Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1721-1736, 1818, 1883-1915
[0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
WHILLY, v. Also whully, whillow. To cheat, gull, esp. by means of wheedling (Sc. 1808 Jam.), to cajole. Now liter.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 208:
They . . . printing it like their vile Trash, The honest Lieges whilly'd.Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 79:
Wise men may be whilly'd with wiles.Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian xii.:
Let me alane for whillying an advocate.Lnk. 1883 A. R. Fisher Poems 17:
Some think wi' ease they can me whillow oot o' my shilling.Gsw. 1915 20th C. Sc. Verse (Robb 1932) 41:
She kent the wey to whilly him, an' lead his he'rt awa'.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Whilly v.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 15 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/whilly>
