subs. (Scots’).—A simpleton: see BUFFLE and CABBAGE-HEAD. Hence SUMPHISH = stupid.
1821. SCOTT, The Pirate, i. 104. ‘And you, ye silly SUMPH,’ she said to poor Yellowley, ‘what do ye stand glowering there for?’
1837. R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends, ‘The Lord of Thoulouse.’
| Put your conjuring cap on—consider and see, | |
| If you can’t beat that stupid old ‘SUMPH’ with his ‘tea!’ |
1844. NAYLOR, Reynard the Fox, 37. A very SUMPH art thou, I wis.
1849–50. THACKERAY, Pendennis. Captain SUMPH [one of the characters in this novel].
