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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

FLAUCHT, n.², v.², adv. Also flacht, fla(u)ght. [flǫxt, flɑxt]

I. n. 1. A flying, a flight (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.). Phr. at the flacht, ready to fly. Used fig. in quot. Cf. Flicht, n.¹, v.¹Sc. 1887 Jam.:
The rogues were in full flaght to the border.Abd.⁷ 1925:
Where any person is wearing clothing that is in tatters, it is said of them that they also are “at the flacht,” since they have so many shreds of clothing waving with the breeze.

†2. A fluttering or flapping motion.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie II. i.:
[He] was every noo and then getting up wi' a great flaught of his arms.

3. A flight or flock of birds (Cld. 1825 Jam.; Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.; ‡Sh.¹⁰ 1951). Also fig. of persons.Cld. 1818 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 155:
Souchan as gin they had been a flaucht o' dows.Kcb. 1895 Crockett Moss-Hags xxiii.:
If Clavers had chanced to come by the road, he wad hae landed a richt bonny flaucht o' them.

4. A sudden blast or gust of wind (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry, Gl.; Abd. (coast) 1951), “sometimes accompanied by rain or snow” (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); “a puff of smoke down the chimney” (Bnff. 1905 E.D.D. Suppl.).Edb. 1866 J. Smith Poems 54:
Fear nocht frae yin a flaucht o' wind can shogle.Ags. 1881 in Mod. Sc. Poets (Edwards) II. 98:
Nae flaughts hae blawn ye inside out.

5. A bustle, flurry; great hurry (Abd.⁶ 1913); phr. at the (clean) flaucht, at full speed (Abd.²⁷ 1951). Cf. Flocht.Ayr. 1821 Galt Annals Parish vii.:
It was burnt to the very ground, nothing was spared but what the servants in the first flaught gathered up in a hurry.Abd. 1831 Aberdeen Mag. 477:
He rode aff at the clean flaught.Abd. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xviii.:
There comes up a bit gey kibble, fersell mannie, gyaun at an unco flaucht.Abd. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 46:
As seen's ye got a wint, ye straucht Cam doon throwe a'thing at the flaucht.Bnff. 1927 E. S. Rae Hansel Fae Hame 28:
The pairis' noo is in a flaucht tae get the poopit foo.Sc. 1935 W. Soutar Poems in Scots 15:
Half doun the hill, whaur fa's the linn Far frae the flaught o' fowk.

II. v. 1. intr. To shake, tremble, vibrate (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., flauch); tr. and intr. to flap or flutter, to shake (a sheet) (Ib.; Sh.¹⁰ 1952). Vbl.n. flaughtin, a fluttering or palpitation of the heart (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl., Sh.¹⁰ 1952).Rxb. 1875 Trans. Hawick Arch. Soc. 34:
Away the smugglers galloped, . . . “with their legs flauchen like the jams of a wauk-mill.”

‡2. To bustle, go about or off in a flurry (Abd.¹ 1929).Bch. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 115:
Something gat up, an' wi' a weeack dire, Gaed flaughtin aff, an' vanish't like a fire.Abd. 1816 in T. Mair John o' Arnha's Latter-Day Exploits (1882) 112:
The kittle kemp began in haste . . . They flaughtit, flew, and did their best.Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 50:
They're flauchtin' in the road at sic a lick.Abd. 1925 A. Murison Rosehearty Rhymes 110:
Meg cam' flauchtin doon — Meg wi' the dancin' feet.

III. adv. With the limbs extended like a bird in flight, spreadeagled; with a swoop. See Brade, v.². Fig. with great eagerness (Ayr. 1825 Jam.).Kcb. 1806 J. Train Poet. Reveries 80:
Then flaught on Philip, wi' a rair, She flew, an' pluck't his bosom bare.Edb. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 206:
Oh, wha hae ye brought us hame now, my brave lord, Strappit flaught ower his braid saddle-bow?

Comb.: †flaucht-braid, -bred, idem.Abd. 1742 R. Forbes Ajax (1755) 10:
To me, fa in this bruilzie Was the first man that drew my durk, Came flaught-bred to the toulzie?Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 8:
[He] i' the haste of rinning catcht a fa' Flaught bred upon his face, an' there he lay.Bch. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 3:
But there comes Robie, flaught-braid down the brae; How wild he glowrs, like some daft brownie-bae.Abd. 1832 A. Beattie Poems 119:
Chief to chief, and man to man, And sword to sword flauchtbred and wode.Bnff. 1869 W. Knight Auld Yule 85:
His foot sticks in a bush o' rashes, And flauchtbred in a hole he splashes.