[Bob Dobson]

In coal mines, the 'gob' is an area close to the coal face which has been excavated then filled with the rock taken from aboive and below the coal seam. I reject the notion that this nicknames for Ossie residents is linked to that, as there are very few nicknames for Lancashsire townsfolk which are industry-linked, but lots of examples of words like gobbin & gawby being used as terms of derision for inhabitants who are perceived by others as being simpletons. There are several examples of 'big lamps' being used in the nicknaming process, and two of them are actually called ;The Gawmless'.