinna Jimmy Shandish band
Played 'Flower of Scotland' ... Abd. 1998 Sheena Blackhall The Bonsai Grower 20:
... an there wis sic a sweetness an pouer in thon kiss that her hale warld gaed tapsalteerie, an the thump o the bluid at her hairt quickened an sped like a racin bawd fleggit wi the crack o a shotgun. Lnk. 1998 Duncan Glen Selected New Poems 24:
Doon Edinburgh's Forrest Road
wi the meth drinkers? Is Lucifer staunin tapsalteerie,
legs uppermaist, laughin fit to see his ain ecstatic joke? em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 15:
As the universe gangs tapsalteerie
An awthin in it dwines awa,
The time draws in when aw maun staun
Afore the Judge an his dreid law. Sc. 2000 Margery Palmer McCulloch Catherine Carswell and the Scottish Renaissance 126:
Burns's relationships with his various women and these women's willing relationships with Burns had turned the Burns scene tapsalteerie!

II. adj. Chaotic, muddled, disorderly.Sc. 1827 G. R. Kinloch Ballad Book (1891) 49:
He was na widower lang ago, Till he grew tap-and-teerie.Edb. 1915 T. W. Paterson Auld Saws 58:
No by ony thochtless, daft stramash, Or tapsalteerie bangin' roun' aboot.Ags. 1930 A. Kennedy Orra Boughs xxiii.:
A gey tapsalteerie wey-o'-daen.Per. 1941 R. Bain Mice and Men 37:
Scotland's no daft or clear tapselteerie.Abd. 1987 Sheena Blackhall in Joy Hendry Chapman 49 57:
A mirey, dubby, tapsalteerie burn
Teirin alang a bank o' reidest thorn
Nae tinklin puil, o' tranquil blessed calm
Twar better sic a thing war niver born! Dundee 1991 Ellie McDonald in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 85:
MacDiarmid, MacDiarmid,
Scotland's tapsalteerie,
an yer poems are dee'in
in the Halls o Academe wm.Sc. 1991 Carol Galbraith in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 72:
trig tae jig
wi tapsalteerie frets
o infinite disco starns

†III. n. 1. A state of disorder; a topsy-turvy manner. Phr. to play tapsalteerie, to go head over heels (Sc. 1826 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 134).Dmf. 1898 J. Paton Castlebraes 95:
So on in a glorious tapsalteery.Ags. 1932 A. Gray Arrows 74:
If in this warld's tapsel-teerie, We e'er come thegither again.

2. A wild romping or untidy child.Sc. 1865 R. Buchanan Inverburn (1882) 111:
A noisy pack Of tapsileeries ranged from big to small.