Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1704-1757, 1812-1843, 1897-1900, 1952
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HARP, n., v. Sc. usages. See also Hairp.
I. n. 1. A sieve or riddle used for sifting grain (Sc. 1808 Jam.), malt, etc., or separating sand and gravel (Dmf. 1894 Trans. Dmf. & Gall. Antiq. Soc. 149; Cai., ne.Sc., Ags., Kcb. 1956), specif. the lower sieve in a winnowing machine which has a fine mesh to separate weed seeds from grain (Ork., Mry., Abd. 1956).Edb. 1735 Caled. Mercury (10 April):
There is to be exposed to Sale . . . a new Malt Harp, a Malt Steel Mill; also a Milch Cow and a Work horse.Abd. 1744 Monymusk Papers (S.H.S.) 137:
300 B. oats for seed, cleand with harp and fan at £1 Scots more.Ork. 1757 Session Papers, Galloway v. Morton (12 Nov.) 139:
He remembers a Man sent to this Country, with Harps and other Instruments, for dressing, and teaching the People to dress their Bear.Dmf. 1812 W. Singer Agric. Dmf. 641:
All broken stone should be sized by passing through a harp of that width and breadth.Mry. 1813 W. Leslie Agric. Mry. 125:
The wire, or sifting part of the corn harp, is a parallelogram, set up so as to form an inclined plane, nearly 4 feet in height, and almost 2 in breadth, having two sides of board to prevent the corn from running off at the edges.Sc. 1831 Mechanic's Mag. XIV. 162:
The year following [1795] he introduced . . . what he denominated plain harps, to receive the straw as it fell from the shaker, and give it also a shaking motion.Rxb. 1843 Trans. Highl. Soc. 37:
They consist of — 1st, A portable screen or harp.Abd. 1900 C. Murray Hamewith 3:
The mason's harp is set upon en', He's harlin' the fire-hoose gable.
2. "That part of the [meal] mill, which separates the dust from the shilling" (Abd. 1825 Jam.; Cai. 1902 E.D.D.). Comb. harp stour, the powdery meal after it has passed through the harp (Ork. 1956).Sc. 1952 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 336:
The product of this grind (husk, dust and "groats" as the grain is now called) falls down a chute to a sieve of fine wire mesh, called the "harp," which rotates and vibrates, shaking the fine powder ("black dust," but pale enough to the layman) out of the mixture into a sack below.
3. A sparred shovel used e.g. for lifting potatoes or for filling coal (e.Sc. 1886 J. Barrowman Mining Terms 35; m.Sc. 1944 per Edb.6; Knr., Fif. 1956). Comb. harp-shovel.Sc. 1816 Trans. Highl. Soc. 364:
If gravel cannot be procured clean from the pit, it must be harped, or taken up with harp-shovels.Clc. 1897 Alloa Jnl. (24 July) 3:
He was threatening [him] for not giving him his harp (a riddle for coals).
4. Dim. harpie, herpie. An Irish copper halfpenny or farthing bearing the figure of a harp, current at the end of the 17th c.Wgt. 1711 Session Bk. Glasserton MS. (1 Aug.):
There is nine shillings and eight pence of insufficient coin, doits, orkies and harpies, of the 12 lib. Scots, which the minister keeps.Wgt. 1712 Session Rec. Whithorn MS. (4 Aug.):
Of orkies and herpies . . . 00 10 00.
5. = Harpi (Ork. 1954 Ork. Miscellany II. 56).
II. v. To riddle, sift with a harp (Abd. 1825 Jam.).Sc. 1704 Foulis Acc. Bk. (S.H.S.) 352:
Jul. 13: for a quart of eall to wm. denhame and the men soured the lyme and Harped sand . . . . . . 0. 4. 0.Ork. 1757 Session Papers, Galloway v. Morton (12 Nov.) 139:
He not only remembers Bear harped aboard Ships, and afterwards put in their Hold, but harped in the Store-house of Kirkwall.Sc. 1837 Trans. Highl. Soc. 82:
From the absurd practice of slaking and harping the lime, its qualities are deteriorated.Dmf. 1899 Country Schoolmaster (Wallace) 370:
I've seen a lassie harping san', Wi' cheeks as rosy as the dawn.
