He [William Maclay] found Jefferson stiff and formal, possessed of a ‘lofty gravity.’ He warmed more to the fat, easygoing Knox, who may have drunk to excess – Maclay calls him ‘Bacchanalian’ – yet managed to project an aura of dignity. The description of Hamilton is suggestive: ‘Hamilton has a very boyish, giddy manner and Scotch-Irish people could well call him a ‘skite.’ The Oxford English Dictionary defines the Scottish word skite as meaning a vain, frivolous, or wanton girl. The choice of words hints at something feminine about Hamilton beneath the military bearing, an androgynous quality noted by others.