Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLATCH, Clatsh, Klatsh, Clotch, n. [klɑtʃ, klɔtʃ]

1. A flat or splashy sound caused by the fall of a soft, heavy object (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., klatsh; Abd.², Lnk.³ 1937; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Slk. 1825 Jam.²). Phr. to play clatch, to fall with such a sound.Per. 1898 E.D.D.:
I gart him play clatch amo' the dubs.

2. Extended from the sound to denote the movement causing it: “a slap as with the palm of the hand” (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., klatsh; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).

3. Extended to denote any object which would cause such a sound: (1) a wet mass, a clot (Bnff.² 1937), “anything thrown for the purpose of daubing; as ‘a clatch of lime,' as much as is thrown from the trowel on a wall” (Sc. 1808 Jam.); (2) “a piece of ground in a soft or sloppy condition” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); †(3) “the mire raked together into heaps on streets or the sides of roads” (Lth. 1825 Jam.²).(1) Sh. 1900 Shet. News (18 Aug.):
Da grices hae a wye o' rötin' ony löm 'at's empty afore dem, fil hits in wan clatsh o' gutter.Sh. 1926–28 J.G. Lowrie buys a Ford in Shet. Times:
I got a clatch o' marrow fat apo da leg o' me breeks.(2) Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.:
A muckle glaury clatch.(3)Ayr. 1835 Tait's Mag. (Jan.) 130: 
Is't true that the wives and the laddies bombed you all out of Da'keith, and sent ye back to Embro' living monuments o' clatch'.

4. “An untidy mess” (Ib.).

5. A dirty, untidy person; a slut; a fat, clumsy woman (Abd.², Ags.¹, Lnk.³ 1937); “a clumsy, ungainly person” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., klatsh).Bnff.² 1937:
It blecks me to ken fat he can see in yon muckle clotch o' a dame.Abd. 1895 J. Davidson Old Abdsh. Ministers 149:
“Are you a married man: have you a wife?” “Aye, a kin' o' a clotch.”Arg.¹ 1937:
She wuz a clean, ticht lass, when she wuz merrit, an' noo she's juist a big, lazy clatch.Slk. 1829 Hogg Shepherd's Calendar I. ix.:
Now, what influence could a cauld clatch of a creature like that . . . hae ower our bairn, either to make her happy or unhappy?

6. “A loquacious, good for nothing person” (Rxb. 1825 Jam.²); “a helpless or worthless person” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).Sc.(E) 1897 E. Hamilton Outlaws of the Marches xvii.:
Haud your gab, ye claverin clatch.

†7. (1) “A person with a broken constitution” (Nai. 1813 W. Leslie Gen. View Agric. Nai. and Mry., Gl. 451); (2) “a bungler” (Abd. 1825 Jam.², clotch).

8. “Any piece of mechanical work done in a careless [or clumsy] way” (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., rare); an old, clumsy, worn-out article: “the Carlyles used the word for any old, lumbering, clumsy thing . . . esp. an old gig. Common in Annandale” (Dmf. 1898 E.D.D.); “a clumsy patch of solid substance, as of wood” (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.). Known to Ags.¹, Kcb.⁹ 1937.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
An ill-built house is said to be “a mere clatch.”Mearns 1889 J. and W. Clark Leisure Musings 18:
They say I'm a rotten clotch Unfit to carry cart or coach. [A bridge is speaking]Dmf. 1838 T. Carlyle New Letters (1904) I. 135:
A lady . . . had lent her a nice little carriage of the clatch sort, with horse and man.