The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 plus 4 letter word RETAINING WALL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
R
E
T
A
I
N
I
N
G
W
A
L
L
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a girdle round about the earth" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a girdle round about the earth = retaining wall.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.