A SHEEP-STATION GLOSSARY

ADDITIONS AND REVISIONS (SPICULI.r WSITTEJ TOR THE TRT.BS.) [By I>. G. 1). ACJ.AND.] 11. Cuckoo scab.—A skin disease sheep get at the back of their heads and on their ears. I have only noticed it among merino- and in the back country. Cut (4).—Style of shearing; e.g., I " They have a very rough c. at So- ! and-so's" means that "So-and-so" | does not care whether his sheep are neatly shorn or not. Dead horse.—Advance of wages. This is a nautical expression and the sailors on sailing ships used to burn or throw overboard a symbolical horse of canvas and tow when they had worked off the d.h. : Dip the billy.—Fill the billydip it in the creek. Doctor.—Slang for cook. This was a common term among sailors, and no doubt was introduced by them. Doggo.—See lie d. Dog: tucker (2).—ln the old days when Merino sheep were worth even less than they are now, it was the custom to throw in a few to the drover on delivery to make up for losses on the road. They were called d.t. E.g, 'Til throw ten in for your dogs." Dozie.—As applied to turnips, soft, pithy. (Cf., sleepy pears.)

*Drag tne chain, to.—To be the slowest shearer in a shed. Drummer.— The slowest shearer in a shed.

Dry horrors.—State 01 a slicpherd when back from a bust in town.

Eye dog-. —Dog that commands sheep by his eye. I daresay he j'cts by the same instinct that makes a pointer or setter "stand" to game. Face and sidling-.—S. is generally used in connection with mustering and connotes the idea of steepness or roughness, and is never used when discussing tl.e aspect. You do not say "a dark s„" though you often hear "dark side"; but f. can be used in either sense. Fair. —Absolute (in a bad sense): f. cow, f. knock out,, etc. Firm.— When used by farmers, it always denotes a f. of stock and station agents. E.g., "the f. has sold him up." Fribby.—Perhaps more a wool trade term than a station one. The yolky locks round the points taken off by the roller from a decently skirted fleece. Gorge.— A correspondent has been good enough to remind me of a usage of this word which I believe is peculiar to Canterbury; i.e., any main valley above the (technically correct) g. of a river. For instance, musterers always speak of Hakatere, Mespotamia, Manuka Point, Lake Heron, etc., etc., as being in the Ashburton, Rakaia or Rangitata G. This usage goes back to at least 1894. As my correspondent says, "misty gorges are particularly prevalent in the Mackenzie Country"; so I suppose the usage will become poetical.

*Go up, to.—Chatham Island term for "going cv:r ti New Zealand." Gun, big gun.— A really fast shearer, one who could ring most sheds. E.g., " So-and-So's a g. shearer." The term is -also applied to the several fastest shearers in a shed.

Gutter. —Alternative name for gut (2) (q.v.). Hash-me-gandy.— Station stew. Home and dry- —Out of trouble.

Indcpcndcn t.— Caring little whether the boss is pleased or not. I Jacky Howe.— Sleeveless singlet, cut nearly to the waist under the arms. Named after the famous J.H. who rang many of the South Island sheds in the 'nineties. Jakcrloo, Jake.— All right, comfortably placed. (Since 1918?) Jib.— Horse that jibs. Jimmy Woodser— A correspondent tells me that James Woods was a shearer on the Darling River, New South Wales, in the 'eighties. He spent the off season in Bourke. He was fond of a glass of beer but was never known to shout. He always drank on his own, so that when the shearers saw any one go to the bar by himself they always said he was having a J.W. Hence the saying. ♦Jingling Johnnies. —Old time slang term for hand shearers. Kilt, to.— To shear the legs and belly wool of a double fleecer in the autumn. Another verb for the process is to trace high.

Leg (3).—To 1. a sheep is to haul him from the pen to the board by his hind leg, a practice much objected to, especially by owners of heavy sheep. i Lie doggo. —Lie hidden; not say a word. Life boat, the.— The lunch basket. Looking out for his swag straps, —Thinking of leaving his billet. Lovely.— (N.Z. use of, applied to people.) Good and kind, not necessarily beautiful to look at. Make.— (1) (Of sheep) to travel; making up, making back, etc.; (2) (of men) arrive at, get to; e.g., m. the station. tracks. —Clear out. Man with dogs.— This is a disparaging term for an inefficient shepherd.

"Merry widow. —Very broad gauge combs and cutter used by fast machine shearers; e.g., "Are you using your m.ws.?" "Moleskin squatter.—W oi'king man who had come to own a small sheep run. A correspondent writes: "The last time I heard it was when the Government cut up Cheviot in 1893 . . . Since then m.ss. have become too numerous to attract attention, or perhaps the term could not survive the end of the fashion for wearing ms,"