Austral English. Edward Ellis Morris

Austral English

Holdsworth, `Station Hunting on the Warrego:'

"In yon great range may huddle billabongs."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 25:

"What a number of swallows skim about the `billabongs' along the rivers in this semi-tropical region."

1893. `The Argus,' April 8, p. 4, col. 1:

"Let's make a start at once, d'ye hear; I want to get over to the billabong by sunrise."

<hw>Billet</hw>, n. an appointment, a position; a very common expression in Australia, but not confined to Australia; adapted from the meaning, "an official order requiring the person to whom it is addressed to provide board and lodging for the soldier bearing it." (`O.E.D.')

1890. E. W. Hornung, `A Bride from the Bush,' p. 267:

"If ever she went back to Australia, she'd remember my young man, and get him a good billet."

<hw>Billy</hw>, n. a tin pot used as a bushman's kettle. The word comes from the proper name, used as abbreviation for William. Compare the common uses of `Jack,' `Long Tom,' `Spinning Jenny.' It came into use about 1850. It is not used in the following.

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia,' p. 48:

"He then strikes a light and makes a fire to boil his kettle and fry his bacon."

About 1850, the billy superseded the quart-pot (q.v.), chiefly because of its top-handle and its lid. Another suggested derivation is that billy is shortened from billycan, which is said to be bully-can (sc. Fr. bouili). In the early days "boeuf bouilli" was a common label on tins of preserved meat in ship's stores. These tins, called "bully-tins," were used by diggers and others as the modern billy is (see quotation 1835). A third explanation gives as the origin the aboriginal word billa (river or water).

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage Round the World,' p. 238:

"An empty preserved meat-canister serving the double purpose of tea-kettle and tea-pot."

[The word billy is not used, but its origin is described.]

1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 202:

"A tin pan bearing the familiar name of a billy."

1871 J. J. Simpson, `Recitations,' p. 5:

"He can't get a billy full for many a mile round."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 41:

"A billy (that is a round tin pitcher with a lid) in his hand."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 69:

"A tin can, which the connoisseurs call for some reason or other a `billy.'"

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Squatter's Dream,' p. 24:

"A very black camp-kettle, or billy, of hot tea."

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"How we praised the simple supper

(we prepared it each in turn),

And the tea! Ye gods! 'twas nectar.

Yonder billy was our urn."

<hw>Billy-can</hw>, n. a variation of the above, more used by townsmen than bushmen.

1892. `The Australasian,' April 9, p. 707, col. 4:

"But I said, `Dear friend and brother, yonder billy-can is mine; You may confiscate the washing that is hanging on the line, You may depredate the larder, take your choice of pot and pan; But, I pray thee, kind sundowner, spare, oh spare, my billy-can.'"

<hw>Bingy</hw> [g soft], n. stomach or belly. Aboriginal. The form at Botany Bay was bindi; at Jervis Bay, binji.

1851. Rev. David Mackenzie, `Ten Years in Australia,' p. 140:

"They lay rolling themselves on the ground, heavily groaning in pain, and with their hands rubbing their bellies, exclaiming, `Cabonn buggel along bingee' (that is, I am very sick in the stomach)."

<hw>Birch</hw>, n. In New Zealand, the trees called birches are really beeches (q.v.), but the term birch is used very vaguely; see quotation 1889. In Tasmania, the name is applied to Dodonaea ericifolia, Don., N.O. Sapindaceae.

1853. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 125:

"White-birch of Nelson and Otago (from colour of bark), Black-heart Birch of Wellington, Fagus solandri, Hook, a lofty, beautiful ever-green tree, 100 feet high. Black-birch (Tawhai) of Auckland and Otago (from colour of bark), Red-birch of Wellington and Nelson (from colour of timber), Fagus fusca, N.O. Cupuliferae, a noble tree 60 to 90 feet high."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 91:

"Like all small-leaved forest trees it [Fagus solandri, Hook. f.] is termed `birch' by the bushman. … It is not too much to say that the blundering use of common names in connection with the New Zealand beeches, when the timber has been employed in bridges and constructive works, has caused waste and loss to the value of many thousands of pounds."

<hw>Bird-catching Plant</hw>, n. a New Zealand shrub or tree, Pisonia brunoniana, Endl., N.O. Nyctagineae; Maori name, Parapara.

1883. R. H. Govett, `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xvi. Art. xxviii. p. 364::

"A Bird-killing Tree. … In a shrub growing in my father's garden at New Plymouth, two Silver-eyes (Zosterops) and an English Sparrow had been found with their wings so glued by the sticky seed-vessels that they were unable to move, and could only fly away after having been carefully washed."

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 293:

"It is sometimes termed the `birdcatching plant' by settlers and bushmen … It will always be a plant of special interest, as small birds are often found captured by its viscid fruits, to which their feathers become attached as effectively as if they were glued."

<hw>Bird's-nest fungus</hw>, n. a small fungus of the genus Cyathus, four species of which occur in Queensland.

<hw>Bitter-Bark</hw>, n. an Australian tree, Petalostigma quadrilo culare, F. v. M., N.O. Euphorbiacea. Called also Crab-tree, Native Quince, Emu apple, and Quinine-tree. The bark contains a powerful bitter essence, which is used medicinally. The name is also applied to Tabernaemontana orientalis, R. Br., N.O. Apocyneae, and to Alstonia constricta, F. v. M., N.O. Aporynacece, which is also called Feverbark.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 204:

"Bitter Bark. This small tree has an intensely bitter bark, and a decoction of it is sometimes sold as `bitters."

<hw>Bitter-Leaf</hw>, n. a Tasmanian name for the Native Hop. See Hops and Hopbush.

<hw>Bittern</hw>, n. bird-name well known in England. The Australian species are—

The Bittern—

Botaurus paeciloptilus, Wagl.

Black B.—

Butoroides flavicollis, Lath.

Green B.—

B. javanica, Horsfield.

Little B.—

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