goatback

English

Four boys on goatback.

Etymology

goat +‎ back, modelled on horseback.

Noun

goatback (uncountable)

1. (usually with on) The back of a goat (being ridden, or laden with luggage, as a means of transportation).
   • 1917, The Pastoral Review: A Journal and a Record of All Matters Affecting the Pastoral and Agricultural Interests Throughout Australasia, page 125:

     ON "GOATBACK" IN WESTERN QUEENSLAND. This photo was sent us by Mr. E. Hill, Rosevale, Wyandra, Queensland

   • 2004 May 27, Juvenal, The Sixteen Satires, Penguin UK, →ISBN:

     […] on goatback at the end of Satire V was not meant to recall the equestrian manoeuvres of the lusus Troiae in Book V of the Aeneid. Juvenal may think that Rome has been rotted by long peace, but the glories of battle and conquest hold […]

   • 2008 February 24, Prys Morgan, The Tempus History of Wales, The History Press, →ISBN:

     […] on goatback because [they are] unable to afford a horse. The cartoons became slightly more friendly as the century advanced, but it is as well to remember that the nursery rhyme about 'Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief' is first recorded in […]

   • 2014 September 21, Edward W. Robertson, The Cycle of Arawn: The Complete Trilogy, Edward W. Robertson:

     " […] on goatback. Waving butcher knives and rakes." "The rebels don't stand a chance."

   • 2017 March 1, John Michael Greer, Paths of Wisdom: Cabala in the Golden Dawn Tradition, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 168:

     ( […] on goatback) will become plain when the additional symbols of Tiphareth are concerned. The cube and the cross of six squares are actually two forms of the same symbol, because a cube unfolded makes a six-square cross.

   • 2017 December 29, Alex A. Gurshtein, The Puzzle of the Western Zodiac: Its Wisdom and Evolutionary Leaps: A Painful Ascent to the Truth, AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

     […] on goatback, and especially the ancient Indian one, in which goats appear as means of transport used by gods” (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1984, Pt 2, pp. 586- 587). The ritual mission of the carrier-goat is reflected in the Bible. […]