Gansey

[Irish Rover]

I believe the Irish/ Gaelic word for Jumper is Geansai (don't trust the spelling, it's been a while...)

Absolutely right - their a fada on the i rather than a dot.

 

[TernVI]

I'm reminded of a bloke where I worked years ago, bought a suit that made him itch like crazy.
So he wore pyjama trousers under it.
He did get some stick for being Welsh and allergic to sheep!

 

[mjcoon]

After a childhood of my late mother knitting all sorts of wooly jumpers, actually she was very skilled and would easily knit four jumpers while watching Wimbledon on the TV. I have vowed never to wearing one of these horridly itchy things again.

My mother complained that I and my sister could grow faster than she could knit...

 

[penfold]

Well we are out at sea on a charter, I'm wearing the Gansey, it's sunny with a brisk north Westerly and I must say this jumper is getting more comfortable as the day goes on.
If I remember 30 years ago I served on a minesweeper and we were issued with the most comfortable white submariners jumpers, soft, not itchy at all.

Giving submariners white clothing is traditionally a quite silly idea, they'll get horrid ooze smeared over it in no time living amongst their tangle of engines.

 

[Iliade]

When I was a kid, "gansey" meant cardigan, I think.

Does this mean that the brythonic for a woollen thing to keep you warm was 'cardigan' or did it just mean 'from the islands to the south'

 

[JumbleDuck]

I never knew that. I always assumed it was a corruption of Guernsey.

OED agrees:

 

[Poignard]

OED agrees:

Well. What do you expect? ?

 

[FinesseChris]

You probaly have to anoint it with a mixture of fish guts, red ochre and stockholm tar for twenty years to season it.

Des Sleighthome used to recommend breaking in a new sailing garment with a fortnight in the dog's basket plus a dousing in used engine oil, IIRC. Known in our crew as "sleighthoming"

 

[mjcoon]

Des Sleighthome used to recommend breaking in a new sailing garment with a fortnight in the dog's basket plus a dousing in used engine oil, IIRC. Known in our crew as "sleighthoming"

That matches the distinction by which men only like a garment when it has been worn for a decade or two. Whereas women like a garment inversely by the number of people who have seen her wearing it...

 

[Poignard]

That matches the distinction by which men only like a garment when it has been worn for a decade or two. Whereas women like a garment inversely by the number of people who have seen her wearing it...

And just when it's at its most comfortable, she makes you throw it away.

 

[WoodyP]

And just when it's at its most comfortable, she makes you throw it away.

Or you inexplicably can't find it any more...

 

[Halo]

Each fishing town on the Yorkshire coast had its own distinct design Gansey. Apparently when bodies washed ashore it was an effective way of identifying where the dead fisherman had come from.
Personally I can see no good reason for wearing one. Modern clothes are warmer,easier to look after, more comfortable , don’t smell like a dog when wet and look better.

 

[Tamar]

Each fishing town on the Yorkshire coast had its own distinct design Gansey. Apparently when bodies washed ashore it was an effective way of identifying where the dead fisherman had come from.
Personally I can see no good reason for wearing one. Modern clothes are warmer,easier to look after, more comfortable , don’t smell like a dog when wet and look better.

You are right of course, but it was a Xmas present off my other half so I have to show willing and wear it for a while. I wore it for a day at work on Friday and to be fair it got more comfortable as the day went by. But it is heavy and bulky, I much prefer my thin lightweight warmer fleeces.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Each fishing town on the Yorkshire coast had its own distinct design Gansey. Apparently when bodies washed ashore it was an effective way of identifying where the dead fisherman had come from.
Personally I can see no good reason for wearing one. Modern clothes are warmer,easier to look after, more comfortable , don’t smell like a dog when wet and look better.

Although there are undoubted advantages to modern technical clothing, the clothing used in the past was surprisingly effective. When Mallory's body was found on Mt Everest, notes were taken of his clothing, and it was replicated and tested by modern mountaineers. It was found to be less restrictive of movement and just as effective insulation. That was wool, cotton and silk. Of course, that clothing didn't need to be waterproof; water on Everest is a solid! But in terms of insulation and mobility, some of the testers preferred it to modern technical clothing.

 

[WoodyP]

I must say that I find many fleeces rather clammy to wear when it gets warm

 

[guernseyman]

Definitely derived from 'guernsey'.
Technically it is a smock, worn over other clothing.
Here is some care advice: Care Advice
I've heard people say they add a little oil in the final rinse to aid the waterproof nature of the garment.