Austral English Part 218

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii. p. 126:

"I'll tell you what, you'll have to ring them. Pa.s.s the word round for all hands to follow one another in a circle, at a little distance apart."

(3) To move round in a circle.

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' p. 20:

"The cattle were uneasy and `ringed' all night."

(4) To make the top score at a shearing-shed.

See Ringer.

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 136:

"The man that `rung' the Tubbo shed is not the ringer here."

Ring-bark, v. tr. Same meaning as Ring (1).

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 204:

"The selector in a timbered country, without troubling himself about cause and effect, is aware that if he destroys the tree the gra.s.s will grow, and therefore he `ring-barks' his timber."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 9:

"Our way led us through a large but not dense wood of leafless gumtrees. My companion told me that the forest was dead as a result of `ring-barking.' To get the gra.s.s to grow better, the settler removes a band of bark near the root of the tree. In a country where cattle-raising is carried on to so great an extent, this may be very practical, but it certainly does not beautify the landscape. The trees die at once after this treatment, and it is a sad and repulsive sight to see these withered giants, as if in despair, stretching their white barkless branches towards the sky."

1893. `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 232:

"We were going through ring-barked country. You don't know what that is? Well, those giant gum-trees absorb all the moisture and keep the gra.s.s very poor, so the squatters kill them by ring-barking--that is, they have a ring described round the trunk of each tree by cutting off a couple of feet of bark.

Presently the leaves fall off; then the rest of the bark follows, and eventually the tree becomes nothing but a strange lofty monument of dry timber."

Ring-dollar, n. See quotation; and see Dump and Holy Dollar.

1870. T. H. Braim, `New Homes,' c. iii. p. 131:

"The Spanish dollar was much used. A circular piece was struck out of the centre about the size of a shilling ... and the rest of the dollar, called from the circular piece taken out a `ring-dollar,' was valued at four shillings."

Ring-eye, n. one of the many names for the birds of the genus Zosterops (q.v.).

Ringer, n. a sheep-shearing term. See quotations. Mr. Hornung's explanation of the origin (quotation, 1894) is probably right. See Rings.

1890. `The Argus,' Sept. 20, p. 13, col. 6:

"A `ringer' being the man who by his superior skill and expertness `tops the score'--that is, shears the highest number of sheep per day."

1893. `The Herald' (Melbourne), Dec. 23, p. 6, col. 1:

"Whence came the term `ringer,' as applied to the quickest shearer, I don't know. It might possibly have some a.s.sociation with a man who can get quoits on to the peg, and again, it might not, as was remarked just now by my mate, who is camped with me."

1894. E. W. Hornung, `Boss of Taroomba,' p. 101:

"They call him the ringer of the shed. That means the fastest shearer--the man who runs rings round the rest, eh?"

1894. `Geelong Grammar School Quarterly,' April, p. 26:

"Another favourite [school] phrase is a `regular ringer.'

Great excellence is implied by this expression."

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 162:

"The Shearers sat in the firelight, hearty and hale and strong, After the hard day's shearing, pa.s.sing the joke along The `ringer' that sh.o.r.e a hundred, as they never were shorn before, And the novice who toiling bravely had tommyhawked half a score."

Ring-neck, n. the equivalent of Jackaroo (q.v.). A term used in the back blocks in reference to the white collar not infrequently worn by a Jackaroo on his first appearance and when unaccustomed to the life of the bush.

The term is derived from the supposed resemblance of the collar to the light- coloured band round the neck of the Ring-neck Parrakeet.

Rings, to run round: to beat out and out. A picturesque bit of Australian slang. One runner runs straight to the goal, the other is so much better that he can run round and round his compet.i.tor, and yet reach the goal first.

1891. `The Argus,' Oct.10, p. 13, col. 3:

"Considine could run rings round the lot of them."

1897. `The Argus,' Jan. 15, p. 6, col. 5:

"As athletes the coc.o.o.ns can run rings round the beans; they can jump out of a tumbler."

Ring-tail, or Ring-tailed Opossum, n.

See Pseudochirus and Opossum.

Rinka-sporum, n. a mis-spelt name for the Australian varieties of the tribe of Rhyncosporeae, N.O. Cyperaceae. This tribe includes twenty-one genera, of which Rhynchospora (the type), Schaenus, Cladium, and Remirea are widely distributed, and the others are chiefly small genera of the Southern Hemisphere, especially Australia. (`Century.')

1885. R. M. Praed, `Australian Life,' p. 93:

"Rinka-sporum, a ma.s.s of white bloom."

Riro-riro, n. a bird. Maori name for the Grey-Warbler of New Zealand, Gerygone flaviventris, Gray. See Gerygone.

1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 44:

[A full description.]

1889. Ca.s.sell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 163:

"A little wren managed to squeeze itself through, and it flew off to Kurangai-tuku, and cried, `Kurangai-tuku, the man is riro, riro, riro!'--that is, gone, gone, gone. And to this day the bird is known as the riro-riro."

River-Oak. See Oak.

Roa, n. another Maori name for the largest or Brown Kiwi (q.v.). In Maori the word roa means long or big.