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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 1976 and 2005 supplements.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HAIRY, adj., n. Also herrie. Sc. usages:

I. adj. 1. Combs. and phrs.: (1) hairy back, a contemptuous name for a Roman Catholic (Edb. (Leith) 1972); (2) hairy brotag, a large hairy caterpillar (Cai. 1902 E.D.D., Cai.⁸ 1934). Cf. Brotag, id.; (3) hairy bummer, the wild bee, Bombus muscorum (Bnff., Ags. 1956); (4) hairy-bummler, “a name applied to several species of crabs” (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 73); (5) hairy-cum-stairy, n., a game played with a knotted handkerchief (Slg., Lth. 1919 per Slg.³); adj., harum scarum (Edb. 1919 per Slg.³); (6) hairy Davie, round-leaved mint Mentha rotundifolia (Ags.²⁰ 1956); (7) hairy eel, see Eel, n.¹; (8) hairy granda, -faither (Ayr. 1956), -grannie (Arg. 1931; Abd., Per., Clc., Slg., Ayr., Dmf., Wgt., Kcb. 1956) = (2). Cor. dial. has granfer; see Grannie, n., 3.; (9) hairy-heid, the red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator (Ork. 1957 B.B.C. Broadcast); (10) hairy-hoomed, = (17) (Mry. 1956). See Hoam; (11) hairy hutchin, hairie hutcheon, -hurtcheon, (a) a sea-urchin, one of the species Echinidae (Mearns 1825 Jam., hairie-; Fif. 1830 A. Stewart Dunfermline (1889) 164, Fif. 1956); (b) a hedgehog (Ayr. 1956); (12) hairy man, = (19) (Arg.³ 1956); (13) hairy Mary, (a) a fish pie made with mashed potatoes and flaked boiled fish (Abd. 1956); (b) a cocoanut (Fif. 1952), hence an “Aunt Sally” (see quot.); (14) hairy-meenister, the woolly bear caterpillar (Abd., Kcd. 1956); (15) hairy Meg.? id.; (16) hairy moggans, -moogans (Cai.), hose without feet (Fif. 1808 Jam.; Cai., Abd. 1956). See Moggan; (17) hairy-moulded, -it, -ie, covered with mould, mouldy (Sh., n.Sc., em.Sc.(a), Dmf. 1956, -it; Abd. 1956, -ie). Orig. a deriv. of Hair, adj. but confused with Hair, n. Cf. Hair, adj., 3; (18) hairy oats, see quot.; (19) hairy oobit, -oubit, -woobit, the woolly bear caterpillar (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., -(w)oobit); Clc., Peb., Wgt., Dmf., Rxb., Slk. 1956). See also Woubit; (20) hairie Rab, id. (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 312); (21) hairy-Tam, = (13) (a) (Abd. 1956); (22) hairy tatties, –potatoes, a dish composed of mashed potatoes and flaked dried salt fish (Mearns³ c.1928; ne.Sc. 1951 Hotch-Potch 9, ne.Sc. 1956). Cf. (13) (a), (21) and (23) (b); (23) hairie Willie, (a) = (19) (Rnf. 1837 Crawfurd MSS. XI. 312; Abd. 1956); (b) = (22) (Abd. 1956); (24) hairy woobit, see (19); (25) hairy worm, = (19) (Abd., Ags., Fif. 1956). Phr. to ging roun the hert like a hairy worm, to delight, gratify, give great satisfaction.(8) Abd. 1922 G. P. Dunbar Doric 18:
A sappy “hairy granda” on his boo't preen was stuck fast.(11) (a) Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 87:
Fush and fusher-loon gaed sweemin aff atween rocks hotchin wi hairy-hutcheons, till they wan ower aside a cove o holie-pied, near nyakit rock.(13) (b) Ags. 1956:
Hairy Mary: A kind of “Aunt Sally” seen at Fairs, consisting of a woman's (or occas. man's) head and part of body, stuffed with “coconut hair”, shavings or sawdust and fixed on a swivel, the head being adorned with horsehair.(15) Mry. 1851 D. Paul Poems 3:
Next daunders down amo' the craigs That common haunt o' hairy Megs.(17) Abd. 1928 N. Shepherd Quarry Wood 255:
Yer wits is hairy-moulded if ye suppose I cudna see a thing like that aboot ma ain lassie.Abd.²⁹ 1952:
Oor kitchen press is that damp at the cheese an jam are hairy-mouldit in nae time.(18) Abd. 1795 Stat. Acc.¹ II. 533:
The species of oats used for this last [fauchs], and partly for the outfield, is called small oats, hairy oats, or shiacks.(19) Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 56:
The hairy oubits hid frae view.Bnff. 1876 S. Smiles Sc. Naturalist 191:
He lifted up his hand to wipe something off his cheek. It was a hairy oobit.Rxb. 1913 Border Mag. (15 Jan.):
The larva of the small “Hairy Oobit” develops into the Ruby Tiger Moth.Lth. 1945 Weekly Scotsman (14 April):
The hairy caterpillar that I had always known as a “hairy father,” he called a “hairy oubit.”Abd. 1996 Sheena Blackhall Wittgenstein's Web 15:
Granny disna pit naethin on her face bit soapy watter an hir eyebroos rin thegither like a hairy oubit, aa blaik an jobby.(22) Abd. 1922 Banffshire Jnl. (5 Dec.) 5:
Mountains of “chappit tatties,” “hairy tatties,” and “stovies” . . . were more acceptable than the “fushionless” pickles present on society's tables.Fif. 1985 Christopher Rush A Twelvemonth and a Day 36:
She boiled them, fried them in oatmeal, roasted them on the brander, dished them up as kippers, as bufters, as bloaters, shredded them into hairy potatoes: producing variety out of monotony.(23) (b) Abd. 1955 Abd. Press & Jnl. (7 April):
I never think of home-grown mustard but I associate it with salt codfish pie — the “Hairy Willie” of the old farmhouse kitchen which was so popular in the Laich of Buchan, as elsewhere in our youth.(25) Abd. 1950 Huntly Express (8 Dec.):
It wis a perfeck hairbor for hairyworms an' forkytails.

2. Unkempt, untidy, rough, slovenly.Kcb., Dmf. 1956:
A hairy job is a rough job, a piece of work badly and crudely done.

II. n. A young woman living in the slums of Glasgow who habitually goes about without a hat. Obsol. By extension: a woman of loose morals, a 'rip', a prostitute (Abd., Gsw. 1975; Edb., Ayr. 2000s).Gsw. 1935 McArthur & Long No Mean City x.:
Lizzie Ramsay, before her marriage, would have scorned to wear a shawl — the very badge of “the hairy”, the very uniform of the “poor class” woman slum-dwellers.Gsw. 1985 Michael Munro The Patter 31:
hairy A contemptuous term for a sluttish girl: 'What are ye runnin about wi that wee hairy for?' Gsw. 1990 Alan Spence The Magic Flute (1991) 84:
'Find a couple of wee herries. You never know your luck.' Gsw. 1991 John Burrowes Mother Glasgow 244:
' ... Couple of wee tarts, you might as well say. Wore they wee miniskirt things up to their arses. You know the type? We used to call them "wee hairies". ... ' Edb. 1995 Irvine Welsh Marabou Stork Nightmares (1996) 213:
Eh's in computers, ken? That's whair the future lies. That's what this country needs. N that wee hairy wis gaunny git um sent tae jail ...