Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1767-1916
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‡CLAMIHEWIT, CLAMHEWIT, n. Also clamehewit, clamahewit, clammyhowat, clamyhooit, clamahuic, clawnahewat (Abd. 1851 W. Anderson Rhymes 133). [klɑmɪ̢′h(j)uɪt, klɑmə′huɪk]
1. A blow, a drubbing.Sc. 1814 Scott Waverley (1817) xlix.:
He hastened to assure Waverley . . . "that he wasna a plack the waur since the fery moment when his honour forbad her to gie him a bit clamhewit wi' her Lochaberaxe."Bnff.2 1916:
I wiz mad at the impident vratch, bit I ga' 'im a clamahuic 'at he winna forget in a hurry.Abd.(D) 1767 R. Forbes Jnl. from London (1869) 18:
Some o' the chiels might . . . gi' me a clamehewit to snib me frae comin that gate agen.Abd.(D) 1788 J. Skinner Christmass Bawing xvii. in Caled. Mag. 501:
But suddenly frae some curst Wight, A clammyhowat fell'd him Hawf dead that day.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 94:
Sic clamahewits and sic baffs Were never rain'd frae feckless staffs.Edb. 1772 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 22:
For frae a stark Lochaber aix He gat a clamihewit, Fu' sair that night.
2. Fig. "A misfortune" (Ags. 1808 Jam.); "an accident or disappointment to anyone" (Abd.4 1928, clamyhooit).
3. A commotion, row; "a hubbub, outcry" (Abd.6 1910, obs.). Known to Fif.10 1940.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake, etc. 84:
Hech, but ye're crazed! To kick up sic a clamihewit.
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"Clamihewit n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/clamihewit>
