The gum-trees, ringed and ragged, from the mazy margins rise."_Austral English

1873. A. Trollope, `Australia and New Zealand,' c. xx. p. 312:

"Trees to be `rung.' The ringing of trees consists of cutting

the bark through all round, so that the tree cease to suck up

the strength of the earth for its nutrition, and shall die."

1883. E. M. Curr, `Recollections of Squatting in Victoria'

(1841-1851), p. 81:

"Altogether, fences and tree-ringing have not improved the

scene."

1889. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iv. p. 58:

"The trees are `rung,' that there may be more pasture for the

sheep and cattle."

(2) To make cattle move in a circle. [Though specifically used

of cattle in Australia, the word has a similar use in England

as in Tennyson's `Geraint and Enid'

. . . "My followers ring him round:

He sits unarmed."--Line 336.]

1874. W. H. Ranken, `Dominion of Australia,' c. vi. p. 111:

"They are generally `ringed,' that is, their galop is directed

into a circular course by the men surrounding them."

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

"I'll tell you what, you'll have to ring them. Pass 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."

<hw>Ring-bark</hw>, 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 grass 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 grass 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 grass 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."

<hw>Ring-dollar</hw>, 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."

<hw>Ring-eye</hw>, n. one of the many names for the

birds of the genus Zosterops (q.v.).

<hw>Ringer</hw>, 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 association

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, passing the joke along

The `ringer' that shore a hundred, as they never were shorn

before,

And the novice who toiling bravely had tommyhawked half a

score."

<hw>Ring-neck</hw>, 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.

<hw>Rings, to run round</hw>: 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 competitor, 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 cocoons can run rings round the beans;

they can jump out of a tumbler."

<hw>Ring-tail</hw>, or <hw>Ring-tailed Opossum</hw>, n.

See Pseudochirus and Opossum.

<hw>Rinka-sporum</hw>, 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 mass of white bloom."

<hw>Riro-riro</hw>, 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. Cassell'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."

<hw>River-Oak</hw>. See Oak.

<hw>Roa</hw>, n. another Maori name for the largest or

Brown Kiwi (q.v.). In Maori the word roa means

long or big.

<hw>Roaring Horsetails</hw>, n. a slang name for the

Aurora Australis.

<hw>Robin</hw>, n. The name, in consequence of their

external resemblance to the familiar English bird, is applied,

in Australia, to species of the various genera as follows:--

Ashy-fronted Fly-Robin--

Heteromyias cinereifrons, Ramsay.

Buff-sided R.--

Poecilodryas cerviniventris, Gould.

Dusky R.--

Amaurodryas vittata, Quoy and Gaim.

Flame-breasted Robin--

Petroica phoenicea, Gould.

Hooded R.--

Melanodryas bicolor, Vig. and Hors.

Pied R.--

M. picata, Gould.

Pink-breasted R.--

Erythrodryas rhodinogaster, Drap.

Red-capped R.--

Petroica goodenovii, Vig. and Hors.

Red-throated R.--

P. ramsayi, Sharp.

Rose-breasted R.--

Erythrodryas rosea, Gould.

Scarlet-breasted R.--

Petroica leggii, Sharp.

Scrub R.--

Drymodes brunneopygia, Gould.

White-browed R.

Poecilodryas superciliosa, Gould.

White-faced Scrub-R.--

Drymodes superciliaris, Gould.