The story
Variant of bare-bellied yoe (dialectal form of ewe), with final /d/ of bellied joining with initial /j/ of yeo to form /d͡ʒ/.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
bare-bellied Joe
Today it means: A ewe with little or no wool on its belly, therefore requiring less time to shear. Full definition →