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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

GOWP, v.², n.² Also goup, †gope. [gʌup]

I. v. ‡1. Of the heart or pulse: to beat strongly or wildly, to palpitate (Lth., Lnk., Rxb. 1825 Jam., goup, gowp, gope; m.Lth.¹ 1955). Also fig.wm.Sc. 1796 R. Lochore Foppish Taylor 6:
But, lake-anee! his heart did goup, Depriv'd o' a' the gleams o' houp.Ayr. 1890 J. Service Notandums viii.:
Little do ye ken o' the gowpin' terror that taks haud o' their bit hearts.Slg. 1902 W. C. Paterson Echoes 49:
Sair my heart wi' love is gowpin'.Lth. 1920 A. Dodds Songs 13:
My hairt gangs gowpin' jist the same, As wild wi' love's expectant bliss, As that first nicht he spak my name.Lnk. 1923 G. Rae 'Mang Lowland Hills 76:
The souter threeps that the goupin' pulse o' Scots conscience Hes lost its stang.Sc. 1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 16:
His hert was gowpin' in his moo For a' the joy that dirl'd him thro'.

2. Of bodily sores or pains: to throb with pain, to ache violently (Lnk. 1825 Jam.; Uls. 1880 Patterson Gl.; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Fif., em.Sc.(b), Dmb., Ayr., Wgt. 1955). Also vbl.n. gowpin.Dmf. 1825 Jam.:
“It [sore] gopes, gopes, like the heart of a gorling”; it beats like the heart of a young bird, when affrighted.Ayr. a.1843 J. Stirrat Poems (1869) 11:
Or whitloe gouping in the thumb.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 141:
“Jist tak' a chair,” some gutcher says; “Sit doon,” but, od! My goupin' “boil,” for days an' days, Was in the road.Ant. 1892 Ballymena Obs. (E.D.D.):
A hae a sore head, feel how it's goupin.Sc. 1920 D. Rorie Auld Doctor 14:
A reg'lar, riving, ragin' colic, A loupin', gowpin' stoondin' pain.wm.Sc. 1934 T. Smellie Tea-pairty 30:
The roomatics is gowpin' noos and thans.wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 9:
Come dork, she wis richt weak
Wi' the gowpin' o' her sair heid and seeck
At the thocht o' touchin' a singel bite. Gsw. 1987 Peter Mason C'mon Geeze Yer Patter! 20:
Ma pinkie's gowpin wi yon big skelf. My small finger is extremely painful because of the splinter embedded in it. Gsw. 1992 Jeff Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! (1993) 3:
My own skull was gowping, the outcome of pigging the booze alongside Cullen in the Dog, followed by an after-hours session in the Moderation Bar. m.Sc. 1994 J. E. MacInnes in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 15:
I'd never noticed nails oan a man afore either, but ma hale life wis jist this wan airm, wi the hairs, an his pincil wi his deft strokes where mine were aw watery an waffy like ma legs at his nearness, an ma feet wi these corns jist gowpin ablow the desk, ...

†II. n. A throb of pain (Lnk. 1825 Jam.; Lth. 1926 Wilson Cent. Scot. 245; m.Lth., Peb., Ayr., Wgt. 1955), or of pleasure.Per. a.1869 C. Spence Poems (1898) 140:
Though that goup I'll never rue, At first I shivered through and through.Gsw. 1879 A. G. Murdoch Rhymes 96:
Thank heaven! my ain stair-heid at last! My haill heart gied a joyfu' gowp.