GIOBAIN

GIOBAIN, 52, a rag, a wretched ragged bedraggled creature.

 

GIOBULL, 117, old clothes, and an object of a man.

 

Dwelly has gibean, whose fifth and sixth meanings are “poor ragged fellow” and “person soaked through and dripping with rain”. Other meanings given include a hunch on the back, grease from the solan goose’s stomach (in St Kilda) and a kind of pudding. Fr Allan made liberal use of the word giobain in his own writing.

It’s still a commonly used word (as far away as Lewis I understand), always applied playfully and pejoratively to people (my father pointed out that my illustration took Fr Allan’s use of the word “creature” too literally).

One lady in Eriskay described a giobain to me as “somebody quite wet and dirty coming in from work or something like that”.  Another pointed out that a giobag is a bit of matted muck that you might find sticking to the fur of an animal.

 

 

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