gads

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Published: 1974
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/28880

gad n [-]family enterprise[-]. Materials cleared from the land were used to build fences. Fence forms varied even within study areas. _"Stake and lon_ger" fences domi- nated the Avalon at the end of the last century. A post or stake was driven into the ground every 8 feet or so and 2 or 3 horizontally placed posts or _"longers_," each around 16 feet in length, were tied to the posts with withes or gads[S]2[S] (Fig. 18A). Alternatively the longers were tied to the upright posts by homemade tree-nails or _"trunnels_," or secured with strips of barks. Along the Cape Shore, and to a lesser extent near St. John's, sticks and branches were woven between either the vertical posts or horizontal rails and were referred to as _"wave_," _"bush_" or _"riddlin_" fences. Another variant was the picket fence, formed of closely-spaced vertical sticks which were nailed or tied to the horizontally laid "longers."[S]3[S] This type usually enclosed the kitchen garden. 2 The post and rail fence date back to the beginning of settlement in Logy Bay: Luke Ryan, an Irish immigrant, enclosed 15 acres with _"posts and sails"_ in 1818 (Great Britain, Colonial Office Correspondence, Newfoundland [MSS in Provincial Archives, St. John's], Series 194, vol. 81, 1831). Three _"longer_" fences were recorded in Logy Bay in the Public Ledger, St. John's, December 2, 1828 (in Provincial Archives, St. John's). (over) [reverse] p. 107 - In the Avalon, by contrast, a single post was used and the "longers" tied with _gads_. _Gad_ is a Gaelic term and _gads_ were widely used for tying in Ireland, but the "stake and longer" fence appears to be a Newfoundland creation. PRINTED ITEM DNE-cit G.M.Story JUL 1974 JH JUL 1974 Used I and Sup Not used Not used WITHE, THRASHBERRY, WITHE-ROD, ritrods, gadberry, (as) tough as a gad Checked by Kanachi Angadi on Thu 08 Oct 2015.This is the reverse of the card at G_16176.Card is stamped but not cited in DNE.There is a rightward pointing arrow mark drawn beside the word (over) on the card.