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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLARTY, CLORTY, CLERTY, CLAIRTY, CLURTY, adj. and v. [′klɑrtɪ̢, ′klɔrtɪ̢, ′klertɪ̢ Sc.; ′klʌrtɪ̢ Sh.]

1. adj.

(1) Dirty, muddy; sticky. Superl. clartiest. Gen.Sc.Sc. 2002 Scotsman 10 Dec :
"Settling in? Look, laddie, you keep a dirty kitchen. We've never seen such a clartie oven."
Needless to say, oven and kitchen are now both sparkling.L.Bnff.(D) 1934 J. M. Caie Kindly North 36:
On ferm an' craft the fowk gaed daft, The peats grew clorty, weet an' saft.Abd. 1932 D. Campbell Bamboozled 35:
They winna keep in a paper poke, Dauvit; they'll tirn saft an' clorty.Abd. 1985 Robbie Kydd in Alexander Scott New Writing Scotland 3 53:
Two I recognised right away as the passengers from the car, both dressed like me in grotty tee-shirts and clarty jeans. Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 22:
Aye the onding, aye the clorty dubs.
I' the howe o Ythan wik efter weary wik
The stooks steed tasht an water-loggit. m.Sc. 1989 James Meek McFarlane Boils the Sea 198:
'... My train's waiting. It's always been waiting, the clartiest wee train in all the kingdom, ...'m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
Dinna bide in yon chaumer
Wi the wee, clorty winnock
At the tap o the hoose. Per. 1987 Roger Leitch ed. The Book of Sandy Stewart 32:
It wes a good enough hoose on the inside but it wes aufie clairty lookin on the oustide. Edb. 1720 W. Mitchel Mistery of France and England 9:
To see the bra People sit down on their Knees, on the clarty Ground, when the Priest comes by.Edb. 1773 R. Fergusson Sc. Poems (1925) 27:
Wer't na for it [water] the bonny lasses Would glowr nae mair in keeking glasses . . . For wha thro' clarty masquera′de Could then discover, Whether the features under shade Were worth a lover?Edb. 1998 Gordon Legge Near Neighbours (1999) 97:
That's another clarty bugger, that one there. wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 39:
Cleanliness was a luxury in peasant communities and, although many settled for the easy dictum that "clarty was cosy", a degree of cleanliness was the aim of every real homemaker. wm.Sc. 1985 Liz Lochhead Tartuffe 5:
Loud and lang, their clarty-minds imagine
A'body but them's a bad yin. ... "Yon's a drunkert" "She's a hure!" Sich brattle
It's a' a case o' the poat cryin' the kettle. Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 8:
I've whiles had a gey clarty face, Yet a' folk meet me wi' gude grace.Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B. s.v. clatch:
Gaun clatchin' throw the hoose wi' clerty shuin.

(2) Of a painting, etc.: daubed, smudgy (Bnff.², Abd.⁹ 1937).Sh.(D) 1916 J. J. H. Burgess Rasmie's Smaa Murr Jooly 19:
Da boaniest pictur can look clurty, if ye staand ower close.

(3) Comb.: clorty-breed, gingerbread (Ags.¹ 1937).Ags.¹⁰ 1925:
Ma mither was awfu' fond o' clorty-breed.

2. v. To dirty (Ags.¹ 1937).Ags. 1921 A. S. Neill Carroty Broon ii.:
And Mrs Broon smiled and said it didna matter, that what were table-cloths for but to clorty?