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.
Quotation dates: 1718-1927
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GILPIE, -Y, n., adj. Also †gilpey and irreg. gilphie (Rnf. 1835 D. Webster Rhymes 60). [′gɪlpi]
I. n. †1. A lively or mischievous young fellow.Sc. 1718 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 80:
A Gilpy that had seen the Faught.Abd. 1739 in Caled. Mag. (1788) 499:
The Gilpy glowr'd and leuk'd fell blate, To see'r in sic a fang.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Poems (1925) 57:
Imprimis, then, a haggis fat . . . . . . plac'd itsel in truncher clean Before the gilpy's glowrin een.Ags. 1853 W. Blair Chron. Aberbrothock xv.:
[He was] a little gilpie o' a chap.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 108:
A bare-footed gilpy, sair scrimpit o' frien's.
‡2. A lively young girl (Fif., Lth., Ayr. 1923–26 Wilson; Slg.3, Rxb.4 1954); a callow girl, a tomboy (Mry.1 1925; Cai.9 1940, rare); sometimes with depreciatory force: a bold, hoydenish girl. Also variant form gilkie (Rnf. 1876 D. Gilmour Paisley Weavers v.), cf. gwilkin s.v. Gilpin. Sometimes used attrib.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 153:
Thus when braid Flakes of Snaw have clade the Green, Aften I have young sportive Gilpies seen, The waxing Ba' with meikle Pleasure row.Ayr. 1786 Burns Halloween xv.:
I was a gilpey then, I'm sure, I was na past fyfteen.Rnf. 1815 W. Finlayson Rhymes 34:
This gilpy coudna tell the time When she was last a maid.Sc. 1816 Scott O. Mortality v.:
I mind, when I was a gilpey of a lassock, seeing the Duke.Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Trad. Tales II. 109:
I mind the lad weel with his long yellow locks . . . when I was but a gilpie of a lassie.Per. 1835 R. Nicoll Poems 144:
Our young gilpie dochters are leukin' for men, An' I'll be a grandsire or ever I ken.Lnk. 1863 J. Hamilton Poems 297:
There's nocht but . . . rinnin' here and there . . . 'Mang lassocks gilpie.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 96:
I'm growin' auld, and canna thole The daffin gilpie's skirlin' glee.Fif. 1909 Colville 137:
The severest criticism of conduct, indeed, was directed to the frailer sex, backsliders being progressively characterised by the uncomplimentary epithets — gilpy, besom.m.Sc. 1927 J. Buchan Witch Wood ix.:
That gilpie o' mine suld have been here, but she's awa' to the hill.
3. A frisky foal (Ags.18 1954).
†II. adj. "Of eggs: doubtful, not quite fresh, 'shoppy'" (Edb. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.), phs. from the notion of having a chick inside. Cf. Gilpin, 1. (1) and Kilpit.
[Phs. a variant of Gilpin.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Gilpie n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gilpie>
