Sc. Also 8 spunkey, 9 spunky. [f. SPUNK sb.]
1. A will o’ the wisp.
1727. P. Walker, Life R. Cameron, in Biogr. Presbyt. (1827), I. 243. Some Willies with the Wisps, or Spunkies of Wild-fire.
1785. Burns, Address to Deil, xiii. An’ aft your moss-traversing Spunkies Decoy the wight that late an’ drunk is.
1816. Scott, Bl. Dwarf, ii. The scene of it had been avoided … by all human beings, as being the ordinary resort of kelpies, spunkies, and other demons.
1855. Smedley, Occult Sciences, 75. The wily spunkie manœuvred so dexterously that the unhappy wanderer was speedily decoyed into the nearest morass.
1884. W. Sime, To and Fro, 170. The spunkie which showed the signal for freedom has disappeared.
Comb. 1898. Spence, Poems, 139. The spunkie-haunted bog, Where sank the shepherd and his dog.
2. Whisky or other spirituous drink. rare.
1786. Burns, Epist. J. Kennedy, iii. Gie me just a true good fallow,… And spunkie ance to make us mellow, And then we’ll shine.
3. a. A spirited, mettlesome or courageous person; a smart or lively fellow.
1806. J. Nicol, Poems, I. 148 (Jam.). An’ frae his bow, the shafts, fu’ snack, Pierc’d monie a spunkie’s liver.
1901. G. Douglas, House w. Green Shutters, xvii. 182. Logan, the only senior who marked the by-play, thought him a hardy young spunkie.
b. A fiery, hot-tempered or irritable person.
1821. Galt, Ann. Parish, xxvi. He was himself … a perfect spunkie of passion.
