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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[Scot.; cf. Gael.

pigean

, dim. of

pigeadh

pige

, an earthen jar, pitcher, or pot, Ir.

pigin

pighead

, W.

piccyn

A small wooden pail or tub with an upright stave for a handle, – often used as a dipper.

Noun.

A small wooden vessel with an erect handle, used as a dipper.

piggin ‎(plural piggins)

(dialect) A small pail, can or ladle with the handle on the side; a lading-can. In the colonial era, some buckets were made like a small barrel, but with one stave left extra long. This stave would be carved into a handle so the bucket could be used as an oversized scoop for scattering grain, slopping the hogs, etc.
- 1899, Charles W. Chesnutt, The Goophered Grapevine.
  At length a little negro girl appeared, walking straight as an arrow, with a piggin full of water on her head.