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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WAP, v.², n.² Also ¶waup, wop, ¶wope. See Wup. [wɑp, wǫp]

I. v. 1. To wrap (up), fold, lap (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein). Also in Eng. dial. Deriv. wapper, a wrap, a layer of clothing. Vbl.n. wap(p)in, a loose garment worn by a fisherman at work (Dmf. 1825 Jam.; Sc. 1911 S.D.D.).Sc. 18th c. Merry Muses (1959) 62:
Wap and rowe, wap and rowe, Wap and rowe the feetie o't.Sc. a.1803 Sir Patrick Spens in Child Ballads (1956) II. 27:
They fetched a web o the silken claith, Another o the twine, And they wapped them roun that gude ship's side.Rxb. 1847 J. Halliday Rustic Bard 123:
See what draws yon crood thegither, Wha toss an' tum'le, waupit a' through ither.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 130:
Wi' plaidin' drawers — sicken wappers Will winter vex.

2. To bind, tie, join, esp. by splicing, whip with cord (s.Sc. 1802 J. Sibbald Chron. Sc. Poetry Gl.; Rnf. c.1850 Crawfurd MSS. (N.L.S.) W.9; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 211, wop; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Ayr. 1930; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Ork. 1973), and fig. Also in n.Eng. dial. Vbl.n. wapping, whipping, esp. such as attached the head of an old-fashioned golf-club to the shaft (Fif. 1940).Sc. 1726 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 54:
Get Johny's Hand in haly Band Syne wap ye'r Wealth together.Sc. 1791 Lochmaben Harper in Child Ballads No. 192 A. iv.:
And tak a halter in thy hose, But wap it oer the Wanton's nose.Fif. 1831 Fife Herald (17 Nov.):
Would half-a-dozen of the shootherless Lords, such as we see in the street sometimes, though they were wappit to each other sideways, match in breadth just ony ane o' our twa sel's.Fif. 1940:
A golf-club is said to be wapped when the head is fastened to the shaft by cobbler's waxed twine.wm.Sc. 1992 Sheila Douglas ed. The Sang's the Thing: Voices from Lowland Scotland 147:
'Tae mak a heather scrubber, ye tak a bunch o' heather an walt it owre a stane tae tak aa the wee sma heids aff it. Then when ye've got it bare, ye catch it aa thegither an tak a wire an wap it, wap it canny.em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 11:
His ragin wrath lunts shuits o flame
That frae his cheriot wheels ootspreid
An flude the warld an wap it roun
Wi seas o burnin reid.

†3. To make straw into bundles or bottles.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 322:
She helpit folk tae thresh their corn, an wappit strae.

II. n. 1. A lap, roll or tie (Cld. 1880 Jam.), a splicing or joining by means of a cord or twine tied round (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 211, wop), a turn of a cord, string, etc. round something. Also in n.Eng. dial.Bnff. 1847 A. Cumming Tales 62:
He's spliced the fags, and gien't a wope.Kcb. 1866 Lochmaben Harper in Child Ballads (1956) IV. 21:
He has taen a halter frae his hose, He coost a wap on Wanton's nose.Sc. 1993 Derrick McClure in A. L. Kennedy and Hamish Whyte New Writing Scotland 11: The Ghost of Liberace 60:
warm in memory's waps, siccar in fancy's bosie,

2. A bundle or bottle of hay or straw (Dmf. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Kcb. 1900; Uls. 1953 Traynor; Wgt. 1960). Also in n.Eng. dial.Gall. 1843 J. Nicholson Tales 128:
A pluck o' girse, or a wap o' strae to your bit beastie.Dmf. 1845 Stat. Acc.² XV. 124:
The general food of the cows in winter consists of a small ‘hallow' or ‘wap' of straw between two, night and morning.Uls. 1929 M. Mulcaghey Rhymes 19:
All seated in your “low-back,” Upon a wop of hay.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 319:
She got a wap o' strae.

3. A handle used in turning a machine, a crank (Ork. 1929 Marw.); the turn of such a handle (Ork. 1973). Combs. wap-kirn, a revolving churn, one which is turned with a handle (Ork. 1973); wap-organ, a barrel-organ operated by a handle (Ork. 1973); wap-tow, the cord connecting the treadle and the axle of a spinning-wheel (Sh. 1973); wap-tree, a wooden rod or crank-shaft used for the same purpose (Sh. 1914 Angus Gl., Sh. 1973).Ork. 1915 Old-Lore Misc. VIII. i. 42:
Da ald plowt kirn. . . . Dere waasna ony o yur wap kirns dan.Ork. 1920 J. Firth Reminisc. 121:
The travelling musicians, with violin, bagpipes, or wap-organ.