Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
WISP, n., v. Also wusp (Dmf. 1997 Edb. Mag (Dec.) 457; Abd. 1923 J. R. Imray Village Roupie 30), dim. wuspal; weesp. Sc. forms and usages. [wɪsp. wʌsp]
I. n. 1. (1) A rope or cord made of twisted straw, heather, or similar material.Sc. 1876 S. Smiles Sc. Naturalist 10:
His mother tied him firmly to the table leg with a thick wisp of thrums.Ork. 1887 Chambers's Jnl. (12 Nov.) 733:
A ‘wisp' is a huge ball of twisted heather-rope which is used in Orkney for thatching purposes.
(2) A bundle of fish, as tied up or strung together with a wisp of straw or the like (Mry. 1911 Trans. Bnff. Field Club 109, Mry. 1925).Mry. 1910 Scotsman (26 May):
“I hae naething bit a weesp o' eels” as the result of my fishing.
(3) Fig. A piece of suppressed news or information, a secret, (the possession of) inside knowledge, in phrs. let out or louse the or one's wisp, divulge a secret, let the cat out of the bag, “spill the beans”, out get's the wisp, the secret becomes known.Bnff. 1702 J. F. S. Gordon Chrons. Keith (1880) 81–2:
H.I. added if he were putt to it he would lett out the wisp. . . . Discoursing on that head [he] said he would louse his wisp.Abd. 1824 G. Smith Douglas 32:
Out get's the wisp, an' spoils the hale affair.
2. A torch made from twisted straw, hay, etc. Obs. in Eng.Gall. 1723 Session Bk. Penninghame (1933) I. 510:
Her father one night blew a wisp and found him standing at her bed side in his shirt with his hand in hers.Sc. 1806 J. Black Falls of Clyde 169:
Fie light a wisp, and look below the bed!
3. A tangle, a matted confusion (Ork. 1929 Marw., wusp, wuspal).Ib.:
This string's a' geen in a wusp wi' me.
4. The nest of a kind of wild bee, made on the surface of the ground (Cai. 1905 E.D.D., Cai. 1974).
II. v. 1. To put warmed straw into (boots, shoes, etc.) as an insole in cold weather (Rxb. 1825 Jam., 1923 Watson W.-B., wisp, wusp; Slg., Dmf. 1974). Also in n.Eng. dial.Dmf. 1912 J. Hyslop Echoes 309:
If ye gan an wisp yer cl-ogs wi't there canna be vera muckle on't left!
2. tr. To tie round with a twisted band of straw, coil. Obs. in Eng.Edb. 1881 J. Smith Habbie and Madge 13:
The breeks are wispit round his feet like horse-leeches.
3. tr. To twist straw into a rope, only in deriv. ns. wisper, an instrument for twisting straw-ropes, a thraw-cruik (Per. 1961 Gwerin III. 211). Cf. I. 1.; wispin, a straw-rope.Ork. 1970 Abd. Press & Jnl. (26 Aug.):
The sookan or — to give it its original name — the wistin [sic]. This was simply straw loosely twisted into a thick cord of one strand.
4. To make bottles of straw esp. as it is discharged from a threshing-mill. Cf. Mak, v., 1.(14)(ii). Agent.n. wisper, vbl.n. wispin(g).Abd. 1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 42:
Fan a ruck gyangs throu the mull, he's thrang at wispin' strae.Abd. 1971 Huntly Express (29 Oct.) 2:
If there was one job on the farm that I thoroughly detested it was wisping to a mill. Invariably the number of wispers never exceeded the number really required for the job. Wisping was an art.
