Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HENK, v., n. Also hink (Jak.).

I. v. 1. To walk with a limp (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., Sh. 1957); to hop on one leg (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)).Sh. 1908 Old-Lore Misc. I. viii. 314:
“Noo whau'll come reel wi me,” quo' Kutty? “Sad sicht be seen upo der crupeens!” “I'll henk it awa mesel,” quo' Kutty.Sh. 1932 J. Saxby Trad. Lore 116:
The Trows were said . . . to “henk” when they danced.Sh. 1948 New Shetlander (Oct. — Nov.) 22:
Hirplin an henkin atween da twa o' dem.

Hence henki(e), hinki, one who walks with a limp (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., Sh. 1957), extended to mean a troll or fairy, and so the devil, in phr. whatta Henkie, what the devil!Sh. 1879 Shetland Times (22 March):
Lass, lass! what ta Henkie is come o' dee? I'm been staandin' stivnin' maistly twa oors waitin' dee.Sh. 1897 J. Jakobsen Dial. Shet. 116:
The word “henki” is sometimes applied to a troll or fairy. There are old legends in connection with these knolls [Henkis-knowes], that the trolls used to dance there at night, and the trolls were always supposed to “hink” or limp when they danced.

†2. To stammer, hesitate in one's speech.s.Sc. 1887 Jam.:
The older form hink [of hinch] is not yet quite obsolete; but it is now generally used in the sense of to hesitate, hang, pause. For example, a lame person hinches as he walks along, and a stammerer hinks in his speech.

3. With efter: to seek longingly, go after in a sly way, to pursue, dog the footsteps of (women, etc.) (Sh. 1957).

II. n. A hesitation in speech, a slight stutter.Dmf. 1860 T. Carlyle Letters (Bliss 1953) 349:
She . . . speaks with a kind of henk or menace of stutter.