Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III). Includes material from the 1976 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1701, 1779-1828, 1942
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CURPLE, CURPEL, CURPIL, n.
1. A crupper (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., curple, obsol., curpil, obs.). Cf. Crupple. Sc. 1701 Household Bk. Lady Grisell Baillie (S.H.S. 1911) 7:
For a bridle and 2 curpils . . . 1. 17. 0. [Sc.]Sc. 1818 Scott H. Midlothian iv.:
I fash mysell little wi' lords o' state; they vex me wi' a wheen idle questions about their saddles, and curpels.Lnk. c.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 32:
The auld beast being unfiery o' the feet, she fundred before, the girth and curple brake.Kcb.10 1942 (obsol.):
The meer niver moved a fit till A went tae pit the curple below her tail.
Hence curple-gawt, adj. comb., “used of a horse: galled by the crupper under the tail” (Sc. 1911 S.D.D.Add.).Ayr. 1828 D. Wood Poems 63:
The wauts are on the poney's hips She's curple gaut below the tail.
2. The buttocks (Ayr.4 1928).Ayr. 1787 Burns Guidwife of Wauchhope (Cent. ed.) v.:
I'd be mair vauntie o' my hap, Douce hingin owre my curple, Than onie ermine ever lap, Or proud imperial purple.
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"Curple n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 9 Apr 2026 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/curple>
