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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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GASH, n.³, adj.², v.²

I. n. Prattle, talk; pert, impudent language (Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 456; Bnff.² 1927; Cai.⁸, Inv.¹, Ags.¹⁸, Slg.³, Edb.¹, Wgt.⁴ 1954). Phr.: to set up one's gash, to talk, to talk insolently.Sc. 1787 W. Taylor Poems 86:
I . . . shall wish his health wi' loyal gash, An' than shall weet my whistle.Ayr. 1790 J. Fisher Poems 82:
But let us hae some funny gash; (Then she began to clatter).Abd. 1801 W. Beattie Parings 19:
Wi' this the wife sets up her gash, And says, "Ye ken I like ne fash."Rxb. 1808 A. Scott Poems 120:
Then up spak ane wi' ready gash.Mry. 1810 J. Cock Simple Strains 135:
Wad ye set up your gash, nae faut, Ye crustie foul-mou'd tyke.Bnff. 1850 Bnffsh. Jnl. (9 April):
And what has raised this sad stramash? Is't that the laird is scant o' cash, Or is nae glib o' holy gash?Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin vi.:
Willie had a pooer o' norlan lingo on his tongue neb, an' never was at a loss for gash to tryste customers to buy his trockerie.Ags. 1880 Brechin Advertiser (27 April) 3:
"Do ye think," cried Jim, "I care . . . . . . . for a' the saucy gash you've spoken!"Cai. 1900 E.D.D.:
Gie's nane o' yer gash.

Combs.: 1. gabble-gash, a very loquacious person, a chatterer (w.Fif. 1954 per Fif.¹⁵); 2. gash-pot, id. (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).

‡II. adj. Talkative, loquacious (Clc., Peb. 1954). Used adv. in Ramsay quot. Also deriv. gashy (Cai. 1900 E.D.D.) and adv. gashly.Sc. 1681 in R. H. Story W. Carstares (1874) 54:
She always longed for one of a gash gab.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 187:
To see his Snowt, to hear him play, And gab sae gash.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 52:
And courtiers aft gaed greening for my smack, To gar them bauldly glour, and gashly crack.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 36:
Ye're a sae gash o' your gabbies.Wgt. 1804 R. Couper Poems II. 84:
Wi ruefu' face, and hirplin' trott, Gash Mistress Jelly cam Fast through the passage.Gsw. 1872 J. Young Lochlomond Side 101:
But a' was winter proof within, An' free the gashy crack gaed on.

Combs.: 1. gash-gabbit, loquacious, glib-tongued "and at the same time shrewd in conversation" (e.Fif. 1825 Jam.; Fif.¹⁵ 1954); cf. 1681 quot. above; 2. gash-me-gabby, n., a chatter-box. Cf. 1. 3. gash-moo't, id.; †3. gashm(o)u, "a boy who was found guilty of initiating or spreading a false report concerning any of his schoolmates" (Sc. 1910 Scotsman (13 Sept.)), phs. with a pun on Gashmu, the name of the tale-bearer in Nehemiah vi. 6.1. Sc. 1706 Sc. Antiquary XII. 99:
Ye mannee look for sic well-buked Language, as the Gashgabbed Pamphlet-men set aff their Tales wee. 2.Sc. 1755 J. Fleming Robert Adam (1962) 130: 
He declared the Principessa Salviati to be but a "little forward, impudent gash-me-gabby".3. Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 59:
He's a gaungin', gash-moot mannie.

†III. v. To talk volubly, to gossip (Ayr. 1923 Wilson Dial. Burns 165); to talk freely, to prattle; "to talk pertly, to give an insolent reply" (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Cai. 1900 E.D.D.).Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 39:
The cheering bicker gars them glibly gash O' simmer's showery blinks and winters sour.Ayr. 1786 Burns Halloween xi.:
She lea'es them gashan at their cracks, An' slips out by hersel.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
A child who has much prattle is said to be a gashing creature.Fif. 1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 79:
They'd read lang Latin books thegither, And gash'd and gabb'd wi' ane anither.Slk. 1829 Hogg Shepherd's Cal. II. 15:
I could then see the lasses a' dressed out like dolls, and several young boobies o' hinds, threshers, and thrum-cutters, sitting gashing and glowring among them.Bwk. 1863 A. Steel Poems 64:
His gashin' jokes nae mair we'll hear.w.Lth. 1910 J. White Eppie Gray 9:
They smack their lips and glibly gash Aboot their oots and ins.

Comb. gash-awa, a talkative person (Fif. 1957).