hempie

noun, adj — 5 senses

hempie

noun

Etymology From hemp + -ie.

1

Northern England, Scotland, Obsolete A criminal; someone who deserves to be, or is likely to be, hanged.

2

Northern England, Scotland, Obsolete A rogue.

'Ha, ha, Patie lad!' quo Bessie Elliot, a free-spoken Liddesdale hempy, 'there's a wife com'd for ye the night, Patie lad.'1846, Moses Aaron Richardson, The Borderer's Table Book, volume 7, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Printed for the author, page 137:

3

Northern England, Scotland, Obsolete A wild, romping girl.

“Ay, ay,” answered Rob, “she's under lawfu' authority now; and full time, for she was a daft hempie[…]”1817, Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy:

Synonyms: criminal and Thesaurus:gallows bird, troublemaker

hempie

adj

Etymology From hemp + -ie.

1

Northern England, Scotland, Obsolete Deserving of being hanged.

2

Northern England, Scotland, Obsolete Wild; riotous; mischievous.

The forst one's just as prood as us, / Te see his bonny mate, / An' if thor spared te grow up lads, / They'll fettle real forst-rate; / But if like hempy lads they ﬁght, / We'll heh to keep them doon, / An’ try te myek them byeth as gud / As ony in the toon.1890, Joseph Wilson, “Wor Canny Second-Born!”, in Tyneside Songs and Drolleries, page 255:

Synonyms: hangworthy

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.