▪ I. garth1
(gɑːθ)
Also 5 gerth, 5–6 garthe, 9 dial. gaath, gaith.
[a. ON. garð-r (Da. gaard, Sw. gård) yard, courtyard, fence = OE. ᵹeard yard. The word is still current in the eastern and northern dialects of English, but is obsolete in Scottish.]
1. a. A small piece of enclosed ground, usually beside a house or other building, used as a yard, garden, or paddock; freq. with defining word, as apple-garth, barn-garth, church-garth, cloister-garth, field-garth, fold-garth, garden-garth, hall-garth, hemp-garth, kirk-garth, minster-garth, stack-garth, willow-garth, q.v. under their initial element.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xxxvi. 2 Þe kale, þat he says not ere of garthis bot of gressis. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 777 Yet is the chalk or cley lond forto eschewe, And from the rede also thy garth remewe. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 257 Throw a dyrk garth [1570 gait] scho gydyt him furth fast. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 39 In symmer syne, quhen euerie schaw wes schene, And euerie garth with gerss wes growand grene. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) vii. 25 Sen in ȝour garth þe lilly quhyte May nocht remane amang þe laif. 1625 Lisle Du Bartas, Noe Ded. 5 See lad, quoth he, the house and garth well drest To morrow morn. 1701–2 A. de la Pryme Diary (Surtees) 249, I got it [Aparine Plinii] plentifully in a garth of Richard Rogison's of Broughton in Lincolnshire, amongst the corn. 1799 A. Young Agric. Linc. 412 A garden for potatoes, of a rood or half an acre, called a garth. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. i. 126 The most independent mode is for the cottager to rent a small garth or close. 1887 York Herald 16 Apr. 6/5 The party of Greek gipsies..encamped in a garth close to the Gaol. |
| fig. 1530 Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 57 In all the garth of Eloquence, Is no thyng left bot barrane stok and stone. |
b. In recent use short for: Cloister-garth.
| 1884 19th Cent. Jan. 104 The open space [of the quadrangle] not roofed in was called the garth. 1890 Daily News 30 June 7/6 The central grassplot of the cloisters—the garth—offers a far better and more sanitary burialplace. |
2. A fence or hedge.
rare. Also with defining word, as
thorn-garth.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxxxviii. 39 Thou distroyd all his thorne garthis [Vulg. sepes]. 1483 Cath. Angl. 42/2 To breke garthe, desepire. Ibid. 151/1 A garthe, sepes. 1894 J. C. Atkinson Memorials of Old Whitby 43 A garth is a fence of any kind,—earth, stones, turves, posts and rails. 1908 W. G. Collingwood Scand. Brit. 193 He made his bær, a group of buildings, in the t{uacu}n, or homefield, which he manured and mowed for hay, and surrounded with a garth. |
3. = fishgarth.
| 1609 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) IV. 432/1 All & haill þe salmond fischeing..Comprehending þe garthis and pullis vnder-writtin. 1708 Termes de la Ley 366 Garth is..a Dam or Wear in a River for the catching of Fish, vulgarly called a Fish-Garth. 1873 Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 71 Sched. 3 License Duties..For each..hangbaulk, garth, goryd, box, crib, or cruive {pstlg}12 0. 0. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
garth-end,
garth-yard; also
† garth-cress, garden-cress (
cf. ME. toun-cresse);
garth-man, (
a)
† one who owns or works a fish-garth; (
b) (see
quot. 1877);
† garth-spade, a garden-spade;
garth-stead (see
quot. 1877).
| ? 14.. MS. Linc. Med. lf. 292 (Halliw.) Tak a peny-weghte of *garthe cresse sede, and gyff hym at ete. |
| 1565–73 Durham Depos. (Surtees) 226 He threatyned hir..to cast hir over the wall at hys *garth end. 1740 J. Clarke Educ. Youth (ed. 3) 22 The..Fellow..directed a Gentleman..to go by his Father's Garth-End. |
| 1389 Act 13 Rich. II, c. 19 Qe null peschour ne *garthman..ne mette..en les ewes de Thamise..ascuns rees appelez stalkers. 1584 in Descr. Thames (1758) 63 No Fishermen, Garthmen, Petermen, Draymen or Trinkermen, shall..set up any Wears, Engines [etc.]. 1865 Stamford Mercury in Standard 16 Sept., A man..for 20 years garthman at Mr. Mason's, of Rigsby. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Garthman, the man who attends upon the stock in a fold-yard. |
| 1573 Richmond Wills (Surtees) 242 A gavelocke, ij hacks, iij peatspades, ij flainge spades a *garthspade, vijs. |
| [1515 Comp. Gild St. Mary, Boston 9 b, Tenentes vnias Garthstede nuper Hugonis Madershall.] 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., *Garth-stead, a homestead; a stack-yard; a yard in which cattle is folded. |
| 1890 W. A. Wallace Only a Sister 78, I just stopped under the big ash-tree at the end o' the *garth-yard. |
Hence
† garth v., to enclose with a fence.
rare—1.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 151/2 To Garthe, sepire, &c.; vbi to close. |
▪ II. garth2 north. dial. (
gɑːθ)
Forms: 5
garte, 5–7
garthe, 7–
garth.
[Northern form of gerth (see under girth), a. ON. giǫrð fem., girth or hoop.] 1. A saddle-girth.
| c 1425 Thomas of Erceld. 57 Hir garthes of nobyll sylke þay were..Hir steraps were of crystalle clere. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 665/34 Hec singula, a garthe. 1483 Cath. Angl. 151/1 A Garte of a hors (A. Garthe for A hors); singula, ventrale. 1617 Markham Caval. ii. 32 This done, with the help of another groome that may deliuer the girthes, let the saddle be girded on; at the first so gently that he may no more but feele the garths. 1888 Sheffield Gloss., Garth, the strap which goes under a horse's belly to fasten the saddle to him. |
2. A wooden hoop (
e.g. for a barrel).
| [1424 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 152 Item Thomæ Colleper pro v garthys ligneis, 5d.] 1483 Cath. Angl. 151/2 A Garthe for wesselle, cinctorium, circulus. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §134 If there be asshes in it, to sell the smalle asshes to cowpers for garthes [printed garches]. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 40 Then, with a round Belt or Garth, gird the Hackle close to the Hive. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. 168 Besides the wearing and breaking of Garthes, and Plugs. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 424/2 Distilling Bag..Its wide at the top and open, being kept so by an hoop or garth sowed about it. 1847–78 Halliwell, Garth, a hoop or band. North. 1888 Sheffield Gloss., Garth, the rim or hoop of a barrel. |
3. Girth, or measurement round about.
| 1684 R. H. School Recreat. 133 The largest in the Garth is the strongest Cock. The Dimension of the Garth is thus known: Gripe the Cock about [etc.]. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Cock, He should be..long from the Head to the Rump, thick in the Garth. 1755 Johnson, Garth, the bulk of the body measured by the girdle. |
4. Comb., as
† garth-web, woven material for making saddle-girths (see
girth-web).
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §10 Take a brode thonge, of ledder, or of garthe-webbe of an elle longe. 1617 Markham Caval. iv. 43 Then you shall take a peece of garthwebbe. |
Hence
† garth v., to fit with hoops.
rare—1.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 151/2 To Garthe wesselle, circulare. |