Austral English Part 240

Solomon's Seal, n. Not the Old World plant, which is of the genus Polygonatum, but the Tasmanian name for Drymophila cyanocarpa, R. Br., N.O. Liliacea; also called Turquoise Berry.

Sonny, n. a common nominative of address to any little boy. In Australia, the word is not infrequently p.r.o.nounced as in the quotation. The form of the word came from America.

1896. A. B. Paterson, `Man from Snowy River,' p. 10:

"But maybe you're only a Johnnie, And don't know a horse from a hoe?

Weel, weel, don't get angry, my Sonny, But, really, a young `un should know."

Sool, v. Used colloquially--(1) to excite a dog or set him on; (2) to worry, as of a dog. Common in the phrase "Sool him, boy!" Shakspeare uses "tarre him on" in the first sense.

Shakspeare, `King John,' IV. i. 117:

"And like a dog that is compelled to fight, s.n.a.t.c.h at his master that doth tarre him on."

1896. Mrs. Langloh Parker, `Australian Legendary Tales,'

p. 90:

"She went quickly towards her camp, calling softly, `Birree gougou,' which meant `Sool 'em, sool 'em,' and was the signal for the dogs to come out."

Sorrel, Queensland. See Queensland Sorrel.

Sour-Gourd, n. Same as Baobab (q.v.).

Sour-Plum, n. the Emu-apple.

See Apple.

South Australia, n. the name of a colony, established in 1836, with Adelaide as its capital. It is not a good name, for it is not the most southerly colony, and the "Northern Territory" forms a part of South Australia. Central Australia would be a better name, but not wholly satisfactory, for by Central Australia is now meant the central part of the colony of South Australia. The name Centralia has been proposed as a change.

Southern Cross, n. The constellation of the Southern Cross is of course visible in places farther north than Australia, but it has come to be regarded as the astronomical emblem of Australasia; e.g. the phrase "beneath the Southern Cross " is common for "in Australia or New Zealand."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,' p. 13:

"The southern cross is a very great delusion. It isn't a cross. It is a kite, a kite upside down, an irregular kite upside down, with only three respectable stars and one very poor and very much out of place. Near it, however, is a truly mysterious and interesting object called the coal sack: it is a black patch in the sky distinctly darker than all the rest of the heavens. No star shines through it. The proper name for it is the black Magellan cloud."

1868. Mrs. Riddell, `Lay of Far South,' p. 4:

"Yet do I not regret the loss, Thou hast thy gleaming Southern Cross."

1887. R. M. Praed, `Longleat of Kooralbyn,' c. iv. p. 35:

"The Southern Cross rose gem-like above the horizon."

Spade-press, n. a make-shift wool-press in which the fleeces are rammed down with a spade.

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 202:

"The spade-press--that friendly adjunct of the pioneer squatter's humble wool-shed."

Spaniard, n. a p.r.i.c.kly bushy gra.s.s of New Zealand, Aciphylla colensoi.

1857. `Paul's Letters from Canterbury,' p. 108:

"The country through which I have pa.s.sed has been most savage, one ma.s.s of Spaniards."

1862. J. Von Haast, `Geology of Westland,' p. 25:

"Groves of large specimens of Discaria toumatoo, the Wild Irishman of the settlers, formed with the gigantic Aciphylla Colensoi, the Spaniard or Bayonet-gra.s.s, an often impenetrable thicket."

1863. S. Butler, `First Year of Canterbury Settlement,' p. 67:

"The Spaniard (spear-gra.s.s or bayonet-gra.s.s) `piked us intil the bane,' and I a.s.sure you we were hard set to make any headway at all."

1875. Lady Barker, `Station Amus.e.m.e.nts in New Zealand,' p. 35:

"The least touch of this green bayonet draws blood, and a fall into a Spaniard is a thing to be remembered all one's life."

1882. T. H. Potts, `Out in the Open,' p. 287:

"Carefully avoiding contact with the long-armed leaves of Spaniards (Aciphylla), which here attain the larger dimensions, carrying flower-spikes up to six feet long."

1890. `Transactions of the New Zealand Inst.i.tute,'

vol. xxiii. p. 197:

"Here were rats which lived under the dead leaves of the p.r.i.c.kly `Spaniard,' and possibly fed on the roots.

The Spaniard leaves forked into stiff upright fingers about 1 in. wide, ending in an exceedingly stiff p.r.i.c.king point."

1896. `Otago Witness,' May 7, p. 48 "p.r.i.c.kly as the points of the Spaniard."

Spear-gra.s.s, n. name given to several gra.s.ses whose spear-like seeds spoil the wool of sheep, but which are yet excellent forage plants. They are--(1) all the species of Stipa; (2) Heteropogon contortus, Roem. and Schult., and others (see quotations); (3) and in New Zealand, one or two plants of the umbelliferous genus Aciphylla; also called Spaniard (q.v.).

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 44:

"Very disagreeable, however, was the abundance of burr and of a spear-gra.s.s (Aristida)."

1865. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `History of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia,' vol. ii. p. 463 [Note]:

"On the south coast there is a gra.s.s seed which has similar properties. The seeds are sharp and covered with fine barbs, and once they penetrate the skin they will work their way onwards. They catch in the wool of sheep, and in a short time reach the intestines. Very often I have been shown the omentum of a dead sheep where the gra.s.s seeds were projecting like a pavement of pegs. The settlers call it spear-gra.s.s, and it is, I believe, a species of Anthistiria."

1874. W. H. L. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. v. p. 86:

"Sheep in paddocks cannot be so well kept clear of spear-gra.s.s."

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 90:

"Heteropogon contortus, Spear Gra.s.s. A splendid gra.s.s for a cattle-run, as it produces a great amount of feed, but is dreaded by the sheep-owner on account of its spear-like seeds."

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 23: