A SHEEP-STATION GLOSSARY

♦ i (.SPECIALLY WRITTEN ?0R THE I'RESS.) I [tty h. G. D. ACLAND.) I lln the list of books referred to, printed several times in this place, the abbreviation (C.R.) has been keyed to "The Early Canterbury Runs"'" by L. G. D. Acland. It stands for the | "Canterbury Rhvmes," second edition, 1883.1 | X. Native.—lndigenous. Not as a rule ; used here in the Australian (and Kipling's) sense of " the native born." N. is used in combinations to make names of various plants and birds; e.g., 11. broom, n. pigeon. J Cffi.) | Natural boundary.—Any b. be- i tween two stations or two parts of j a station which was not made by man. It may be river, bush, or rock, 1 and is often all three. (Paul, p. 91.) Near and off.—Right and left. On j stations, sheep, like horses, have n. j and o. ears and legs. (C.) j Nest.—See Billy. Nester.—Dog for finding rabbits'! breeding nests. Most rabbiters have | one in their pack. (C.) New chum.—New arrival in the 1 colony. The word connotes " green- I ness." (G.P.W.; F.Y., p. 54.) j Nigger head.—(l) Carex secta. A j plant which grows up like a tussock out of the water in swamps and at the edges of lagoons. When it is burnt and goes black it is more or less the shape of a head ; hence the name. (C.) (2) The name of the tobacco usually kept in station stores for the men in the 'eighties. (C.) Nor'wester.—See Southerly buster. Off.—(l) See Near. (2) Slang. A shearer speaks of being o. when he has finished a sheep and put him out through the port-hole. (C.) Old chum.—Man who has a long experience of the Colony. Not used except as opposite of new chum. "Never was a freshman at Cambridge more anxious to be mistaken for a third year man, than I was anxious to become an old chum, as the Colonial dialect calls a settler—thereby proving my new chumship most satisfactorily."— F.Y., p. 54. (7E.) Old Country, the.—England, not usually including Scotland; but sometimes Irishmen use the word to signify Ireland. " The crops grown were just those raised in the old country."—Crusts, p. 16. 1 Old Dart.—(Slang). See Old j Country. England. (C.) Old man—Slang. Striking, big. remarkable ; e.g., an o.m. rock, ilood, nor'-wester, cabbage-tree, etc. Hence the o.m. is a common name for paddocks, though some hills are probably so called from a fancied resemblance to a man's face. (C.) Oll.—To the disadvantage of. " My two best dogs have died on me " : "A small mob got away on us " : " I'll tell on you," etc. I do not know if this is New Zealand or just bad English. It is very common here. (C.) [lt is literally translated from the Irish (Erse) idiom, and is in common use in Ireland.—A.W.] Other side, the.—Australia. I suppose it is a contraction of " the o.s. of the water." The expression is still in common use. The word o. sidcr has never been in use here.

Out station.—A separate establishment where men live and there is usually an overseer, and where part of the station work is carried out. There were never many o.ss. in. Canterbury, though The Levels had two and several other sta'tions one. In Australia (whence, of course, the word came) they seem to call any hut with yards an o.s. (.®.; F.Y., p. 132.) Overlander. —An Australian word for a man driving sheep or cattle a long distance. It was sometimes used in Canterbury in the early days. ("Lyttelton Times," Mar. 27, 1852 ; /E.) Overseer.—Under manager. Os. were kept on most of the large stations in former days, and where the owner lived on the station he often managed it himself, but kept an o. The word is rarely used here now. Os. all call themselves managers ; but the real difference between them is that a m. can sign cheques and an o. can't. The word was brought here from Australia by the Shagroons. (C.R., p. 10; F.Y., p. 70.) Pack.—The rabbit dogs on a station are spoken of as the rabbit p. Shepherds speak of their dogs as a team. (C.)

Packer, packman.—One who loads the packhorses and leads or drives 1 them from camp to camp. He also cooks for the musterers. (C.) Packsaddle.—On stations where cradle-ss. are used, the ordinary kind of ps. are called swing-ss. (C.) Paddock.—Any piece of land (for whatever purpose) from half an acre up to, perhaps, 2000 or 3000, whether fenced or secured by natural boundaries, is called a p. If it were smaller it might be called a yard, and if larger, a run or block. OE.; Paul,, p. 73.) Pannikin.—Tin drinking mug, holding a pint as a rule. In the early days the explorers used them for boiling to save carrying billies. (Crusts, p. 41; F.Y., p. 54.) They are now usually made of enamel and called pints or mugs. (^E.) Pannikin boss.—Slang. B. who has little authority. B. of rouseabouts, etc. G^E.) Parly.—Sometimes pron. porly. A small weak lamb taken out of the main mob at shearing or weaning to be given better feed. The word comes from the north of Scotland and has never been in very general use here. (Cf. poorly?) (C.) Pen.—(l) A small yard; a division in the sheep-holding part of a wool shed. (2) Shearers catch out of a p., and when they applv for work they ask for a p. " Will you keep me a p. for next year, boss 1" is often their farewell. Two shearers usually catch out of one p. and are called p.-mates. (C.) j Pick-up.—See Fleece-pickex*. j Pilgrim.—One of the Canterbury I Association's settlers. P., prophet, I and pre-Adamite (q.v.) are the only ! three words which can be proved ! pure Canterbury productions. (JE.: J C.R., p. 5.) j