Wednesday, November 01, 2006

wirrigal and warrigal

When I was young there used to be these folks lived up the road a bit that had a couple of dogs - 'wirrigal' and 'warrigal'- tan color, white tips on the tail, medium solid build\size. Every one knew they were dingos, but it was not for a few years that I found out that the names are aborigional language for the male and female of the species.

Nice ring to them.

The same family had a son, fair bit older than me, whose pursuits included things like shooting the school bus with air gun pellets - while wagging school. He, an a few other reprobates once shot a heap of homing pidgeons , only about 30 of them or so, (while wagging school). Don't know what he's doing now.

We had another kid at school - grade six - must have been about 9 or 10, bit of a ratbag - but from my point of view , not too bad - and he gets called up to the headmaster to get caned - ( a regular occurrance for him) - then he proceeds to take the cane off the head and gives it to him(the head) till he (the head) runs off screaming... never saw that fella again, (the kid - not the head), since. He certainly never went to school again that I knew of.

Funny how people come and go in different phases of your life.

Anyway, as to the point of this post, fuck knows - maybe I should go out dogging and prospecting.

2 Comments:

Blogger Arcturus said...

For the sake of your silly and flippant American readers, could you provide a glossary translation of some of those terms? I'm assuming "wagging" means "cutting classes" ... and a ratbag is, well, whatever ... but what's dogging and prospecting?

You really do live in a far-and-away remote part of interior Australia, don't you? You almost sound like you're a time traveler from a century ago who just happens to have a computer and internet hook up.

4:02 PM  
Blogger rackorf said...

I reckon that you'de be about right there with the time travel bit...hahaha a cave man with global communications.
Dogging is catching dingoes and wild dogs. You get paid per dog usually. I've had wild dogs eating sheep around me sometimes while camping, (I didn't know the station folks or anything at this place and didn't want be driving round at night letting shots off), so just sat by my fire and kept a gun on my lap - spun my dog out a bit - he kept looking around into the dark around the camp and getting scent from them.
Prospecting is looking for gold with a metal detector, sometimes you can get lucky. I've seen guys buying drinks out of a tobacco tin of nuggets in a bar out Payne's Find way.

5:38 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home