A vagabond is an unflattering name for someone that is homeless or, at the very least, living in poverty. The significance of using such a term to refer to the narrator is that it firmly establishes the child as an outsider to society. This is also important as, according to the teachings of the Bible, it is these people that true followers of God should endeavor to protect, clothe and feed, which are precisely the things the narrator accuses the Church of failing to do.