What is a bisgay or disgay

[paulrbarnard]

My wife is reading a book and it says
“He took his “bisgay”, a garden tool, and killed him”

A little further down it says
“The axe part of the disgay”

So is there a bisgay or disgay gardening tool that has an axe head as part of it?

Google has been unable to offer anything up.

 

[Jacob]

My wife is reading a book and it says
“He took his “bisgay”, a garden tool, and killed him”

A little further down it says
“The axe part of the disgay”

So is there a bisgay or disgay gardening tool that has an axe head as part of it?

Google has been unable to offer anything up.

Sounds like a garden pick axe; hoe on on side, axe on the other. They come in many shapes and sizes and various names, azada, mattock, etc.
Never heard of a bisgay though!

 

[niall Y]

Nevererdovit! .......... Probably some form of mattock Is the book a translation from another language?

 

[Adam W.]

A biscayne is a french axe, so I'm wondering if it's a regional spelling or mistake.

 

[paulrbarnard]

A biscayne is a french axe, so I'm wondering if it's a regional spelling or mistake.

Sounds very much like it could be the implement in question. It makes sense in the context.

 

[slimshady]

There is the bisaigue or twybil in English.
Alex.

 

[Cobbs]

A Cornish word for a mattock (hoe on one side, axe on the other) is pronounce vizgy - hereabouts, if someone calls it a mattock they get a strange look.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Odd - my Cornish - English dictionary gives pygal - havrak for mattock. I've not heard a mattock called anything but a mattock.

 

[Cobbs]

Maybe a colloquialism then - never knew what a mattock was until I was in my mid-teens, but I was very well acquainted with a vizgy and its uses!

 

[Jacob]

Maybe a colloquialism then - never knew what a mattock was until I was in my mid-teens, but I was very well acquainted with a vizgy and its uses!

I got interested in mattocky things when I saw lots of workers in Portugal hacking away with them happily and discovered that they were called "azadas" which perhaps has same root as "adze".
Bought a couple - they are brilliant alternative to spade and easier to use. There was a UK azada dealer website but couldn't find it.

 

[TomGW]

^ very useful tool.
https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/blog/garden-tools-chillington-hoes-azadas

 

[paulrbarnard]

^ very useful tool.
https://www.quickcrop.co.uk/blog/garden-tools-chillington-hoes-azadas

Mine gets a lot of use, though not for murdering people.