Austral English Part 147

1871. `Collingwood Advertiser and Observer,' June 22, p. 3, col. 5:

"Evidence was tendered as to the manner of life led by these larikinesses ... The juvenile larrikin element being strongly represented in court, all the boys were ordered out."

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

"I know many a larrikiness to whose voice I could listen by the hour with all my heart, without the least fear of her stealing it, even if it were worth the trouble."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compa.s.s in Australia,'

p. 224:

"I have not found the larrikin [in Brisbane]... . The slouch-hat, the rakish jib, the drawn features are not to be seen; nor does the young larrikiness--that hideous outgrowth of Sydney and Melbourne civilization--exist as a cla.s.s."

Larrikinism, n. the conduct of larrikins (q.v.).

1870. `The Australian' (Richmond, Victoria), Sept. 10, p. 3, col. 3:

"A slight attempt at `larrikinism' was manifested... . "

1871. J. J. Simpson, `Recitations and Rhymes,' p. 17:

"Melbourne larrikinism is still very bad, By the papers each day we are told."

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), June 19, p. 80, col. 2:

"He took as his theme the `Dialect of Victoria,' which was coa.r.s.e and vulgar to a degree. `Larrikinism' was used as a synonym for `blackguardism.'"

1876. A. P. Martin, `Sweet Girl-Graduate,' p. 20:

"There is no doubt that its rising generation afforded material for letters in the newspapers, under the headings `Larrikinism,'

or, `What shall we do with our boys?'"

1893. `The Argus,' Feb. 23:

"Outbreaks of larrikinism are not always harmless ebullitions of animal spirits. Sometimes they have very serious results."

Laughing Jacka.s.s, n. See Jacka.s.s.

Launce, n. The Australian species of this fish is Congrogradus subducens, Richards., found in North- West Australia. The Launces or Sand-eels of the Northern Hemisphere belong to a different group.

Laurel, n. The English tree name is applied in Australia to various trees, viz.--

Alexandrian Laurel-- Calophyllum inophyllum, Linn:, N.O. Guttiferae; not endemic in Australia.

Diamond-leaf L.-- Pittosporum rhombifolium, A. Cunn., N.O. Pittosporeae.

Dodder L.-- Ca.s.sytha filiformis, Linn., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Devil's Guts, not endemic in Australia.

Hedge L. (q.v.)-- Pittosporum eugenioides, Cunn.

Moreton Bay L.-- Cryptocarya australis, Benth., N.O. Lauraceae; called also Grey Sa.s.safras.

Native L.-- Pittosporum undulatum, Andr., N.O. Pittosporeae; called also Mock Orange (q.v.).

Panax elegans, C. Moore and F. v. M., N.O. Araliaceae; which is also called Light or White Sycamore.

White L.-- Cryptocarya glaucescens, R. Br., N.O. Lauraceae; for other names see Beech.

In Tasmania, the name Native Laurel is applied to Anopterus glandulosus, Lab., N.O. Saxifrageae. Peculiar to Tasmania.

The New Zealand Laurel is Laurelia novae-zelandiae; called also Sa.s.safras.

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 292:

"Native Laurel, [also called] `Mock Orange.' This tree is well worth cultivating on a commercial scale for the sake of the sweet perfume of its flowers."

Lavender, Native, n. a Tasmanian tree, Styphelia australis, R. Br., N.O. Epacrideae.

Lawyer, n. One of the English provincial uses of this word is for a th.o.r.n.y stem of a briar or bramble. In New Zealand, the name is used in this sense for the Rubus australis, N.O. Rosaceae, or Wild Raspberry-Vine (Maori, Tataramoa). The words Bush-Lawyer, Lawyer-Vine, and Lawyer-Palm, are used with the same signification, and are also applied in some colonies to the Calamus australis, Mart. (called also Lawyer- Cane), and to Flagellaria indua, Linn,, similar trailing plants.

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 157:

"Calamus Australis, a plant which Kennedy now saw for the first time... It is a strong climbing palm. From the roots as many as ninety shoots will spring, and they lengthen out as they climb for hundreds of feet, never thicker than a man's finger. The long leaves are covered with sharp spines; but what makes the plant the terror of the explorers, is the tendrils, which grow out alternately with the leaves. Many of these are twenty feet long, and they are covered with strong spines, curved slightly downwards."

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 135:

"Rubus Australis, the th.o.r.n.y strings of which scratch the hands and face, and which the colonists, therefore, very wittily call the `bush-lawyer.'"

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 71:

"Torn by the recurved p.r.i.c.kles of the bush-lawyer."

1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby,' p. 16:

"Trailing `bush-lawyers,' intermingled with coa.r.s.e bracken, cling lovingly to the rude stones."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 103:

"In the mountain scrubs there grows a very luxuriant kind of palm (Calamus Australis), whose stem of a finger's thickness, like the East Indian Rotang-palm, creeps through the woods for hundreds of feet, twining round trees in its path, and at times forming so dense a wattle that it is impossible to get through it. The stem and leaves are studded with the sharpest thorns, which continually cling to you and draw blood, hence its not very polite name of lawyer-palm."

1891. A. J. North, `Records of Australian Museum,' vol. i.

p. 118:

"Who, in the brushes of the Tweed River, found a nest placed on a ma.s.s of `lawyer-vines' (Calamus Australis)."

1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compa.s.s in Australia,'

p. 256:

"`Look out,' said my companion, `don't touch that lawyer-vine; it will tear you properly, and then not let you go.' Too late; my fingers touched it, and the vine had the best of it. The thorns upon the vine are like barbed spears, and they would, in the language of the Yankee, tear the hide off a crocodile."