Forest of Dean FHT Forum - Spring onions?

Spring onions? (reply)

Sylvia Morgan — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 02:27:58 +0000

Hi A Welsh-speaking person on the Monmouthshire message board has written to say that it comes from a WElsh word"sibwm" and that jibbons is a "Wenglish" word, Wenglish being the language spoken in parts of Monmouthshire. This was mostly the Western coal-mining valleys(including Newbridge, Mon where I was born)
Sylvia

Spring onions? (reply)

May — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:10:33 +0000

My Forest grandad who had Monmouthshire connections used to say jibbons, and given the forest accent it could easily have been gibbons, but I was more used to the term scallions. I just presumed (rightly or wrongly) that this was a Yorkshire version as my mother was from Yorkshire and they all use scallions or "scally onions" up there. They were still marked up and sold as Scallions on Guisborough market when I was there last June. Enough diversion for me tonight, back to some family history.

Spring onions? (reply)

jam1401 — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:32:20 +0000

I would lend support to the welsh connection, I am from the FOD and my wife is from Wales, and it was her family that introduced me to the term jibbons. My family always called them spring onions.

I also found this minor reference on wikipedia under scallion (which is the term I have to use now in order to find them in the market in the US :-) )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallion

Spring onions? (reply)

slowhands — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:14:14 +0000

you know I think this is a Welsh thing rather than a Forest thing - Jibbons / Gibbons for spring onions -
however give the ebb and flow of families between the Vallies coal fields and the Forest, this could become a chicken and egg debate :-)

Spring onions? (reply)

gwrmad — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 08:06:12 +0000

Thanks Sylvia mine too were from the forest and ended up at Aberbeeg,Mon

Spring onions? (reply)

Sylvia Morgan — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:59:35 +0000

Hi We always used gibbons in Newbridge Mon. but most of the families there came from the FOD including both sides of my family ALLAWAys and POWELLs

Spring onions?

gwrmad — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:13:25 +0000

My mother and her mother and aunts all use the word gibbons for spring onions ,I wonder if this is perculiar to the Kear family or if it occurs in others?