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.
TRAP, n.1 Also trapp; and in sense II. traps(e). Sc. forms and usages:
I. n. A natural crack, crevice or pit on the surface of the ground, a pot-hole.Kcb. 1902 Crockett Dark o' the Moon xxii.:
Almost breaking my ankles in the “traps” betwixt stones which abounded all over the dreary moorland.
II. v. 1. To catch or lay hold of someone in a game (Sc. 1825 Jam.). Also in n.Eng. dial.
2. To claim exclusively an object which has been found in a company of children, as in phr. I trap(se) this (Lth. 1825 Jam.). Cf. Chaps.Fif. 1882 J. Simson Inverkeithing 15:
Many a time have I and my brother run around . . . to find what had been cast ashore. We would dart our eyes from one rock or spot to another, and cry, “I traps that”; and we always respected what each of us “trapsed”!
‡3. To correct another pupil's mistake and thus take his place in order of merit in a school class (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 452; Sc. 1825 Jam; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Dmf. 1973). Also trap up, id.Slk. 1840 R. Hall Galashiels (1898) 456:
After the confusion consequent on the changing of a place — trapping it was termed — the work of the class proceeded.Sc. 1848 Chambers's Jnl. (11 Nov.) 307:
Boy after boy, who could correct a word of the reader, would call it out, or ‘trap', as it was entitled in school slang.Fif. 1862 St Andrews Gazette (8 Aug.):
To lat the maister see he kens what's meant, and wants tae trap up.Lnk. 1895 W. Fraser Whaups of Durley 36–7:
The trapping lesson was, however, the most important, certainly the most enjoyable part of the day's work. . . . I was renowned as a trapper.Kcb. 1899 Crockett Kit Kennedy xii.:
Kit had won his way to the top by dint of correct spelling and trapping in the reading lesson.s.Sc. 1901 Border Mag. (May) 94:
If he, or she, failed, then the next was tried, and thus in the old “trapping” . . . style, one would get above the other in the class.
Hence: (1) trapper, one who corrects another in class and thus gains his place; (2) trapping lesson, a lesson held to decide the positions of merit of the pupils in a class.Sc. 1957 Sunday Post (19 Aug.):
Trapping lesson — Long ago, usually at least once a week, school teachers held this lesson to decide the pupils' positions in the class. The pupils gained or lost places in the class according to their answers to teacher's questions.
4. To detect in a mistake or offence (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.).
