Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
HAPPITY, adj. Also reduced and altered form ¶happert. Lame (Ags. 1956); that causes one to hop or limp (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Sc. 1790 Sc. Musical Mus. III. 253:
I've a hen wi' a happity leg, Lass gin ye lo'e me tak' me now!Gsw. 1863 W. Miller Nursery Songs 27:
For a cloit o' a fa', Gars them hirple awa', Like a hen wi' a happity leg, John Frost.Sc. 1874 A. Hislop Sc. Anecdotes 6:
He was rather little, and had a happity leg.Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 131:
An' yon ane [song] where on happert leg The waefu' woman comes to beg.Sc. 1933 W. Soutar Seeds in the Wind 31:
A puggie snaig'd aff wi' the cripple man's crutch . . . Och hone, och hone, grat happity John.
Hence (1) happetty, n., a man with a club-foot (Per. 1902 E.D.D.); (2) happertie-clink (Fif.), -clout, = (3), 'dot and carry one' (Lnk. 1959); (3) happie-ti-kick, the limping uneven gait of a lame person, whose legs are ill-matched. Also in Eng. dial. Used fig. in quot. of an ill-assorted marriage (Ags. 1956).(3) Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie's Wallet i.:
Like a' the lave o' her kind, she'll try to look young, but a bonny happie-ti-kick ye'll mak o't atween ye. You an' her gaun to the kirk wad need to get some auld sodger to pit ye thro' your facings.
