Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
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.
GIMMER, n.1, v. Also gjimmer, -ir (Sh.). [Sc. ′gɪmər, Sh. + ′gjɪmər]
I. n. 1. A female sheep between its first and second shearing. Gen.Sc. Common in Eng. dial., gen. with meaning as above. Also used attrib.Sc. after 1714 Jacobite Relics (Hogg 1819) I. 118:
A rickle o' peats out-owre the knowe A gimmer, and a doddit yowe.Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 133:
I red this Verse to my ain Kimmer, Wha kens I like a Leg of Gimmer.Ayr. 1787 Burns Death & Dr Hornbook xxvii.:
The lad, for twa guid gimmer-pets, Was laird himsel.Sc. 1816 Scott B. Dwarf vii.:
I'll send you twa goats and twa fat gimmers, man, to make a' straight again.Slk. a.1835 Hogg Tales (1837) I. 194:
My pickle gimmers dinna need muckle at my hand just now, sae I'll gae an ax' my master for a day to see my fock.Abd. 1867 W. Anderson Rhymes 67:
Their gimmer was smored i' the snaw.Ork. 1880 Dennison Sketch-Bk. 121:
An' ap sheu lep tae the brig steen As hich as a yaird-lupan' gimmer.Fif. 1937 St Andrews Cit. (22 May) 9:
The gimmer, which had never been shown before, also carried off all breed honours.w.Sc. 1950 Scots Mag. (March) 421:
There is always trouble with many of the gimmers, the two-year-old ewes experiencing their first lambing.Sc. 2000 Herald 8 Apr 25:
Of course there's nothing quite like some seriously cold, wet, sleety weather for convincing our gimmers that dropping their lambs a few days early would be a good idea.
Phr.: the gimmer hillock, spinsterhood, gen. o(n) the gimmer hillock, of a woman: unmarried.Bch. 1832 W. Scott Poems 59:
Neglected maidens had nae cause to fear The gimmer hillock at five hundred year.Abd. 1875 W. Alexander My ain Folk 149:
He has seerly nae taste ava; an' sae mony bonny, weel-tocher't lasses i' the pairt jist in aweers o' bein' o' the gimmer hillock.ne.Sc. 1884 D. Grant Lays 83:
Yet though charms o' purse an' person Were the portion o' the twain, On the gimmer hillock nathless Did the elder still remain.
2. In Carpet bowls: a bowl which has failed to reach the hog-score, a Hog, q.v. (Kcb. 1954).
II. v. To rear a lamb to the gimmer or breeding stage.Sc. 1934 A. Fraser Herd of the Hills ii. xii.:
It's likely they'll go away up to Nortown; it's there most of the Cranok ewe-lambs go. They gimmer them up there to make up the crossing stocks.
