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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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

HAP, v.¹, n.¹ Also happ, haup.

I. v. Pa.t. and pa.p.: happit, hapt, ha(p)ped.

1. tr. and intr. To cover, surround, enfold, so as to shelter, shield or conceal anything. Also used fig. Gen.Sc.Lnk. 1718 Minutes J.P.s (S.H.S.) 228:
The foresaid pair of blankets . . . was found hid in a heather bush haped into a leather apron.Abd. 1748 R. Forbes Ajax 13:
Syne slouch behind my doughty targe, That yon day your head happit.Ayr. 1786 Burns Scotch Bard ix.:
Jamaica bodies, use him weel, An' hap him in a cozie biel.Slk. 1810 Hogg Forest Minstrel 49:
When gloamin' o'er the welkin steals, And haps the hills in sober grey.em.Sc. 1896 G. Setoun R. Urquhart xxvii.:
What way will ye seek to rake up what I've happit awa' for years?Rxb. 1897 J. C. Dibdin Border Life 172:
I'se warrant it's naething but a bottle, though it's happit up geyan nate-like.Kcb. 1912 A. Anderson Later Poems 33:
Slip saftly by the quarry howm, Where hingin' hazels hap thy tides.Sc. 1917 D. G. Mitchell Clachan Kirk 39:
Her conscience is sairly stabbit . . . She micht want to hap up her ill; but she cudna hod it.Ags. 1921 V. Jacob Bonnie Joann 42:
Wi' his left airm bandig't cannie — But his richt ane happit Annie.Abd. 1950 People's Friend (29 July) 633:
My uncle called this [porridge sprinkled with dry meal] “happit” porridge. If any morning the sprinkling ceremony was forgotten, he would say — “Barfit porridge the day, lass! Ye ken I like mine happit!”

2. To cover over e.g. with earth, straw, etc. as a protection against cold or wet, to pile (earth) on; to thatch; to bury. Gen. with in, up, ower, aneath, etc. Gen.Sc.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Helenore 13:
Our house is happed an' our mailen paid.s.Sc. 1803 Scott Minstrelsy III. 84:
I digg'd a grave, and laid him in, And happ'd him with the sod sae green.Fif. 1806 A. Douglas Poems 20:
The harrow gies a streak or twa, An' o'er the head does hap ay The seed this day.Rnf. 1836 R. Allan Poems 50:
My cot weel happit owre wi' thack, An' door to steek out a'.n.Sc. 1916 M. Maclean Roving Celt 46:
For his tatties were howkit wi' pleugh an' graip An' his strae weel happit 'neath thack an' rape.Dmf. 1917 J. L. Waugh Cute McCheyne (1928) 177:
Ye're entitled to a lair in the kirkyaird, an' nocht wad gi'e Quirky greater pleesure than to get happin' ye.Lth. 1918 A. Dodds Lothian Land 7:
I pray to God that a foreign sod May never be happet on me.s.Sc. 1925 Scottish Farmer (14 Feb.):
Then sometimes the sheep gets haped up wi' snaw.Sc. 1952 Scots Mag. (May) 131:
When tattie drills were drawn, and happed, and worked with a precision that even the finest tractor workmanship cannot equal.Sc. 1988 Scotsman 30 Jan :
As it has little or no foliage left at this time, I've happed it up with a bundle of stems cut from surrounding hardy plants; ...

Hence deriv. happer, the last hour of a mason's working day when the work is covered up against frost, etc.; (ne.Sc., ‡Ags., Arg. 1956); phr. to hap in, “to cover up dung, potatoes, etc., in drills with the plough” (Bnff.² c.1930; ne.Sc. 1953).Bnff. 1923 Banffshire Jnl. (24 July) 2:
Aw wis like t' brak' ma neck ower horse-heids in the vera happin' in.Abd. 1929 J. Alexander Mains & Hilly 79:
We hae the maist o' the grun ready an' the muck broken an' happit in, an' we'll be ready to shaave oot fin we think it's time.

