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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GALLOWSES, n.pl., with v., gallows. Also galluses, -usses, -aces, -asses, -awses; -ysis (Edb. 1881 J. Smith Habbie & Madge 90), -ises (Uls. 1912 Scotsman (31 Jan.)), gallowsters (n.Ant. 1931 North. Whig (11 Dec.)), †galasses. [′gɑləsɪz]

I. n. 1. Trouser braces. Gen.Sc. Sometimes in sing. = a single brace and attrib. with button. Also common in Eng. (esp. n.) dial.Ayr. 1819 C. Lockhart Poems (1821) 104:
I scarcely had as meikle left As buy a gallows button.Bch. 1832 W. Scott Poems 74:
There wasna gallowses to hing the breeks.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin xxi.:
The captain . . . stumpin' back an' fore on the deck, wi' his thooms stuck in his gallowses.Kcb. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly xiv.:
The tattered trousers with one “gallus” . . . displayed across the blue shirt.Gsw. 1898 D. Willox Poems & Sk. 77:
The trousers barely reach ma buit-mooth, efter gieing them a' the length o' gallows I daur.Per. 1904 R. Ford Hum. Sc. Stories (Series 2) 51:
Widow McSleeky, that tenants the pendicle on the left o' me yonder . . . took to . . . sewin' on my gallows buttons.Ayr. 1950 D. Mackie Doon the Burn 66:
Wi' thoombs aroon' his gallace He swaggers up an' doon.Gsw. 1953 Gsw. Herald (29 Jan.):
An exclusive Glasgow haberdasher still advertises them formally as “gallowses.”Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 87:
But when I was a very small arrival at school, I heard stories from further up the tunnel concerning the deeds of the terrible One-Gallus Gang. Galluses were braces, which we wore if we were unlucky enough not to be the owner of a striped, elasticated belt with a snake-clasp.ne.Sc. 1986 Peter Mowatt in Joy Hendry Chapman 43-4 156:
" ... And dinna rive yer spad oot o' the grun like that or ye'll rax yer oxter. Ca' canny leesht ye burst yer gallusses."wm.Sc. 1991 Liz Lochhead Bagpipe Muzak 30:
OK, he slagged the food, but he waxed lyrical about the waiters in their galluses, collarless granpa simmets, big tweed bunnets and hobnail miners' boots ... Gsw. 1992 Jeff Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! (1993) 247-8:
'Aye, aye,' he'd said, thumbs hooked into his galluses, 'it sounds as if St Peter's been suppin the beans again!'

2. The strap for carrying a fishwife's creel (Ags. 1880–1953).

3. A bar of wood placed across the shoulders from which pails can be hung and carried, a yoke (Slg. c.1900). Also water-gallus (w.Sc. 1949).Sc. 1925 Scots Mag. (Dec.) 233:
A small recess behind the shop door held the two water stoups, with the wooden galluses for carrying them to and from the pump.Slg. 1935 per Slg.³:
I still use a yoke to carry water: we call them gallaces.

†4. The straps by which a carriage body is hung from the springs (Edb. c.1890).Sc. 1705 Foulis Acc. Bk. (S.H.S.):
June 2: to Cornelius in Currie for the seot, galasses, and under braces to the chariot . . . . . £10: 1: 0.

5. A hoist or derrick for lifting fishing nets. Fif. 1952 Stat. Acc.³ 595: 
The existence of "lafts" and "gallises" in the back-yard is a reminder of the time when the ownership of gear was well-nigh universal among fishermen.

II. v. To fasten with gallowses (Abd.²⁷ c.1930). Rare.Per. 1908 Gsw. Ballad Club III. 126:
The hurdie pairts had room an' mair, But that's nae unco fawt, For wi' them tichtly gallowsed up The slack ye never saw't.