Gallus
This word has had an interesting history. It started off as fit for the gallows, villainous and rascally. It then moved up a little in the world to become tough, bold, perky, mischievous, impudent or high-spirited as in W. Hutcheson’s Chota Chants (1937): Next morning they werena sae gallus and frisky On finding the barrel was empty and light, or daring as in the Scots Magazine (April 1941): “But I was gallus then,” continued Tarn; “you know, game for anything”, or wild and fun-loving as a Perth informant implied in 1950: She’s a gallus lassie, aye fleein aroond wi the sodgers. The Daily Mail (17 February 1950) attempts a definition “Gallus,” that indeterminate but much-used expression in Glasgow, means hair-brained in a gay and flippant way.