Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PADDY, n. As in Eng., a nickname for a native of Ireland, an Irishman; also the Irish mail train from Carlisle to Stranraer.

Sc. combs. and phrs.: 1. paddy-barrow, a barrow without sides freq. used for carrying large stones; occas. also a hand barrow, see Hand, n., 9. (3) (Ork., Cai., Mry., Bnff., Ags., Fif., Ayr. 1965), prob. from its frequent use by Irish labourers. Also called a hand-paddy (Cai. 1965); 2. paddy-harrow, a harrow with widely-spaced tines for clearing weeds between drills (m.Lth. 1965); 3. paddy-rake, a tilting hay-rake, a hay-collector (Rxb. 1928 P.S.A.S. LXIII. 20, Rxb. 1965); 4. Paddy's Fair, = Paddy's Market;5. Paddy's Market, also shortened form (the) Paddy's, a former street market in Glasgow frequented by the Irish section of the population; transf. any confused scene, an untidy room or the like (Ags., wm.Sc. 1965); 6. Paddy's Milestone, prop. n., a jocular name for the rocky island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, a conspicuous landmark for Irish immigrants on the voyage between Ireland and Scotland. Also attrib. Gen.Sc.; 7. paddy shovel, a long-handled shovel with a long, narrow blade for cleaning drains, used esp. by Irish labourers (Edb.⁶ 1949); 8. paddy-whack, a thrashing (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., 1942 Zai; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein). Also in n.Eng. dial.; 9. to come (the) Paddy ower, to get the upper hand of by a trick, to bamboozle, humbug. Slang.sm.Sc. 1965 Scotsman (14 June) 3:
The last train to use the Stranraer-Dumfries line. It was the “Paddy” from Stranraer to London. . . . From today the “Paddy”will travel via Ayr and Mauchline.1. Bnff. 1952 Banffshire Jnl. (13 May):
4 Sack Barrows, 3 Box Barrows, Paddy Barrow.4.Gsw. 1860 J. Young Poorhouse Lays 139:
I'm sure that e'en in "Paddy's Fair" it wadna brocht a groat.5. Gsw. c.1850 Old Glasgow Street Songs etc.:
This late Paddy's Market has now merged into cipherdom - a market for the sale of fish over and above eight weeks old. Thanks to the praiseworthy exertions of our civic rulers, Glasgow can now boast of a market for the sale of articles of almost all descriptions, that outrivals, in substantial embellishments, any place, for a similar purpose, in the three kingdoms.wm.Sc. 1854 Laird of Logan 484:
I got it at Paddy's Market.Gsw. 1889 A. G. Murdoch Readings II. 30:
The twa set oot on a visit to Paddy's Market on the Saturday nicht following . . . to spend in necessaries the 7s. 9½d. at their disposal.Gsw. 1969 D. Morrison White Hind 28:
Paddy's Mairket; Doon i Clyde Street, whaur rags, Soiled guids frae burnt oot stores are sellt.wm.Sc. 1983 William McIlvanney The Papers of Tony Veitch 151:
'Well. Ah'll tell ye. Ah'm at the Paddy's, right? Okey dokey. Paddy Collins comes up. He knows that Ah know Eck. So he wants me to pass on a message. He wants tae meet Eck an' talk about somethin'.' wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 3:
Ah've to let this rammy a' go by me and no worry?
The wey you clan cairry oan is far from wyce.
There's nae respect. Ah try to gie advice,
But naw! There's that much argie-bargie it
's like nae place on earth but Paddy's Market.Gsw. 1997 Herald (1 Aug) 21:
The normally gallus traders at Paddy's have shown great reluctance to make use of the court wall. This is with the exception of one Dick Barton, a retailer who is world famous in the Glasgow Cross area as the proprietor of the "mini Barras" in Schipka Pass. ... Mr Barton, who says his family has a long and proud tradition of hawking and midgie-raking at Paddy's Market, ... Ayr. 1999:
The place is like Paddy's Market. Gsw. 2000 Herald (29 Nov) 14:
Customs raid at Paddy's Market...Police and customs officers yesterday seized duty free cigarettes, tobacco,... Edb. 2003:
He bocht ye an engagement ring! Where fae, Paddy's Market? Edb. 2003:
Why must yer bedroom aye be like Paddy's Market? Gsw. www.theglasgowstory.com :
Paddy's Market ... A second-hand clothes market grew up in and around Jail Square at the foot of Saltmarket in the 1820s. Most of the dealers were Irish, giving rise to the market's nickname. In the 1850s the Town Council set up a covered market in Scanlon's Close, south of Bridgegate, and it became the centre of the city's second-hand clothes trade until it was demolished in 1866 to make way for the approach lines to St Enoch Railway Station. Gsw. 2003 Scotland on Sunday (19 Jan):
One of my most ingrained boyhood memories is of loitering among the hawkers and hagglers at Paddy's Market, waiting to help a pal's brother heave a tea chest of bric-a-brac back to his bedsit in Govanhill.  6. Ayr. 1874 J. Taylor Curling (1884) 360:
Ailsa Craig's [curling stones] are made of blocks of a granite-like appearance got at Paddy's milestone.wm.Sc. 1923 H. Foulis Hurricane Jack 118:
There wassna a port inside o' Paddy's Milestone where Jeck wass not ass welcome wi' the girls ass Royal Cherlie!Ayr. 1951 Stat. Acc.³ 17:
Off this Carrick coast, just over eight miles away, there rises out of the waters of the Firth of Clyde the rocky islet of Ailsa Craig — “Paddy's Milestone ”, an outpost of Ayrshire.Abd. 1980 David Toulmin Travels Without a Donkey 40:
We looked at Ailsa Craig, "Paddy's Milestone", through our glasses from the coast road, comparing its size with a steamer passing the rock at the time. Sc. 1999 Daily Mail (27 Aug) 43:
A bidding war has broken out over the sale of Ailsa Craig, nicknamed Paddy's Milestone, off the South West of Scotland. Sc. 2001 Evening Times (2 Mar) 20:
The 34-foot high Paddy's Milestone lighthouse on Ailsa Craig has protected shipping between Scotland ... Sc. 2002 Daily Record (23 Feb) 6:
Today, nearly all of the [curling] stones used throughout the world come from Ailsa Craig - also known as Paddy's Milestone - the famous rocky outcrop off the Ayrshire coast. wm.Sc. 2002 Guardian (19 Sep):
In the 1870s there were tens of thousands of puffins nesting on Ailsa Craig - commonly known as Paddy's Milestone - but by the 1930s there were barely a few hundred. Ayr. 2004:
Paddy's Milestone, once a source of granite for curling stones, and now a bird sanctuary, is better known as Ailsa Craig.9. Sc. 1821 Blackwood's Mag. (March) 608:
Fairly came the Paddy over him.Wgt. 1877 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 44:
It's a melodious lee . . . Ye canna come Paddy ower me that way.Ags. 1896 A. Blair Rantin Robin 10:
She's far mistaen gin she thinks to come Paddy ower oor neebor an' me that way.