Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1974 (SND Vol. IX).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†SWAIPELT, n. A piece of wood with a crook at one end, which is fitted round a fore-leg fetlock of a horse turned out to graze, and which strikes the other leg sharply if the animal starts to run, the purpose being to make him browse quietly in one spot and so act as a shackle or hobble (Rxb. 1825 Jam.).
[Poss. a variant of Eng. swipple, the striking part of a flail, a swivel. See Soople.]
