Interesting lines from Hamish Hendersons wonderful song "Freedom come all ye"
"A' thae rogues that gang gallus, fresh and gay
Tak' the road tae seek ither loanin's
Their ill ploys tae sport and play"
Susanne has collected the notes of Thomas Crawford on this song
"For example, 'gallus, fresh and gay', adjectives appropriate to debonair lovers of life, are applied to 'oor rottans' - the parasitic practitioners of a false dolce vita nourished by the sufferings and degradation of common folk."

I like "gay" as "a debonair lover of life"...the old meaning.
Henderson used it to describe "practitioners of a false dolce vita".
Perhaps there is a little sense in the modern usage :0)

I also remember "gallus" as cheeky, confident, sure of ones self to the point of arrogance.   Back in 70s Scotland, gallus was adopted by young people as meaning anything which was good or fashionable.
Being a folkie, this annoyed me at the time, but I've come to realise that it is the sound of the word which has the meaning to the youth.
Traditional meaning does not seem to matter one jot.

Of course, as i've said earlier this usage is completely different from the usage of "gay" in place of homosexual which was a cynical piece of re-branding to further an agenda....Ake