Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1789-1925, 1992-1996
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GOWPENFU, n. Also gowpin-, -an, goupen-; gowpeen- (Rxb.); gjoppm- (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.), gopan- (Arg. 1936 L. McInnes Dial. S. Kintyre 14), goapin-, †gopin-. A double or, rarely, a single handful (Ayr. 1811 W. Aiton Agric. Ayr., Gl.; Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 249). Gen.Sc., obsol. Also fig. = a (large) quantity.Kcb. 1789 D. Davidson Seasons 13:
Who for a knife Or penny whissle, will part wi' their gold In gopinfu's.Sc. 1838 Wilson's Tales of the Borders IV. 196:
As long's there's a plack to the fore in the purse, or a gowpenfu' o' meal in the kist, ye'se aye be welcome to a share.Dmf. 1852 Carlyle in Froude Life (1884) II. xx.:
An old Russian countess yesternight sat playing Gowpanfuls of gold pieces every stake.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxv.:
I tane up a gowpen-fu' o' snaw . . . an' drappit it gently doon the lum.Bnff. 1887 Trans. Bnffsh. Field Club 69:
The mill started, the fairies ground their meal, and when finished a small lady took a gowpen full of their meal and put it into John's hands.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 88:
I sighed . . . for a lang simmer's day to gather gowpenfu's of wild roses in the Pyet Holm.Abd. 1900 Banffshire Jnl. (18 Sept.) 3:
The fishwives . . . sold dulse at the rate of a half-penny a gowpenful.Edb. 1916 J. Fergus Sodger 14:
Yet a' the while his puir auld heart was far frae being tume, But held a gowpenfu' o' love for her his leddy dear.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 9:
Something ti serr as an off-pit . . . a gowpeenfih berries or a penny gray rowe.wm.Sc. 1992:
Two gowpenfuls o sugar, four gowpens o flooer, ... Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web v:
Dreich is a cauld, mochy, jeelin, dowie wird - a wird fur weather, character, emotion: an yon's bit scartit the tap o't, fur there's a guid gowpenfu o the eldritch steered inno't anna.
Phr.: †gowpinfu' o' a' thing, a contemptuous term applied to a foolish person, a laughing stock, “one who is a medley, or composition of every thing that is absurd” (Jam.2).Sc. 1814 C. I. Johnstone Saxon & Gael I vi.:
What's the tawpy gigglin' at; by my certy if I war at your lug I sud gar ye laugh the laugh o' Bamullo, ye gowpinfu' o' a' thing.
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"Gowpenfu n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 6 Feb 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/gowpenfu>
