HALLIERACKIT, adj., n.

Hallierackit has several different spellings. Dictionaries of the Scots Language defines it as:

“given to frolicking in a boisterous, thoughtless or foolish manner, daft, hare-brained, tomboyish, devil-may-care”.

An early citation (1724) comes from Allan Ramsay Poems:

“And shangy mou’d halucket Meg.”

It seems often to be applied to women, although not here in Walter Scott’s Old Mortality (1816):

“But I think my heart was e’en sairer when I saw that hellicat trooper, Tam Halliday, kissing Jenny Dennison afore my face.”

Many examples come from the North East, like this from Helen Beaton’s At the Back o Benachie (1915):

“We’ll see gin she dee her wark ony better; bit she’s a hallyracket deem [young woman]”.

And pity this poor lad’s dancing skills in John C Milne’s The Orra Loon (1946):

“And lang Jamie Lowe, hallarackit and hallach, Gaed dancin’ aboot on the taes o’ Jean Tulloch”.

This somewhat ungallant description comes from Alan Cameron’s story Drumtulloch (Lallans 90, 2017):

“‘Fit ye waantin noo,’ Bella said, richt irksome like. Andra thocht that she jist wisna the bonniest o wifies… and her hair, weel it wis like she hid been gien a few thoosan volts, an besides a that, wis she nae jist a wheen carnapcious as weel. In fac she wis like sumbiddie's camstairy, hallirackit aul grunny.”

Finally, the following comes from a book review in the Press and Journal (October 2018):

“The beuk caa’d ‘An Unlikely Lad’, takkin’s name on lookin back wi nae business backgrun bit determin’t tae be’s ain boss, ithers cassen doobts on es hallierackit young blade”.

This Scots Word of the Week comes from Dictionaries of the Scots Language.

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