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.
HOOLETY, adj. Also howlaty. Owl-like.
Comb. hoolety-hoo, the hoot of an owl; the bird itself.Peb. 1793 R. Brown Carlop Green (1817) 125:
The guid grieve ayont the dyke, The lang hoolety-hoo, The whawp, frae the south.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck xii.:
To scare the howlaty face o' him away, an' learn him to keep his ain side o' the water.Lth. 1885 J. Strathesk Blinkbonny 182:
An eerie, ugly skraigh that I like waur than a hoolet's “hoolety-hoo.”