3. (1) To wrap a garment, etc. round a person, to wrap a person up in clothes (Sc. 1782 J. Sinclair Ob. Sc. Dial. 86, 1808 Jam.); to wrap round (the head); to tuck up (in bed). (2) To wrap more generally. Also fig. Gen.Sc. Vbl.n. happin, a covering, coverlet.(1)Sc. 1715 Major Fraser's MS. (Fergusson 1889) II. 165:
Went to bed without a dram; happt myself weel up.Abd. 1768 A. Ross Works (S.T.S.) 148:
That he may make a clock of it, To hap me night and day.Ayr. 1803 A. Boswell Poet. Works (1871) 21:
I felt my gray plaid, my cauld winter's warm happin'.Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. xlvii.:
For naething but to bind bairns' heads, and to hap them in the cradle.Sc. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage I. vii.:
The ladies therefore separated to prepare for their sortie, after many recommendations from the aunts to be sure to hap well.Dmf. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (Dec.) 321:
Somebody will lack a happin the morn through thy rid-handed wit, and the sighing gudewife will lack her snawy blanket wi' the blue edge.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1874) 281:
There will be setting on of leglins, and happing wi' plaids.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 123:
Noo mind tell Jennie tae hap me weel, Hid's what I weel, weel ward.Ags. 1894 A. Reid Heatherland 32:
Aff the russet happin' rowin' Owre her sleepin beauties laid.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 30:
I hae happit a lass in my maud And gone cauldrife that she micht hae beild.Abd. 1928 J. Baxter A' Ae 'Oo' 9:
Throwe rain, that, like a shawl, For days an' weeks has happit hill An' howe withoot devall.w.Sc. 1948 Scots Mag. (June) 216:
Happed in tartan plaid and cashmere shawl.Sc. 1979 Sydney Goodsir Smith in Joy Hendry Chapman 23-4 (1985) 34:
Hap your heid sweet reason,
Logic, ligg at ease.
Mense, this is nocht your season, wm.Sc. 1987 Anna Blair Scottish Tales (1990) 31:
Her bairn happed in swaddles lay in her creel beside her. m.Sc. 1998 Lillias Forbes Turning a Fresh Eye 18:
Nae warm bield beddin doon in yon chaumer
Ye may hap yer heid nicht lang atween the sheets
Stappin yer lugs tae the wun's wersh chunnerin, em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 142:
Carlin was shivering. His tee-shirt and jumper were soaked through, the sweat like a layer of ice on his skin. He could hear his mother's voice: 'Ye'll catch yer death.' He happed the Major's cloak tight around him, gripped the staff in his wet hand.(2)wm.Sc. 1980 Anna Blair The Rowan on the Ridge 48:
It galled him to see the Hays so well-housed and that while Susannah was still bairnless, Mistress Hay was to be seen every Sabbath in the kirk with a lusty son happed to her side in a silk-fringed shawl ... m.Sc. 1988 William Neill Making Tracks 55:
Dae they mind on us, the trees, in the grey touns
whaur a tree is anither thing in a Cooncil Park
lik a widden bink, aw thir tame beds o flouers
in couthie suburbs hapt wi an airn dyke,
nae mair a pairt o thair realitie
nor fremit beasts in a faur ceetie zoo?Abd. 1990 Stanley Robertson Fish-Hooses (1992) 80:
The white blinds were up and aa of the mirrors were happed up according tae the tradition of the folks, ...Sc. 1991 Roderick Watson in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 103:
But Troilus saw her yet
sae trig an sure as a siller birk
that's pit doun seed i the mool o his hert
an wi its roots has happit his hert,
an ruggit awa an crackit his hert
wi thrang, naitural, surprisin dule.Edb. 1991 J. K. Annand in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 20:
Gif I had ae short simmer o sang
Wi hauf the beauty o thon flouer
In the snaw o eild I'd hap my tongue
And haud my wheest for evermair.Sc. 1992 Herald 26 Nov 20:
The four dozen volumes have been variously happed in four colours of cloth.Abd. 1995 Sheena Blackhall Lament for the Raj 6:
Noo, dwinin, hapt in a sea o liftin haar
The meen slants wast ower river an ower puil 

Hence happers, n.pl., wraps, garments worn to protect one from the cold.Gsw. 1863 J. Young Ingle Nook 130:
And in cauld weather, cozie happers For legs and necks.

4. Specif.: to clothe, dress. Also with up (Per.⁴ 1950). Also fig. Ppl.adj. happit, irreg. happent, clad. Vbl.n. happin, clothing, a garment.Per. 1765 Trial of Katharine Nairn 155:
He wore a plaiden jacket and a belt round his middle, much broader than ever he saw another wear, with lappets of leather hanging down his haunches: That, upon his marriage he took off these happings.Edb. 1773 Fergusson Poems (1925) 70:
Now gae your wa's — Tho' anes as gude As ever happit Flesh and Blude, Yet part ye maun.Kcb. 1814 W. Nicholson Poems 82:
So theatre nymph, in borough town, . . . That's no distress'd wi' meikle happin'.Sc. 1829 G. Robertson Recoll. 109:
They had a more honest look, and were better happed up.Edb. 1843 J. Ballantine Gaberlunzie 22:
I'll hae aneugh ado to warstle through, without throwing awa siller on your nicknack thin feckless happins.Mry. 1873 J. Brown Round Table Club 89:
It's a sair, sair time for mony ane wha his little tae hap them fae the bitter-bitin' blast.Ags. 1896 Barrie M. Ogilvy vi.:
I may have given him a present of an old top-coat . . . He looked ill-happit.Lnk. 1919 G. Rae Clyde and Tweed 18:
For lang wi' duds I've happed this bonnie glen.Arg. 1992:
Ye've got him well happed up. (eg of a child dressed for cold weather) Edb. 1993:
As long as yer happed up ye'll be able tae gaun oot in the winter. em.Sc. 2000 James Robertson The Fanatic 106:
'Jean, Jean,' said Mitchel. 'Ye may gang hame noo. Hurry noo, afore ye freeze.'
'I'll no freeze,' she said. 'I'm weill happit. It's no me that'll freeze.'

