A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1963 (DOST Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
*Handy-grips, Handiegripp(i)s, n. pl. [Grip n.; altered f. e.m.E. handye grypes (1542), var. of handgripes.] Handgrips, close combat. —1614 Inverness Rec. 120.
That they ȝeid in handie grippis 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1894) 219.
But certainly my light is dim when it cometh to handy-grips 1649 Misc. Spald. C. V. 230. 1687 Ib. 237.
That he saw them both at the ground in handie gripps 1676 Forbes Baron Ct. 301.
