tappit-hen
Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. (noun) A hen with a crest or topknot.
- n. (noun) A vessel for liquor, containing two Scottish pints, or about three quarts English.
- n. (noun) A large or liberal allowance of liquor, especially wine.
‘Tappit’ is Scots in origin and means ‘crested.’ The mug is presumably named for its resemblance to the hen.
Examples
“But come, gentlemen, don't let the tappit-hen scraugh to be emptied.”
“Their bind was just a Scots pint over-head, and a tappit-hen to the bill, and no man ever saw them the waur o't.”
“It came after the president, Mr George Heaney, presented the Queen with a Tappit Hen, an ornamental drinking vessel with a lid as a gift to mark the chamber's bicentenary.”
'A Tappit Hen for Her Majesty's sideboard,' The Glasgow Herald, July 1, 1983
