A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Topsolturvie, Topsoltiria, Topsie-turvie, Tops o're tiria, adv. [e.m.E. topsy tervy (1528), topsie-turvie (c1540). Also in the later dial.] fig. Topsy-turvy, upside down; in a dislocated or confused fashion. — 1632 Lithgow Trav. 202.
Let all the misticall drifts and ambiguous designes … turne topsoltiria or upside downe, I care not 1640 Lithgow Poet. Remains 202.
Looke downe on thy stress'd Sion, … Grievous grow her feares! By wolves in lambskins, topsolturvie turne 1681 Colvil Whig's Suppl. (1751) 68.
Else their conscience is so scurvie They will turn all things topsie-turvie 1684 Bk. Pasquils 326.
There was a duke so full of pryde There durst no man come neeria Till cam a monkey out of Fife And dang him tops o're tiria
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"Topsolturvie adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 30 Dec 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/topsolturvie>
