gossoons

And there I made acquaintance, notwithstanding the hint of the landlord, with the Papist "gossoons," as they were called, the farmers 'sons from the country; and of these gossoons, of which there were three, two might be reckoned as nothing at all; in the third, however, I soon discovered that there was something extraordinary.

Lavengro The Scholar - The Gypsy - The Priest, Vol. 1 (of 2) George Henry Borrow 1842

And now the red-coats flocked up to the door, and it was laughable to see the knowledge of character displayed by the gossoons in the selection of their customers.

The Kellys and the O'Kellys 2004

The four and twenty fighting men and a couple of stout gossoons

Slattery's Light Dragoons 2000

My father was smoking his _doodeen_ in the chimney corner, my mother was overseeing the girls that were tonging the flax, and I and the other _gossoons_ were doing nothing at all, only roasting _praties_ in the ashes.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 352, January 17, 1829 Various

Sure there's half a dozen of the gossoons, if there's one.

Motor Boat Boys Mississippi Cruise or, The Dash for Dixie Louis Arundel

When she began to dance, by way of showing the gossoons what she had seen in the fairy rings at night, the house broke into a prolonged uproar.

Alexander's Bridge 1912

When she began to dance, by way of showing the gossoons what she had seen in the fairy rings at night, the house broke into a prolonged uproar.

Alexander's Bridge Willa Sibert Cather 1910

The atmosphere of suspicious supervision was asphyxiating, after the disorderliness and warm humanity of her Irish home, after the run of the stables and the kennels, and the freedom of the village, after the chats with the pedlars and the beggars, and the borrowing and blowing of the postman's bugle, after the queenship of a host of barefooted gossoons, her loyal messenger-boys.

The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes Israel Zangwill 1895

Golf links had been discovered near it, a club-house had sprung up and the peasants found themselves enriched by the employment of their gossoons as caddies.

The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes Israel Zangwill 1895

The boat was met by a crowd of ragged gossoons, most of them barefooted, some of them stockingless, and in men's shoes, and several of them with flowers in their unspeakable hats and caps.

Penelope's Irish Experiences Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 1889