Re: YAEPT: Australian Milo

Tristan Alexander McLeay wrote:

> You pronounce "wattle" correctly --- I don't know about "WATCOM" or
> "Wapping", but I would've said them the same too. (I have no idea what
> "wattle and daub" means, to me, wattle is a kind of tree and its
> flower, and the source of the green & gold of Australia's sporting
> colors.)
Wattle and daub is a building material humans all around the world have
been using for a few millennia at this point. Wattle consists of a woven
lattice of some strong but flexible material, such as branches, wooden
stakes, &c. and acts as the skeleton for the walls. This is then
covered--daubed--with a mixture of clay, dung, and straw, smoothed over,
and when dry, whitewashed.

The technique was still in use here in Ireland up until the early 20th
century, but pretty much fell out of use after the 1900s. The cottage my
father grew up had wattle and daub partitions though the outer walls
were made of stone.

I checked, and the origin of the name of the Australian tree comes from
the above meaning as it was used to make wattling.

K.

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