Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
†GOWAN-GABBIT, adj.comb.
1. Of the weather: clear, bright, deceptively fine or mild.Lth., Rxb. 1825 Jam.:
We'll hae rain or night, this morning's o'er gowan-gabbit.Rxb. Ib.:
“A gowan-gabbit day,” a sunshiny day, when the gowans have disclosed themselves.Edb. 1927 Spectator (17 Dec.) 1:
A woman whom I was visiting on one of those dull damp days which we had too often in November, said to me: “I dinna like this gowan-gabbit weather. A guid ringin' frost is faur better.”
2. Of the face: “having much red and white; viewed as a mark of delicacy of constitution” (Rxb. 1825 Jam.).
[Gowan, daisy, used attrib. + -gabbit, s.v. Gab, n.1, 2. (1).]
