† gadman Chiefly Sc. Obs.
Also 8–9 Sc. gaudsman, 9 gadsman.
[f. gad n.1]
The man or boy who directed or guided a team by means of a gad or goad, esp. in ploughing; a goadsman.
| c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 73 His Gadman and hee, His stots hee straught with Benedicite. 1515 Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials I. 260*, xij cartaris ane hundrethe and xx pynouris and ix gadmen, being careand the Artalzery fra Edinburghe to Streueling. 1786 Burns Inventory, A gaudsman ane, a thrasher t'other. 1827 Hone Every-Day Bk. II. 1656 Pig drivers and gadsmen. 1863 J. L. W. By-gone Days 10 With every plough two persons were engaged, one the ploughman..the other the gadman, from the long gad or goad with which he impelled the horses or oxen. |