One of the verses of “Jingle Bells” is:
*A day or two ago
I thought I’d take a ride,
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side.
The horse was lean and lank;
Misfortune seemed his lot.
We got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.
*Is/was “upsot” an actual word, or did James Pierpont make it up, in the name of rhyme and humor?
Apparently, it’s made up to rhyme with “lot” – and is simply “upset”.
I’m guessing it’s ‘upset’ (as in the sleigh was upset – turned over), modified to fit the rhyme.
I think it may be more a colloquial form from the time period.
There are other poems, like Little Breeches, by John Hay, that use the word “upsot” as a past participle for “upset”.
At last we struck hosses and wagon,
Snowed under a soft white mound,
Upsot, dead beat, but of little Gabe
No hide nor hair was found. Similarly, the same Hay poem uses “sot” as a past participle of “set”:
And thar sot Little Breeches and chirped,
As peart as ever you see,
"I want a chaw of terbacker,
And that’s what’s the matter of me.
I always thought it was an outdated expression meaning that they got drunk.