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Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

GABLE-ENDIE, n. comb. Also Gable Ender. A local nickname for an inhabitant of Montrose (Ags. 1921 D. H. Edwards Fisher Folks 247; Ags. 1954). Also attrib.Ags. 1889 W. F. Murray Football Rhymes (1907) 23:
The wailin' on the Links was heard across at Ferryden, When the “Gable-ends” were beaten by our plucky Forfar men.Ags. 1931 V. Jacob Lairds of Dun 2:
The ground [in Montrose] used to be leased for building in meagre lots called twelve-foot rigs, making it necessary for houses to be set with their gable-ends to the street; [hence the bestowal] on its citizens of the contemptuous name of “Gable-endies.”Ags. 1949 Scots Mag. (Aug.) 326:
The gift of Gable Endie brothers who prospered and in their success did not forget their native town.Ags. 2000 Montrose Review 16 Nov 15:
And warming to the theme of town councillors, many of you will have fond memories of the original Gable Ender, J. M. D. Smith, former councillor and Baillie, journalist, diarist and a gossiping kind of loon - a glib-gabbit clashie and nemsie with a rare North Eastern interest in the clishmaclaver o' the toun.