gaberlunzie
Appearance
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Scots gaberlunzie, of unknown origin.
Noun
[edit]gaberlunzie (plural gaberlunzies)
- (Scotland, historical) A licensed beggar.
- 1824, Sir Walter Scott, Redgauntlet[1], Letter XI:
- Better say naething about the laird, my man, and tell me instead, what sort of a chap ye are that are sae ready to cleik in with an auld gaberlunzie fiddler?
- 1843, James Ballantine, The Gaberlunzie's Wallet, page 68:
- Blythe be the auld Gaberlunzie man
Wi' his wallet o' wit, he fills a' the lan';
Wi' his blinks o' fun, and his blauds o' lear,
O' a'thing that's gude he has walth to spare;
- c. 1894, Kirkwood Hewat, A Little Scottish World: As Revealed in the Annals of an Ancient Ayrshire Parish, Kilmarnock: D. Brown, page 110:
- It is true mendicancy was limited by Act of Parliament, Kirk-Sessions also restricting it and giving badges to the gaberlunzies within their bounds; but it must have been very difficult to keep them within parochial limits.
- (Scotland, historical) A pouch carried by a strolling beggar.