5. To make up a fire so as to keep it burning for a considerable time (Ags. 1956).Sc. 1820 Scott Monastery iv.:
Now it's time I should hap up the wee bit gathering turf, as the fire is ower low.Dmf. 1830 W. Bennet Traits II. 172:
I made her aye either sloken out the fire, or hap it weel wi' the awss.Fif. 1882 S. Tytler Sc. Marriages III. 199:
Will you take me into your room or let me sit by the “happed” kitchen fire?Wgt. 1897 Proc. Brit. Ass. V. 456:
On Hogmanay the fire was “happit” with more than ordinary care to keep it from “going out,” as such a thing would be most unlucky.

II. n. 1. A wrap, shawl or plaid (I.Sc. 1883 J. R. Tudor Ork. & Sh. 656); a warm outer garment; a bed-quilt or blanket (Sc. 1808 Jam.). Gen.Sc. Also fig. and in comb. hap-wool, wool of special weight for knitting a hap.Sc. 1740 Ramsay T.T.Misc. 428:
I'll make a hap to my Johny Faa, And I'll make a hap to my deary.Ayr. 1787 Burns Guidwife of Wauchope v.:
I'd be mair vauntie o' my hap, Douce hingin owre my curple.Sc. 1818 S. E. Ferrier Marriage I. vii.:
A variety of old bonnets, fur tippets, . . . Lady Juliana shrank with disgust from these “delightful haps.”Gsw. 1877 A. G. Murdoch Laird's Lykewake 15:
The plaided hap o' auld-warl' ways, The leisure o' the langsyne days.Lth. 1885 J. Strathesk Blinkbonny 264:
I haena gotten a new gown for two years, an' the bairns maun hae winter haps.Sh. 1897 Shetland News (28 Aug.):
Wi' a hap o' Sibbie's an' my muckle blue lit froke inunder her head an' shooders.Kcb. 1898 T. Murray Frae the Heather 218:
Watching their progress by glen and glade In his favourite hap, the auld Scotch plaid.Bnff. 1933 M. Symon Deveron Days 2:
But mony a howe o' them baith the day Has a hap o' the Gordon green.wm.Sc. 1934 T. Smellie Tea Pairty 59:
So I think we should jist be gettin' on oor haps an' toadlin' awa hame.Ags. 1954 Forfar Dispatch (18 Feb.):
I loups atower and rins doon wi nae hap ower my carsakie.Sh. 1954 New Shetlander No. 40. 14:
I hed a moorit hap o wir Kirsty's rowed aroond my sair fit.

2. A covering of any kind, esp. serving as a shield against the weather, protection, screen. Also used fig. and in combs. as cart-hap (Lth. 1956).Ayr. 1787 Burns Brigs of Ayr 25–26:
'Twas when the stacks get on their winter hap, And thack and rape secure the toil-won crap.Sc. 1832 A. Henderson Proverbs 8:
Hap and a ha'penny, is world's gear aneugh.Gsw. 1838 A. Rodger Poems 47:
But, oh! the loose limmer [the moon] taks mony a shift, Whiles here, and whiles there, and whiles under a hap.Abd. 1851 W. Anderson Rhymes 142:
The hairst was ta'en in, and the rucks got a hap.Ags. 1869 W. Pyott Poems (1885) 90:
An' it will mak' a cosie hap in fate's chill winter day.Hdg. 1908 J. Lumsden Th' Loudons 272:
Why, man, Traprain, my mist's a hap To hide the ugsome rogue!Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 6:
The wind blaws; though for man and beast There's hap and rufe.Edb. 1991 J. K. Annand in Tom Hubbard The New Makars 20:
Aneath a hap o snaw it derns
Deep in a dwam for maist the year
To burst throu in a bleeze o starns
Syne skail its flourish on the stour.

III. Phr. & Combs.: 1. hap-border, the border of a Shetland shawl, knitted separately from the plain centre; ‡2. hapwarm, a warm wrap or thick outer garment (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 74; Ags. 1896 Arbroath Guide (2 May) 3; Abd., Ags. 1956). Also used attrib. and fig.; 3. to be under hap and rape, of grain: to be stacked for the winter.1. Sh. 1901 Shetland News (23 Feb.):
Shü cam ta da fire wi' her hap-border an' hir waers.2. Edb. 1772 Fergusson Poems (1925) 20:
Whan fock, the nippin cald to bang, Their winter hap-warms wear.Bch. 1804 W. Tarras Poems 22:
Wi' braws I seldom cock my biskit . . . Thinkin it best to be owre-laid in A suit o' sonsy hap-warm plaidin.Dmf. 1822 Scots Mag. (May) 635:
She's thinking about dismissing her mither's hamespun hapwarms, and riggin hersel out wi' the verra wale o' Sandy Waddle's pack.Fif. 1864 W. D. Latto T. Bodkin i.:
For a roof, the hoose had a hap-warm o' strae.ne.Sc. 1874 W. Gregor Echo Olden Time 31:
The tailor set to work, and plied his needle and thread early and late — sometimes assisted by the females — till the webs had become hap-warms, fit to defend the coldest blast.3. Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 255:
The craps are under hap and rape, the kye ne'er gang a-field, For gurly winter rares and rives through ilka hamel bield.