gaberlunzie
English
Alternative forms
- gaberlunyie
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots gaberlunzie, of unknown origin.
Noun
gaberlunzie (plural gaberlunzies)
- (Scotland, historical) A licensed beggar.
- 1824, Scott, Sir Walter, Redgauntlet, 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, Ballantine, James, 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, Hewat, Kirkwood, 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.
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- (Scotland, historical) A pouch carried by a strolling beggar.